Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech Oct. 31 to mark the opening of the Knesset's winter session will be remembered for the headline it produced: The prime minister plans to "rehabilitate" the Israel Broadcasting Authority — that is, to cancel the scheduled January inauguration of the new Israel Broadcasting Corporation, which was designed to replace the Israel Broadcasting authority. The speech set another milestone in the ongoing public and media uproar over the future of public broadcasting in Israel.
Yet the statement describing his intentions on public broadcasting barely took up 20 seconds from a speech that lasted about half an hour. Were the broadcasting issue not such a hot public potato, the speech probably could have used a better title such as "Why are Israelis so happy?"
Every autumn, the Knesset returns to work after a long summer break. The highlight of its festive opening session is a speech by the prime minister, who covers all that the government has done over the past few months, and what it plans to do next. Attending the event are the president of Israel and other prominent members of the Israeli government, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Even senior diplomatic staff are invited to fill the Knesset gallery.
This was the seventh consecutive year since his return to power in March 2009 that Netanyahu addressed the Knesset's opening session. This speech, however, was unlike any of the prime minister's previous speeches, which dealt with diplomatic, security and economic issues, such as negotiations with the Palestinians, the struggle against Iran's nuclear program and economic reforms. On Oct. 31, Netanyahu made absolutely no effort to offer his listeners something new. Instead, he used his lengthy speech to provide a basis for his thesis as to why Israelis are (allegedly) happy. Netanyahu did this using figures and other data that he collected and by rebutting unflattering stories about Israel in the media, mocking predictions that proved false in order to strengthen his claims.
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