Spoils of Victory, or Blame for Defeat?

Binyamin Netanyahu, who over the past year boycotted the opposition leader’s traditional security briefings by the prime minister in a pointed denial of the government’s legitimacy, had no choice but to meet Yair Lapid in the prime minister’s office at the height of the fighting. Later he appeared on American media to defend the Lapid government’s actions.

We’ve seen this war movie before. A little over a year ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz managed operation Guardian of the Walls as two bitter rivals from different sides of the aisle. Now Gantz, still defense minister, regards interim prime minister Lapid as a political rival holding the job he covets himself.

Three long months remain before the Israeli elections, but for now, we can say tentatively that the big winner of the latest spat between Islamic Jihad and Israel is Yair Lapid. The decision to launch an offensive bore fruit with the successful elimination of Islamic Jihad’s top brass.

The lack of meaningful security experience was Private Lapid’s Achilles heel. His army résumé as a writer for the military magazine Bamachaneh became a weapon in the hands of his rivals, who mercilessly mocked his lack of experience. From now on, Netanyahu, who ran on the “Mr. Security” ticket, will find himself facing an incumbent prime minister able to measure up and show concrete results from the latest round of fire.