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the privatization of the Israel Lands Administration, which is expected to turn tens of thousands of
apartment- and house-owners, together with future buyers of state-owned lands, into stakeholders in the
maintenance of the privatization regime.

The aim of securing public support for the privatization regime also stands behind the alliance struck
between Netanyahu and Histadrut labor federation chairman Ofer Eini. In the "package deal" that led to the
passage of the budget earlier this year, Netanyahu secured Eini's support for privatization of the ILA, the
Israel Electric Corporation and the ports, in effect turning the Histadrut from the most vociferous opponent
of privatization into an integral part of it. In return, and despite his hostility toward it, Netanyahu agreed to
recognize the status of organized labor - which has now ceased to be a political threat to the privatized
regime, and has not been successfully incorporated into it.

It appears then that, unlike his disappointed supporters, Netanyahu distinguishes between goals and means,
and is even willing to pay the price of temporary deviations from die-hard neo-liberalism in order to
strengthen the privatization regime. In so doing, and contrary to his declarations, he confirms the
arguments of the critics of neo-liberalism to the effect that economics is not a law of nature but a political
means for building a society.

Daniel Gutwein teaches economic and social history at the University of Haifa.

Netanyahu’s recent election platform regarding Reform
in the Israel Lands Authority:

“The monopoly that the government of Israel has over
land is a long-standing barrier to the development of the
Israeli economy. Putting an end to this monopoly and an
immediate retrenching of the bureaucratic procedures
related to unfreezing land for construction would end
the real estate shortage and create immediate
opportunities for young couples to buy homes, and
especially who have served in the IDF.”

(http://en.netanyahu.org.il/Themes-of/Economic/