Elections’ fig leaf

While the political dynamics reshape on a daily basis, the current green fashion sweeping  the world has its own say in the race for the Israeli parliament. A rather feeble say.

Obviously, nobody can really predict the results, but the polls and the general feeling since at least half a year points at Netanyahu as the next Prime Minister heading a government with generally about the same ensemble. Therefore, the more vigorous happenings are now taking place on the margins of the political scene, on the right part, the left one and the sectoral wing.

After environmentalism in Israel in large has passed the phase of the outcast weird tree-huggers and managed to enter the mainstream, some of the political parties consider broadcasting a greener attitude along other concerns – the trendiest are (still) the social (though not necessarily socialist) and education – but after a long list of  so-called much more important issues, starting with security.

In addition, a number of green parties are expected to compete for the votes. “The Greens” is a 10-years-old party inspired by the German “Die Gruenen” and the green political movement in Europe, which above all made impressive accomplishments in the Israeli municipal political scene. The newly emergent (about a six months old) “The Green Movement” is comprised of veteran and senior environmentalists in Israel that has been established as an alternative for “The Greens.” Another party often related to this struggle is “Ale Yarok” (“Green Leaf”) only for the similarity in names, although its main topic is legalizing Marijuana (and spreading love, of course). All of these compete for being “the surprise of the elections,” imitating the 8-mandates breakthrough of the Pensioners Party without inheriting its reputation.

Surprisingly, the most controversial issue about these parties, which are usually referred to as “niche-parties,” is their national-political agenda. Or actually, the lack of one. No one debates their different views on environmental issues or priorities, or even social ones. While “The Green Movement” proudly presents its democratic and transparent conduct in comparison to “The Greens,” the latter proudly exhibits recent polls that predict for them three-four seats in the Knesset, although the party is currently practically torn from the inside.

So far, “The Greens” are quite renowned (some would say, infamous) for their collaborations with local celebrities, “The Green Movement” are mostly based on activists and has no known public figures. However, the latter yesterday announced their partnering with Michael Melchior’s “Meimad” (up until now this party used to run together with the left-winged HaAvoda).

But in the broader view, many expect that despite the increasing environmental awareness in today’s Israel, the competition would result in none of the parties actually making it to the parliament. The talks about unification failed one time after another, and even journalists who are better familiar with the local political scene often fail to differentiate one green party from another.  After the last elections failure for “The Greens” they blamed “Green Leaf” saying the voters confused the two of them.

Nonetheless, although many Israelis are aspiring for a change, if there’s one consensual thing among Israeli public today is the belief that actually no true change is in the horizon. In this context, part of that is the priority the society gives for environmental issues. Constantly failing to comprehend the critical point the world is about to reach, sooner than most people think, this attitude reflects in these coming elections. The majority of the players in the Israeli politics, as well as the primer ones among them, don’t really bother investing any thinking about environmental issues into their agendas.

Therefore, the green party that will get more votes would not necessarily be the one more worthwhile, but actually the one employing better PR. Most chances are that, if one of these green parties manages to enter the Knesset, the best achievement possible is gaining three-four seats (out of 120). But most probably, the limited environmental legislation will still be done by few particular MKs from different parties.