Israelis were given a rare glimpse of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s vision for the future this week. It sent shock waves through the country and saw stock markets plummet.
His speech at a conference in Jerusalem came after almost two years of war and just before Israel launched a ground offensive on Gaza City. Netanyahu acknowledged the country’s unprecedented international isolation but gave little hope to Israelis who are yearning for a return to a normal life.
He blamed Israel’s isolation not on his own policies and the never-ending war on multiple fronts, but on “limitless migration” of Muslims to western Europe, where he said they had become a “significant minority – very vocal, very, very belligerent,” and a digital revolution that has led Qatar, China and other countries to invest in social-media platforms that promote an “anti-Israel agenda”.
And his solution to Israel’s isolation? “We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic [economically independent] characteristics. We may find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked.”
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In a scenario of “Athens and Sparta,” he said, Israel will “have to become Athens and super-Sparta. There’s no choice. In the coming years, at least, we will have to deal with these attempts to isolate us. What’s worked until now will not work from now on.”
As if to underline his message, on the very same day the European Commission discussed suspending part of the Israel-EU trade agreement, more states pledged to recognise Palestine, and other countries threatened to withdraw from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel took part.
Many Israelis were horrified by the historical analogy with Sparta, known for its rigid military culture and austere way of life, which deliberately limited contact with the outside world. Historians also pointed out that Sparta lost its wars and was destroyed. Israelis shuddered at the vision of perpetual conflict combined with global pariah status.
The markets were not happy either. The Tel Aviv stock exchange plummeted and the shekel fell sharply against foreign currencies.
Netanyhu’s bleak vision was greeted by criticism from business and unions alike. The Israel Business Forum, representing 200 of Israel’s largest companies, said: “We are not Sparta.” It warned that Netanyahu’s policies were marching the country “towards a political, economic and social abyss that will endanger our existence in Israel”. The head of the Histadrut trade union federation, Arnon Bar-David, said: “I don’t want to be Sparta ... We deserve peace. Israeli society is exhausted, and our status in the world is very bad.”
Yossi Verter, a columnist of the liberal newspaper Haaretz, said Netanyahu had turned the Start-Up Nation into the Sparta Nation by giving a realistic depiction of Israel’s standing in the world.
Realising the damage he had caused, Netanyahu spent the next few days trying to backtrack. In a rather muddled press conference he claimed his comments had been misunderstood, stressing that the only area in which Israel risked isolation was in arms manufacturing. He reiterated that he had “full confidence” in the country’s economy, praising foreign investments.
But for most Israelis this was too little, too late: the cat was out of the bag.
“Netanyahu’s Spartan vision was no casual slip of the tongue, despite attempts to downplay its significance after the harsh market reaction,” wrote Amos Harel, the veteran Haaretz military correspondent. “Netanyahu is paranoid, isolated and fighting with all his might to survive politically. At the same time, he is haunted by the judgment of history. His plans reveal genuine, if shallow, attempts to craft an alternative reality.”
