The phrase, “Oy li miyitzri oy li miYotzri” seems tailor-made for this moment— Winter Zeman 5786.
It’s not only the Knesset’s winter session that opened in an atmosphere of chaos in the aftermath of the war. The zeman choref of 5786 in the halls of the holy yeshivos also began under difficult circumstances — the likes of which the Torah world in Israel has not experienced since the founding of the state.
The coalition has not yet collapsed, but it has been severely dented. The coalition opened the winter in total paralysis, with not a single bill on the table, as a result of the chareidi parties’ voting boycott. Meanwhile, the opposition — and the “opposition within the coalition” — succeeded, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say failed (in light of Trump’s harsh reaction), in passing preliminary readings of bills to apply sovereignty to Maaleh Adumim and Judea and Samaria — moves that highlighted Netanyahu’s weakness.
At the same time, US Vice President J.D. Vance and senior members of the Trump administration visited Israel to carry out a sort of “Bibi-sitting” mission — to prevent an escalation in Gaza. Trump was quick to issue his own “don’t,” even going so far as to threaten that Israel could lose American support. In doing so, he effectively removed any realistic option of sovereignty. Netanyahu was forced to commit that his government would not apply sovereignty — and once again, we saw that the greatest enemies of the interests of Greater Israel are often those sanctimonious figures who try to outflank the right-wing government from the right.
The opposition, for its part, achieved what it wanted. By riding on “Mashiach’s donkey” from the right, and with the help of coalition MKs and representatives of Agudas Yisrael who voted in favor, it managed to embarrass the prime minister.
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