Why the New Israeli Government Will Last
A new Israeli government has been sworn in. This new government does not include former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor the ultra-Orthodox, or the Likud Party that has ruled Israel (with few exceptions) for the last 44 years. Many Israelis believed this day would never come.
For many young Israelis, Netanyahu is the only Prime Minister they have ever known. Netanyahu’s supporters, view him as a father-figure who has taken care of them. Opponents see Netanyahu as a political evil-genius, who could never be entirely be defeated. Both groups will need to adjust to a whole new world, in which, to paraphrase President Richard Nixon’s declaration when his term came to a premature end — “You won't have Netanyahu to kick around anymore."
Many pundits predict a quick demise of the new government, asserting the ideological differences within a coalition including Meretz, an adamant left-wing party, and Yamina, a definitively right-wing party, are just too significant. That assessment is undoubtedly the hope of the Likud. Last Thursday night, I was on a TV panel with former Likud MK and current head of the Likud Court, Michael Kleiner. He asserted the new government would not last, purporting the only thing holding the new coalition partners together is the desire to unseat Netanyahu. Ergo, once Netanyahu is removed from office, the new government will fall apart. I beg to differ —
Kleiner’s wishful thinking will not doom the new government. There is indeed a size-able ideological gap between the different parties in the new coalition on some issues. However, what unites them is far more significant than what divides them. First and foremost, almost all the parties in the coalition are committed to good governance and understand that this is their chance to prove they can actually accomplish something.
So, while Meretz voters might care about the state of the occupation, they have no illusion the current government will bring about peace. Nevertheless, Meretz voters will be thrilled if their representatives, one of whom will be Health Minister, can make significant improvements in Israel's healthcare system, (which currently lags behind most of the OECD, successes with battling Coronavirus notwithstanding). The designated Minister of Health, Nitzan Hurwitz, will take a job that (until this past year) had been filled for the last decade by an ultra-Orthodox MK, who lacks a high school education. Meretz will also run the Environmental Ministry. Peace in our time is unachievable, but major strides to improve Israel's environment are imminently achievable.
The desire and drive to realize tangible goals cuts across all the ministries and members of the coalition, which are factors that unites them. They all have something to prove. Moreover, all the members of the new coalition understand that five years during which Prime Minister Netanyahu and his various representatives have attacked the police, the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General, and the judiciary — all of which have had a part in the investigation of Netanyahu – have resulted in a precipitous loss of faith of the public in those institutions. The new coalition’s existential mission for Israel’s democracy is to restore the confidence of the people in the institutions of government.
There is also a strong realization that after 12 years of Netanyahu's leadership; a political leadership maintained by creating an ever-deepening ‘hatred of the other’ — be they “the left,” “the media,” “the Arabs,” or some other group — the new coalition is without a doubt charged with working to unify, rather than divide the mainstream of Israeli society.
The new coalition must also address the needs of those who are not fully part of that mainstream, such as, Israeli Arabs. Here, the historic participation of an Arab Israeli party as part of the coalition is groundbreaking, and Israeli politics will never be the same. Moreover, the willingness of the Ra’am Party to be part of the government, as well as the readiness of the other members of the government, including its right-wing elements, to accept Ra’am, will in and of itself help bring Arab Israelis closer to Israel’s mainstream.
The one big issue that divides the new coalition’s members is what to do with the occupied parts of the West Bank. However, that issue is not likely to become a significant controversy for either side of the spectrum. If President Trump were still in the White House, the right-wing would push for the annexation of the Jewish settlement in the West Bank. But, such a campaign is a non-starter with the Biden Administration.
At the same time, despite the opposition of Meretz and Labor to the occupation, without a significant change on the Palestinian side, there is no realistic anticipation of any real progress. Of course, if a Palestinian Sadat was suddenly elected, that might challenge the new government's stability. However, no one expects that to happen, especially after Palestinian Authority’s elections were canceled.
A final reason I believe this coalition will last is that its members have no place to go if the government fails. True, they will have accomplished their goal of removing Netanyahu from Balfour Street (the prime ministerial residence). Still, unless these leaders can show they have flexibility and the ability to work together for the common good, their political careers will be effectively over. That is a powerful incentive for common sense and good government to triumph over divisive rhetoric that could tear the coalition apart.
Israel has become a wealthy country that faces many challenges. For the past three years, its politics have been dominated by the short-term needs of a Prime Minister embroiled in his own legal morass, unable to even to pass a state budget. The new government is not the first to bridge vast ideological gulfs. Will it be able to succeed in the current hyper-partisan age, flamed by social media? Only time will tell … but I believe it will.
