ABSTRACT
Israel’s March 2006 elections were dominated not by security issues, as they have been traditionally, but by social welfare concerns. Even Benjamin Netanyahu—who over the past few years has had some measure of success as finance minister in promoting liberal policies, achieving job creation and economic growth—felt a need during the campaign to apologize for his policies, promising to “return” the entitlements that had been recently reduced. Campaign rhetoric that began as strong criticism of Netanyahu continued on to criticism of bank CEOs and eventually any other wealthy person.
