A populist's memoirs: Will Netanyahu be Israel's Bolsonaro?

As Israel and the world await the outcome of Israel's election in the coming hours, the main question the result will answer is whether former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's populist comeback pitch has succeeded. Or whether he will meet the fate of populists like Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro and be given a resounding boot to keep him out of office.

Beyond the campaign trail, Netanyahu's platform for being re-elected was laid out in his recently published memoirs Bibi: My Story.

Over 700 pages long, a few will have read it in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (where Palestinians under occupation cannot vote despite being under the yoke of the Israeli state). 

A review in The Economist dubbed the book "the Netanyahu Guidebook for Successful Populists". 

According to the Economist's review, Netanyahu's memoirs carry five qualities the former right-wing Israeli leader believes -- implicitly -- have allowed him to become Israel's sole saviour.

The first is that as his country has allegedly faces existential threats, from Iran's nuclear programme to Palestinian statehood, only he could address them. 

The second is that only he could and has taken on the United States, in reference to his meddling in US politics when the policies of Democratic presidents like Barack Obama -- and now Joe Biden -- did not align with those of his Likud platform.

The third his use of the "latest political techniques" including playing on voters' fears through sectarian dog whistling. Infamously, Netanyahu deployed fearmongering against Arab voters in previous campaigns. 

The fourth is that he represents a disenfranchised segment of people against "the elite", a claim used by similar nationalist-populist leaders including former US President Donald Trump.

The fifth is that he is willing to use hard power, referencing his showdown with Barack Obama over using military options against Iran.

It's possible the Israeli public, which has veered further and further to the right over the past several years, could vote populism back, although when it comes to policy on the Palestinian territories, there's little difference between Netanyahu, Lapid, and other rabidly racist politicians. But, as the Economist's review concludes, "In Israel the polls remain static...Mr Netanyahu has polarised opinion. Half the electorate is resolutely against his return; the other half is clamouring for it. It is hard to see an autobiography changing anyone’s views when Israelis feel they already know him all too well".