Israeli prisoner swap deal not in voting phase yet
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One man to decide
One of the problems with the various campaigns concerning Shalit is that at the end of the day it is down to one man to decide what happens, said Israel Waismel-Manor, the course director. It is unclear how susceptible Benjamin Netanyahu is to opinion polls and public-relations exercises.
"When we're talking about one individual I have no idea what he thinks when he wakes up in the morning. Maybe he sees things (in the media) that influence him," said Waismel-Manor.
It is a view shared by Wolfsfeld. It is impossible to gauge the effect this has had on the prime minister, but presumably the higher the pressure, the higher the price, he said.
If the campaign has indeed affected the government and as a result the price for Shalit's release is higher than it would have been otherwise, then Netanyahu will find himself bombarded by opponents of the deal the day after it goes ahead, Wolfsfeld argued.
There are plenty of opponents to the likely make-up of the arrangement. It is understood that of the six ministers who debated the deal with Netanyahu over the course of two days, three were in favor and three against.
This fact leaves the possible voting in Israeli cabinet after the current discussion between Israel and Hamas full of uncertainty.
However, as far as the actual decision-making process is concerned, Waismel-Manor believes it is right that it is left to the prime minister and not put to a referendum, for example.
"For four years I am meant to be an active citizen. I can demonstrate and protest but when I voted at the polling station, I was saying 'whomever is elected, was selected by democratic process to be my prime minister and he has the right to implement anything, whether it's to hand over territory, to launch military operations or to free soldiers'," said Waismel-Manor.
