The 16th book in The Elections in Israel series, this book covers an extraordinary political event of having four national elections in two years, which were much (but not all) about one person, "King Bibi."
Analyzing Israel’s national elections from 2019 to 2021, this book argues the four elections became, to a large extent, a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu, the incumbent prime minister and head of the Likud party, facing investigations, a hearing, and indictment on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Thus, the first part of the book is dedicated to political personalization and to Netanyahu himself. The second part of the volume covers the traditional actors in parliamentary elections: voters, parties, and the mass media. The book relies on empirical analysis, including extensive use of the Israel National Election Studies data; on theoretical rigor; and on the contextualization of the elections from comparative and long-term perspectives.
The book should interest students and researchers of Israeli politics and society, electoral studies, and the crisis of democracy more generally. Many chapters will be of interest to political science, communications and sociology students and scholars who study themes that are prominent on the academic and public agenda including political personalization and personalized politics, populism, party decline, and democratic backsliding.
Author(s): Michal Shamir, Gideon Rahat
Series: Routledge Elections of Israel
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 305
City: London
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Four Elections in Two Years: A Unique Crisis Or a Sign of Things to Come?
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Explanations for the Crisis: Why Were Four Elections Held in Two Years?
1.3 Participation, Competition, and Voting in the Four Elections
1.4 Party Decline, Personalization, and the Party System
1.5 Institutional Reform: The Rotation Government and the “Norwegian Law”
1.6 The 2019–2021 Elections and the Crisis of Democracy in Israel
1.7 Conclusion
Notes
References
2 The Four Elections 2019–2021: A Chronological Overview
2.1 The Elections to the 21st Knesset, April 9, 2019
2.2 The Elections to the 22nd Knesset, September 17, 2019
2.3 The Elections to the 23rd Knesset, March 2, 2020
2.4 The Elections to the 24th Knesset, March 23, 2021
Notes
References
Part 1 Personalization in the Israeli “Parteienstaat”
3 Personalization and Personalism in the 2019–2021 Elections: Another Climax of Personal Politics?
3.1 Conceptualization, Research Question, and Hypothesis
3.2 Methodology
3.2.1 The Institutional Arena
3.2.2 The Media Arena
3.2.3 The Behavioral Arena
3.3 Findings: A New Highpoint in Personal Politics
3.3.1 Institutional Personalization and Personalism
3.3.2 Personalism in the Media
3.3.3 Behavioral Personalization and Personalism
3.4 Summary and Conclusions
Notes
References
4 King Bibi: The Personification of Democratic Values in the 2019–2021 Election Cycle
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Public Support for Democracy – Israel From a Global Perspective
4.3 Personification of Democratic Values
4.4 Hypotheses
4.5 Data and Measurement
4.6 Analysis
4.6.1 Democratic Values in the 2019–2021 Election Cycle
4.6.2 Personification of Democratic Values
4.7 Conclusion
Notes
5 A Populist Leader Under Neoliberal Logic
5.1 Generational Change in Israel’s Right Wing
5.2 A Decline of the Old Statism and the Rise of Neoliberal Logic
5.3 The 2019–2021 Elections
5.3.1 Netanyahu’s Claim, and How He Made His Case
5.3.2 Populism and Neoliberalism in the Service of Netanyahu
5.3.3 “Us and Them”
5.3.4 Identity Politics in the Service of Netanyahu’s Populism
5.3.5 “Sour [Pickles] Theory” as a Leadership Principle
5.3.6 The Fourth Campaign as a Continuation of the Populist Pattern Under Neoliberal Logic
5.4 Instead of a Summary: Hobbes, Locke, Netanyahu, and Israeli Society
5.5 Epilogue
Notes
References
6 Netanyahu and the Very Short History of the “Right-Wing Bloc”
