Who Does Care About Netanyahu? - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Last week, I argued in Haaretz that in the absence of majority support of 61 seats in the next Knesset for a “full right-wing” coalition government, far-right Kahanist Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir might provide a bargaining chip for Benjamin Netanyahu. Through Ben-Gvir, the Likud leader would convince the center-right parties, most importantly the National Unity party, to sit with him in a broad coalition that would save Israel from “extremists on both sides.” It would be a “just not Ben-Gvir” government.
I received two types of reactions to what I wrote. The first, from the right wing, claimed that Netanyahu has committed to Ben-Gvir and also to Bezalel Smotrich through Ben-Gvir’s joint ticket with Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, and that Netanyahu wouldn’t leave them out of any government that he would head. So have you heard? Netanyahu committed. One can only laugh uproariously. All that’s missing is a repeat of Shas leader Arye Dery’s prior guarantees and the joke would be perfect.
But what’s more interesting is the fine print in the agreement. According to reports, what Netanyahu committed to was to not leave Ben-Gvir and Smotrich out of a coalition if he manages to cobble together a majority coalition of 61 seats. And if he doesn’t?
That’s where the second and more serious set of reactions comes in – that an anyone-but-Ben-Gvir government would not help Netanyahu achieve his goal of putting an end to the criminal trial against him. It’s true: Netanyahu would undoubtedly prefer a “full right-wing” government. But the scenario that I described relates to the possibility, a real one according to the polls, that in the November 1 election, the ultra-Orthodox and nationalist vote again won’t deliver the mandates that he needs. If Netanyahu again doesn’t succeed in getting the support of 61 seats, his “promise” to Ben-Gvir would be null and void.
In such a situation, the candidates would again have to decide whether to make painful compromises or lead the country to yet another election. And if we listen closely to National Unity leader Benny Gantz and his partners, we mainly hear support for “a broad government that doesn’t rely on the extremes.”
And who are the extremes? The ones who don’t meet the threshold conditions of being “Jewish and democratic” – in other words, since the ultra-Orthodox parties and the United Arab List have already gotten a seal of approval, we're talking about excluding members of the Balad faction of the Joint List and the Kahanists. Not Netanyahu.
Nowhere in the National Unity party’s statement of action principles does it say or even hint at “anyone but Bibi.” But it does make reference to “instituting reform to the judicial system to buttress the rule of law and strengthen the confidence of the entire public in the systems of enforcement and justice.”
That’s really not funny. It’s a provision for Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who presents no less a danger to the judicial system than Netanyahu, if not more of one. But those who think Netanyahu is only interested in partners who would assist him in judicial reform for some reason don’t include Sa’ar. From their standpoint, Netanyahu’s personal assault on the judicial system is a danger to democracy, but Sa’ar’s fundamental assault is actually completely democratic.
Sa’ar gave a weekend interview to the publication Makor Rishon. The headline wasn’t “There won’t be a government with Netanyahu,” but rather “There won’t be a government that’s reliant on the Joint List.” Yes, Sa’ar attacked Netanyahu from the right, but the tone was entirely different from prior election rounds.
“The next government will be a broad national unity government that is not reliant on the extremes,” Sa’ar said. “We don’t exclude a government with Likud. [We] just don’t think that Netanyahu needs to be prime minister.” And if Netanyahu isn’t prime minister again, the fine print says it all.
The sense in this election campaign is that the tone against Ben-Gvir is intensifying, but with regard to Netanyahu, it’s softening. An anecdote that exemplifies this is the regular slogan used by Tzeirim Boarim party Chairwoman Hadar Muchtar: “What do I care about Bibi or not Bibi. That doesn’t interest me.”
And perhaps it’s actually not an anecdote but rather a sad prediction. It seems that Netanyahu is also less interesting to the members of the outgoing “government of change.”