The roller-coaster that has been the attempt to form an alternative government to the disaster Israel has had to deal with for the past couple of months, appears to reach a positive climax and Lapid and his “friend” Naftali Bennett declare that they are close to inform the President that they have been able to form a government.
Lapid received the mandate from the President before the latest flare-up in the Gaza strip and most political activity surrounding the formation of a new government was halted during the eleven days of fighting. The main event affecting the outcome of the coalition negotiations has been the sudden retraction by Bennett of his support for the “government of Change” with as reasons give “the on-going hostilities”.
The truth is far from this rather pathetic explanation offered by Bennett. Naftali Bennett, as leader of the “Yamina” party has been the best example of opportunism that Israel politics has brought forth over the years (except of course Binyamin Netanyahu) and after having maneuvered himself into the position of pivot, he has been exploiting this to the hilt. The repeated moves between the Netanyahu camp and the “No-Bibi” camp have been characterized by increasing demands and the desperation of both groups made them easy prey for the vulture Bennett. Even Netanyahu has offered him to be Prime Minister for the first period even before Netanyahu himself, while the agreement as it was drawn up with the other side, promises him the same, for a period of more than two years.
Up until this very moment it is unclear how this scandalous story will end. While apparently Bennett has started to realize that his behavior is unacceptable even for Israeli political standards, he is still playing the game, but has now sent his cohort into the fore. Ayelet Shaked, while having claimed all the time that she will remain at the side of Bennett, has “suddenly” shown hesitation and has made demands on the alternative coalition that would require opening already concluded agreements with other members of the coalition and at least so far, Lapid has refused to budge even under the not very veiled threats by Shaked that she will pull out if her demands are not met. This would result in the coalition losing the majority that they need, taking into account that already one of Yamina’s novice Knesset members has stated that he will vote against a government with “leftists”.
It must be noted that Shaked has been under enormous pressure, both from Netanyahu and the Likud, but more so from the hooligans that are in front of her house and calling her a traitor and a leftist (it is still remarkable how Netanyahu managed to turn the word “leftist” into a curse). The level of the threat to her and her family has reached such heights that security forces have been assigned for her protection. (Bennett has also been threatened repeatedly and has bodyguards assigned to him). But, while very serious and unacceptable, these threats (which are a direct result of the incendiary rhetoric of Netanyahu) cannot result in political blackmail and opportunism which both Yamina MK’s have proven themselves experts.
And, while a lot of pressure is being exerted on Bennett and Shaked, mostly originating with Netanyahu who appears to become more desperate by the day, the squabbles between the potential coalition partners are also still putting the successful formation of a coalition in jeopardy, with all parties pulling their own strings so as to secure the best possible starting position for themselves. While worrisome and unsettling, these skirmishes do not appear to go beyond acceptable boundaries of coalition negotiations, and they are not expected to be a stumbling block that will prevent the formation of the coalition in the end. This despite the sometimes harsh accusations and name-calling that has been going on, especially this last week.
This cannot be said about the intentions of Yamina and its leaders Bennet and Shaked. It is very clear that Bennett will move over to the Netanyahu camp the moment he sees an opportunity there to form a government and Netanyahu will be only too happy to accept him, even at the cost of giving him the first place in the rotation agreement. There is one thing that may prevent Bennett in the end from proceeding with Netanyahu: after years and years of lies and broken promises, nobody really believes the Prime Minister anymore. This sad fact is no doubt also the main reason why Gideon Sa’ar, the leader of the “New Hope” party, a member of the alternative coalition, rejected a rather desperate offer by Netanyahu only yesterday to make Sa’ar Prime Minister in an unprecedented three-way (with Bennett) rotation agreement.
The mandate of Lapid expires tomorrow (Wednesday) at midnight, and it appears we will not know for sure if Israel is heading into the abyss of a fifth round of elections, a disastrous continuation of the Netanyahu era or a glimmer of hope with a government that will keep the interests of the people in mind, and not only the interests of their leader.
I am told to be optimistic…………
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