6.1 Conceptual Framework: Support for a Defendant and the Nexus of Democracy, Populism, and Political Economy
6.2 Netanyahu and the Legal System: Statist (Mamlachtit) Rhetoric and an Ambivalent Attitude Toward the Courts
6.3 The Cases Against Netanyahu
6.4 The Cases Against Netanyahu, the Election Campaigns, and the Formation of the Right-Wing-Religious Bloc: The Objections to the Trial as a Battle “For Democracy”
6.4.1 Toward the April 2019 Election
6.4.2 Toward the September 2019 Election
6.4.3 Toward the March 2020 Election
6.4.4 The Netanyahu–Gantz Government and the March 2021 Election
6.5 Discussion and Conclusions
Note
References
7 Public and Legal Responsibility of Senior Elected Representatives in the Executive Branch: Benjamin Netanyahu as a Case Study
7.1 Background
7.2 Public Responsibility
7.3 From Ginossar to Deri-Pinhasi, Rochberger-Gapso, and Netanyahu: Supreme Court Decisions On Holding Public Office Under Criminal Indictment
7.3.1 High Court of Justice (HCJ) Case – Ginossar (1993)
7.3.2 Deri-Pinhasi Doctrine (1993)
7.3.3 HCJ Case – Mayors Rochberger and Gapso (2013)
7.3.4 Existing Law and HCJ Netanyahu (2020)
7.4 Parliamentary Oversight
7.5 The Dangers of a Sitting Prime Minister Under Criminal Indictment
7.6 The Ideal Law
7.7 Conclusions
Notes
References
Part 2 Voters, Parties, and the Media
8 Persistent Optimism Under Political Uncertainty: The Evolution of Citizens’ Election Projections During a Protracted Political Crisis
8.1 Political Projections: A Conceptual Framework
8.2 Methods
8.3 Evolution of the Elements of Political Projections Across the 2019–2020 Elections
8.3.1 Predicted State
8.3.2 Probability
8.3.3 Evaluation
8.3.4 Anchors
8.3.5 Behavioral Implications
8.4 The Interplay of Projection Elements: Optimistic Expectations
8.4.1 Expectations and Evaluations: Wishful Thinking
8.4.2 Probabilities and Anchors: The Bases for Optimism
8.4.3 Implications of Positive Expectations for Political Participation
8.5 Summary and Discussion
8.6 Epilogue: The 2021 Election
Notes
Methodological Appendix
Panel Survey
Focus Groups
Procedure
9 Ethnic Demons and Class Specters: Ethnic and Class Voting in Israel Revisited
9.1 Ethnic Class Or Ideological Voting
9.2 Ethnic Voting in Israel: Review and Hypotheses
9.3 Data and Method
9.4 Analysis and Findings
9.5 Conclusion
Notes
References
10 Joint Lists in Israeli Politics
10.1 Theoretical and Comparative Background
10.1.1 Pre-Electoral Coalitions
10.1.2 Factors Contributing to the Formation of Joint Lists
10.1.3 Implications for the Political System
10.2 Joint Lists in Israel – Legal, Institutional, and Historical Background
10.2.1 Legal Background
10.2.2 Institutional Rules
10.2.3 Joint Lists and the Crisis of Political Parties
10.3 Research Questions and Hypotheses
10.4 An Empirical Study of Joint Lists in Israel
10.4.1 The Scope of the Phenomenon
10.4.2 Which Parties Join Or Create Joint Lists?
10.4.3 Stability and Continuity of Joint Lists
10.5 Summary of Findings
10.5.1 Summary
10.5.2 Spotlight On the 2019–2021 Elections
10.6 Discussion
Notes
References
11 The Arab Electorate and Parties, 2019–2021: Toward a Non-Zionist Israeli Identity?
11.1 Conceptual Framework
11.2 The Establishment of the Joint List
11.3 The Breakup of the Joint List and the April 2019 Election
11.4 The Return of the Joint List in the September 2019 and March 2020 Elections
11.5 Public Opinion, Voter Turnout, The Campaign and the Formation of the Rotation Government of Netanyahu and Gantz
11.6 The Breakup of the Joint List and the March 2021 Election
11.7 Discussion and Summary
Notes
References
12 Three in a (Right-Wing) Boat: Media, Politicians, and the Public in the Age of Digital Communication
12.1 The Citizens: Voicing Their Priorities
12.2 The Media: Tuned to the Citizens
12.3 Politicians: Even More Tuned to the Citizens
12.4 Issue Agendas in Israeli Politics
12.5 Method
12.5.1 Media Agenda
12.5.2 Public Agenda
12.5.3 Politicians’ Agenda
12.6 Results
12.6.1 Issue Congruence Across the Three Actors
12.6.2 Trends in Issue Priorities Across the Four Elections
12.7 Discussion
Notes
References
Index
