Netanyahu strikes swiftly

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now in his fourth term as premier, was interviewed on Bloomberg by philanthropist businessman David Rubenstein, whose weekly slot focuses on questions such as “what makes a great leader?” and “how can leadership be developed into a force for true achievement?”.

Commenting on Israel’s remarkable economic strength, Rubenstein’s first question to Netanyahu was: “At the start of your initial tenure as premier, what was the first thing you did?”

Netanyahu responded: “I believe that you must immediately make all the changes you want as soon as you assume office.”

Rubenstein posed the obvious “why?” and Netanyahu said when he first took office he asked those in the know “what will happen if I change that?” regarding each of his desired changes. The response to each was the same: “Oh, that will definitely result in a three-month strike.” The indomitable Netanyahu responded: “That’s great! Let’s make all changes immediately and settle for one three-month strike!”

When quizzed on Israel’s markedly strong economy and the fact it was becoming a world leader in technology in spite of its small size, Netanyahu said: “Right away we removed governmental-administrative controls over business enterprises. Our policy was to allow private businesses the freedom to succeed or fail — [and] as a result of this, our economy grew dramatically. We realised that technology is the way of the future and that the three essential components are big data, artificial intelligence and connectivity. So our approach was to encourage, invest in and nurture all three of these.”

Regarding the two-state solution, Netanyahu continued: “Just think about this — after crossing the Mediterranean coastline, you land at Ben Gurion Airport 45 seconds later. For the last 13 seconds you are over Israel. It’s the first 32 seconds we worry about. We have no absolutely problem with the two-state solution, but we need to retain control of the military and the defence of our state — that is non-negotiable.”

The path Israel’s economy has taken is food for thought for all leaders and decision makers in SA — our country’s destiny beckons.

Sandy Johnston

Nelson Mandela Bay