(Yoel Marcus-Haaretz)....One hundred days are meaningless. Nobody expected David Ben-Gurion to proclaim Israel's independence in 100 days or to achieve anything concrete 100 days afterward. We've had good leaders and bad leaders, without having to count. Dalia Itzik didn't have to wait 100 days in order to announce that "Bibi is squeezable and crushable." Nor does the media convey a true picture of Bibi's performance in his first 100 days.
One hundred days or not, with or without Sara, the truth is that Bibi has brought color back to Likud's cheeks. He raised his party from 12 Knesset seats to 27, an unprecedented success, while Labor is a wink away from becoming a semi-colon in the state's functioning. True, Kadima has the advantage of one additional Knesset seat, but Bibi managed to establish a stable government that does not depend on anyone's whims. Even Avigdor Lieberman and Benny Begin have turned into lambs.
But the media is replete with stories about the goings-on among the advisors, spokespeople and secretaries in the prime minister's bureau. Not only are there too many ministers, some say that dozens of personal aides are wrestling with each other over who will do what and who is more important than whom.
But all this is trivia. Bibi is at the helm during a fatal crossroads in the state's life. He is locked in an unprecedented clash with an American president who doesn't play with mannerisms of love for the Jews. An expose by Orly Azoulay in last weekend's Yedioth Ahronoth cites a "source close" to U.S. envoy George Mitchell, saying "Obama is not Bush and if Israel isn't with him in the move he's leading, he won't harm it, but it won't enjoy that special status that is critical for it." This is not simply worded. Never has an Israeli prime minister been under such a harsh threat as Netanyahu is from Obama.
Bibi has formed a functioning government, which in a time of need could be boosted by Kadima. The ideological move he is spearheading is different from that of the previous government. If impeded, he will not succeed. If we don't let him work, we won't know whether this is a different Bibi. We can criticize him for deviating from a political or ideological line, but don't tug the hem of his jacket, and leave him alone with the shtetl nonsense. Let Bibi work.
