Majority now

Liberman is unlikely to cooperate with the Joint List or the Democratic Union, and his response has been mostly to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By JPOST EDITORIAL
PREISDENT REUVEN RIVLIN and party leaders - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz - pose for a photograph in the Chagall State Hall on October 3, when the 22nd Knesset was inaugurated. (photo credit: Courtesy)
PREISDENT REUVEN RIVLIN and party leaders - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz - pose for a photograph in the Chagall State Hall on October 3, when the 22nd Knesset was inaugurated.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz got to work almost immediately after President Reuven Rivlin officially gave him the mandate to form the next government, calling not only the leaders of every faction in the Knesset, but also the leaders of individual parties within the factions and party co-leaders.
The only exception was Mtanes Shehadeh of Balad, the most extreme of the four parties making up the Joint List – which had an MK go to prison in 2018 for smuggling phones to terrorists in prison and whose founder is a fugitive wanted for aiding Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War.
Notably, Shehadeh is also the only party leader outside of the 55-seat religious-Right bloc who made a firm statement that he would not support a minority government led by Gantz. Of course, Shehadeh wouldn’t support any government in the Jewish state of Israel, which puts him in a very different position than other politicians discussing the matter.
In recent weeks, there has been much talk about a minority government of 44 or 47 seats, made up of Blue and White and Labor-Gesher, plus either the Democratic Union or Yisrael Beytenu, and supported from the outside by one of those parties along with the Joint List.
A big reason for all this talk is that the Likud pushed this rumor, trying to pressure Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman to denounce the Joint List – something that he doesn’t usually need much prodding to do – thus ruling out any possibility of a minority government being established, because Gantz wouldn’t have the votes.
Liberman is unlikely to cooperate with the Joint List or the Democratic Union, and his response has been mostly to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for any cooperation he’s had with the Arab bloc.
Another reason this is not the most likely scenario is because right-wing MKs within Blue and White have said behind the scenes that they are deeply uncomfortable relying on an anti-Zionist faction.
But, since no one to the Left of Likud has full-throatedly denied or condemned a minority government depending on the Joint List – and since Gantz called three out of four Joint List leaders on Wednesday night – it should not be ruled out as a possible result of the current coalition talks.
And that is unfortunate.
There is obviously much to be said about the tensions between the Joint List as the major bloc representing Israeli Arabs and the rest of the Knesset, in large part because it openly opposes the founding ethos and continuing character of Israel as the Jewish state, and has sided with some of Israel’s enemies in word and, in some cases, deed.
There are differences of opinion as to whether that is disqualifying or whether that can be put aside either somewhat or entirely to deal with other problems Israel faces.
Regardless of what one thinks on that topic, a minority government is a recipe for disaster for another reason.
The Israeli political scene has been in turmoil for a year, ever since Liberman resigned as defense minister, throwing Israel into a pre-election frenzy. Then we had an election, Netanyahu’s unprecedented failure to launch a government, his decision to call another election, and now his second failed attempt.
This has a negative impact on our economy, our security, our international relations and in just about every area where the government needs to make decisions and cannot do much because it is an interim government. And socially, this has been a year of highlighting and deepening the schisms between different population groups.
One may be tempted to think that any government is better than no government at this point, just to stop the madness.
But if every Israeli coalition has seemed somewhat precarious, a minority government would be even more so. It would have an even greater chance of falling apart at any moment.
What Israel needs now is a solid coalition, built on a majority of the Knesset’s seats, so that it can last long enough to repair the damage of the last year’s chaos.
Gantz should keep this in mind and not be tempted to form a government that will barely be a reprieve from the country’s stormy situation. Israel needs stability, and that requires a normal majority coalition.