Yitzchak Mordechai is a victim of the media. First he was
applauded and pounded on the back by the entire media when he
betrayed the party which had placed him on his political feet
and advanced him to the center of the political map. Then, in
recent weeks, he felt the brunt of the strong arm of the
media, and he eventually yielded to the inevitable. He had no
more strength or grit to continue to the end. He had learned
a useful lesson on the Israeli media, whose sole purpose is
to topple Netanyahu.
We are not speaking about a democratic, liberal, pluralistic
media, but about a media which has collectively rallied to
one side of the political map. Only the fact that the two
leading newspapers (Yediot Acharonot and
Ma'ariv) suspended their editorial columns in the
weeks leading up to the elections prevented them from issuing
a clarion call: Vote for Barak. In the previous elections,
the third paper -- Ha'aretz -- endorsed Peres, and
this time Barak. This isn't a State which has a media, but a
media which has a state, and the media decide how the State
should be run.
As long as Mordechai served the purpose delegated to him by
the media, he was their darling. The surveys predicted
sweeping success for him if he headed the party which would
contend against the Prime Minister. He was hailed as the one
and only man who could bring about the longed-for revolution.
For many days, Mordechai reveled in the praises of the media,
until he really and truly began to believe that he was the
only person who could "achieve a sweeping victory" over
Netanyahu.
This went on just until he lost favor in their eyes and
became a nuisance. The moment it became clear that
Mordechai's candidacy was a liability for the hoped for
upheaval, and might result in Netanyahu's victory, everything
was turned upside-down. The media made an about-face. The
very same media which only a few weeks before went out if its
way to promote Mordechai's candidacy, got together and,
without exceptions, pressed him to withdraw. The more
Mordechai clung to his former declarations that he intended
to run to the end, the more intensive became the attacks.
Mordechai, who had been treated to large doses of pampering
by the media, found it difficult to understand the harsh wave
of attacks. Everywhere, Mordechai became the enemy of the
people, the man who was liable to keep Netanyahu in power,
the candidate on whose account the impoverished State of
Israel was liable to lose hundreds of millions of shekels in
a second round, due to an allegiance to his dubious honor
that he gave his word to persist to the end. Every day, his
standing in the surveys dropped, and the heavy pressure on
him to withdraw from the race became a journalistic
obsession.
It's quite doubtful that even greater and stronger men could
have withstood such an ordeal. Netanyahu endured the massive
pressure of the media for three years in which they did not
balk at any abusive expression that would paint an image of
him as a political monster who should be eliminated as
quickly as possible. Mordechai, who was used to a better
attitude from the media, could not hold out against the
massive attack, and at the last minute he succumbed. Now it
is clear that one who is not strong enough to stand up to the
pressure of the media, is not worthy of positions which
demand stability and firmness in the face of even heavier
pressures.
Ehud Barak surely heaved a sigh of relief when Mordechai
announced his withdrawal. Did he have a part in Mordechai's
decision to withdraw? Did people on his behalf make offers to
Mordechai which "he simply could not refuse," in exchange for
the withdrawal of his candidacy? Presumably we won't know
this for sure until after the elections if ever.
The media, as expected, accepted Mordechai's withdrawal as
self-evident. The hard-working journalists who usually
delight in confounding people with playbacks from their past,
did not try to confound Mordechai with playbacks of his
unequivocal declarations that he would not withdraw his
candidacy under any circumstances whatsoever. That wouldn't
have served their purpose of presenting the Prime Minster as
one who doesn't abide by his words and one who breaks his
promises.
A place of honor is still reserved for Yitzchok Mordechai,
after elections, especially since he called out to vote for
Barak. In the meantime, Mordechai can take it easy: the media
will leave him alone -- at least for the while.
