Netanyahu’s Economic Record Goes Unchallenged

It’s not the economy, stupid. With campaigning now fully under way for Israel’s parliamentary election, there’s been remarkably little attention on how the country’s economy has fared in the decade under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. An outsider might reasonably conclude that Israelis are satisfied with the state of their economy, leaving Netanyahu’s opponents no openings to attack him.

And indeed, the economy gives the appearance of rude health, having grown at an average 3.3 percent since 2000, which is impressive for a developed country. Unemployment (4.1 percent) and inflation (1.2 percent) are low. Speaking in the Knesset in October, Netanyahu patted himself in the back for his economic management, declaring, “This decade has been a marvelous decade — a decade of growth, of strengthening, of stability, of security, of prosperity.”