With Lapid versus Bibi, it's 2013 all over again
Nothing encapsulates the story of the first Israeli-Palestinian government’s fall better than the moment Ayelet Shaked received the news of the coalition’s breakup. Bennett’s ally of 15 years was in the courtyard of the Hassan II Mosque in Rabat, a desert wind blowing in her face, when she got the call from the Prime Minister’s office. When she heard what Bennett had to say, she was stunned.
That morning, the interior minister had boarded a plane to Morocco, leading a delegation of Israeli mayors. For Israeli government officials, these business trips are a vacation of sorts at taxpayers’ expense. Under the bloated outgoing government, some ministers spent more time in the air than on the ground. While America is the most popular destination, followed closely by Western Europe, Morocco and the UAE can claim the charms of novelty. Bibi sowed the Abraham Accords with tears, and the outgoing government’s ministers reaped with joy.
When the advisor accompanying her asked her to step out into the courtyard to take an emergency call from the prime minister, Shaked tensed. When Bennett told her that he was about to announce his resignation and head to elections, she was nothing short of dumbstruck.
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked was the one who first introduced Bennett to Netanyahu in her role as the opposition leader’s office director from 2006 to 2008. Bennett had just made his lucrative exit from the high-tech world, and was determined to enter politics after his personal experience with leadership incompetence during the Second Lebanon War.
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