Januray 2, 2011 The Difference Between a Politician and a Leader

A Daily Analysis

What is the difference between being a politician and a being leader? A politician follows the whims of the people, checks opinion polls and makes sure he or she does nothing that will endanger their election or re-election. A leader, on the other hand, convinces people to do things they really do not want to do.

Netanyahu is a politician and not a leader. A perfect example of this relates to the flurry of new reports on an attempt to restart negotiations with the Syrians. It has become clear the Syrians are pushing to resume negotiations. Interestingly, it would seem the Syrians are willing to start the peace talks from scratch, without demanding the starting point be where negotiations broke off with Rabin, (over access to the Kinneret). All of his defense advisors have been pushing for Netanyahu to pursue the Syrian track. The advantages of reaching a peace agreement with Syria are clear. Splitting Syria from Iran and Hezbollah is a clear strategic imperative of Israel. Without Syria to support it in a potential war with Israel, a Hezbollah threat becomes much less significant. Furthermore, without Syria supporting it, Iran's isolation clearly increases.

So why not answer this strategic imperative? There is very little political support for reaching an agreement with Syria, since, if successful, these negotiations will inevitably result in giving up the Golan Heights. Netanyahu does not believe his coalition could withstand the negotiations. Paradoxically, there is much more political and public support for giving up the West Bank than for giving up the Golan Heights. Most Israelis see the West Bank, full of Palestinians and understand that, whether they like it or not, a way needs to be found to separate from them and find a solution. They remember the first and second Intifadas and do not want a third. Israelis understand the demographic threat, and if their security fears can be met, the majority of Israelis support the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Golan, on the other hand, with its dearth of Arabs, beautiful nature and great skiing (if only a few days a year), seems a poor candidate for giving up. Combine that with the fact that it's been over 37 years since the Yom Kippur War, (the last time that Syria attacked Israel), most Israelis are perfectly happy with the status quo.

This is where leadership comes in. Instead, Netanyahu (and other politicians) climb the Golan Heights and make statements that "we will never move from here". It is time for these politicians to become leaders and begin educating the Israeli public. Israelis need to understand that we will never reach a peace agreement with Syria while holding on to this beautiful peace of land. It is time to educate the Israeli public that in the 21st century existential threats do not come from Tanks crossing the Jordan, or tanks on the Golan Heights, but from missiles and other more devastating weapons. There were those who thought Israel needed the Suez Canal as the border with Egypt and all of the Sinai as a buffer. However, 32 year of peace with Egypt have proved otherwise.

This week, the business section of The Economist ran an interesting piece on the Israeli economy called: "Beyond the Start-Up Nation". The article talked about Israel's remarkable economic growth over the past decade, and how this past year its economy managed to grow at 4.5 (one of the fastest in the developed world). It highlighted, however, the two major weaknesses of the economy. The first weakness, noted that despite its great lead in R&D, Israel has failed to create world-class companies (with the exception of Teva). Instead, most Israeli companies sell out at the mezzanine level of growth. The second weakness noted was the fact that Israel had the developed world's lowest labor participation rate (just 55%). The later statistic, obviously caused by the low participation of both Arab Israelis and Charedim in the labor force (though in the case of the Arabs its not clear what percent are part of the underground economy). The article ends with a succinct directive to Israel: "it needs to tell its ultra-orthodox Jews that, however hard they pray, the rest of the country does not owe them a living."