One couldn’t help but wonder why the Jewish People only seems to come together in times of horror
IT was a moment that distilled the state of the nation after a week of war. Outside the secured bunker in the Tel Aviv Kiryah, where the cabinet had assembled for an emergency meeting with top military officials, Aryeh Deri made Kiddush. The IDF generals in the room donned their berets and said Amen, and one couldn’t help but wonder why the Jewish People only seems to come together in times of horror.
From the first day of fighting, when Blue and White chair Benny Gantz offered to join an emergency government unconditionally, to the moment Netanyahu took him up on that request and brought him in, four days elapsed. Insiders got the impression that the move had practically been forced on the prime minister.
A day before the new government was sworn in, coalition leaders had demanded that Netanyahu complete the process. The leading architect behind the scenes was Aryeh Deri, who made it clear to Netanyahu that he wouldn’t be comfortable serving in a narrow government waging a war under such horrific circumstances.
At the other end, Yair Lapid refused to join, after conditioning his entrance on the unrealistic demand of removing Ben Gvir and Smotrich from the government. Lapid sustained unusual criticism even from within his own party — whose MKs he essentially hand-picks. He later clarified in a press conference that the government won’t be able to function in its current format.
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