Bibi Netanyahu, Meddler in Chief  

The new government sworn in this week will have a hard time lifting off, and expect turbulence for the remainder of the flight. That’s due not only to its unmanageable size, but also because of internal Likud politics, in particular senior MKs who have found themselves without portfolios.

A year and a half of deadlock was supposed to put an end to all political strife, but in his ministerial selections Likud leader and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made it clear that absolute loyalty and self-effacement are the only tickets to promotion.

Even among those who did receive senior positions, it seems that Netanyahu managed to provide the least-desired post. Former Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein wanted the prestigious and high-caliber foreign ministry and found himself holding the health ministry, a position that involves petty politicking and squabbling over budgets. Gilad Erdan was packed off abroad as an ambassador. Yoav Galant wanted a security post and was made education minister instead. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, considered one of Netanyahu’s closest associates and ablest ministers, very nearly lost his position, retaining it at the last minute after intense criticism of the move to displace him.

For years, senior Likud members courted the party’s registered members and central committee as a way of securing senior posts in the government. By receiving support from Likud members in the party primaries, high-ranking members could essentially force Netanyahu to promote them, whether he liked them personally or not. In this government, that changed.