The opposition might have to hunker down for a long winter
With a 61-member, knife-edge coalition, the Knesset’s summer session was a series of cliffhangers. The opposition filibustered night after night, but Bennett’s agenda advanced nonetheless. The Citizenship Law limiting Palestinian immigration was re-approved, with far-left Meretz holding their noses. Pro-settlement figures in Gideon Saar’s New Hope party also held their peace, even as the government reined in West Bank building and played possum to Palestinian terror. In short, the coalition proved that it’s not as brittle as advertised.
The source of this cohesion is none other than Netanyahu himself. The endurance of the right-wing-religious bloc in opposition means that the fear of Bibi’s return looms large over the coalition. A recent Channel 12 poll showing that 46% of voters would prefer a Netanyahu government, versus only 33% support for one led by Bennett, will have brought that message home.
That dynamic buys Bennett himself — whom the same poll hands a mere six seats — a precious tank of political oxygen. His next test is to pass the budget in November, failing which the country heads to elections again. How likely is that? As veteran commentator Shalom Yerushalmi points out, an Israeli government has never fallen over a failure to pass the state budget, and it won’t happen this time either. The expected passage of the budget will strengthen the prime minister’s shaky hold on power, and could trigger a leadership challenge to Netanyahu within the Likud.
Bennett’s coming-out party on the international stage was his recent visit to the Oval Office. The fact that an exhausted POTUS appeared to take a nap kept social media busy, but Bennett got what he came for: a photo op. Burnishing his lackluster prime ministerial image will go far in steadying Bennett’s hold on power. So too will a fall in Israel’s dreadful Covid numbers, both infection and mortality. Successfully keeping hospitals operating, and the economy plus shuls open over the next few weeks in the face of media calls for more lockdown, could well boost the new boy in Balfour Street.
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