Raising the bar for Sa’ar

It is high time that Amotz Asa-El changes the name of his column, no? He purports to represent the voice of Middle Israel, but that he’s taken a step or two left of Center-Left is undeniable. But a column titled “Left of Center-Left Israel” would not be, admittedly, particularly catchy.

Nonetheless, his points – though not hermetically protected against rebuttal – are carefully thought out and very well expressed, unlike your other Friday columnist who resorts to petty name calling and calorie-free arguments (odd, isn’t it, that JP readers who regularly demand that former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s views be stricken from your paper seem to read every word he writes). Besides, the concept of a Middle Israel has become fanciful if not farcical; the fence, in other words, can no longer be sat on.

Asa-El, along with just about every other pundit, has offered a suggested configuration for a sustainable and productive coalition. And, like many others, believes that the much-desired stability rests on the shoulders of Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, arguing that he, unlike Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, might be able to convince New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar to become an addition to a long list of promise breakers.

No such effort, I’m sorry to say, will be needed. Within the next few weeks Sa’ar will succumb to P3 pressure – Press, Public, Patriotism – and will announce that “for the good of the country” he will reluctantly join Netanyahu’s coalition. Bennett will then become the final piece of the puzzle, and a solid though troublesome right-wing coalition will move this country forward.

Should this scenario unfold, my vote for Sa’ar will not have been wasted.

BARRY NEWMAN Ginot Shomron