Netanyahu still hungry for power, devoid of scruples

For a brief moment late last month, it felt as if the political deadlock in Israel had finally been broken and a new government was about to form. After all, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had managed to pull off one of the most improbable salvage operations of any political career. Between embarking on a charm offensive and his blatant manipulation of the current coronavirus crisis, he persuaded the leader of the now much-diminished Blue and White alliance, Benny Gantz, to join forces in a coalition government. This move by Gantz and some of his allies was a cynical betrayal of those who voted for his party and an act that made zero political sense, splitting Blue and White into two almost equal-sized factions. Yet, more than two weeks later, a government has yet to be formed and Netanyahu, with the corpse of Blue and White lying before him, has become greedier and is demanding even more concessions.

Gantz is learning the hard way that binding agreements don’t exist in Netanyahu’s world. For him, it is all sleight of hand. At this point, Netanyahu, in his avarice, is attempting to grab as much as he can in terms of ministries and his agenda, but he is also under pressure to appease his right-wing bloc, whose support he requires in order to form a government. Hence, when the coalition agreement appeared to be ready for signing, Netanyahu last week came back with a new demand: To allow him and his Likud party to interfere with the work of the Judicial Selection Committee, the body that appoints judges to Israel’s courts. Gantz responded by temporarily halting the coalition talks.

The Netanyahu family’s hatred of the judicial system is well documented. For the paranoid Netanyahus, it has become personal, with their desire to escape justice attended by claims that the corruption charges against the prime minister and the earlier conviction of his wife Sarah for misuse of public funds are one big stitch-up by a lefty conspiracy within the justice system, the police and the liberal media. The prime minister has an obsessive desire to control the appointments of the next police chief, senior justice ministry attorneys, and judges. However, Netanyahu is in complete denial that pulling the same stunts in the past did not yield the desired results.

In the aftermath of the Jewish holiday of Passover, coalition negotiations resumed this week. One of the anomalies of these talks is that the person mandated to form a coalition by President Reuven Rivlin — on the recommendation of the majority of MKs — was Gantz, who is now negotiating for Netanyahu to be prime minister, at least for the next 18 months. This is unprecedented, and is either a reflection of Gantz’s naivety or his reluctance to lead the country. It is no surprise that Netanyahu has little respect for Gantz and walks all over him.

Gantz’s mandate to form a coalition government expired on Monday, but Rivlin granted him a two-day extension despite his political folly. The Blue and White leader no longer enjoys the support of a majority of MKs and, since he was asked to form a coalition, the group he leads has halved in size. Something in his calculus went severely wrong and, for an ex-military commander, he hasn’t distinguished himself tactically, let alone strategically.

This leaves Netanyahu in the driving seat. He may be able to extract further concessions from Gantz, whose only route to prolonging his limping political career is to accept most of Netanyahu’s conditions and crawl into his government. Moreover, Likud is now by far the biggest party in the Knesset and it can play not only its rivals off against one another, but also those different groups designated to form the coalition. And if, by doing that, Netanyahu doesn’t get what he wants, he might be tempted to lead the country toward a fourth round of national elections, which he now believes he can win easily.

Considering how Netanyahu has managed, in one stroke, to destroy the opposition, while taking credit for the way coronavirus is being dealt with but taking none of the blame for the unprepared health system he was in charge of for most of his time as prime minister, he may naturally conclude that another national election would wrap things up nicely for him. He would be able to bury his court case once and for all and annex the West Bank, or at least parts of it, as the negotiated coalition agreement suggests.

“King Bibi” is still hungry for power and still devoid of scruples. In his long goodbye from politics, he is determined to leave a legacy — but most of all he wants to avoid jail time. These are the twin pillars of his motivation. He may or may not end up in jail, but his legacy will be clear: Tragically, it is one of authoritarianism, widespread corruption, inciting divisions and hatred, and killing off any chance of peace with the Palestinians, all of which will probably lead to an apartheid state.