A Shakespearean welcome to the new government
AHaaretz columnist compared the new government that was sworn in yesterday afternoon to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and this because of the strange pairings that occur in the course of this timeless historic theatrical masterpiece, and have also occurred in the course of the current coalition building.
Indeed, this is undoubtedly the most ideologically incoherent government ever to have been established in Israel – and Heaven knows, we have had some pretty incoherent governments in the last 73 years – governments that reflect the incoherence of Israel’s heterogeneous population.
However, what distinguishes the current scenario from the Shakespearian play is the fact that while the hapless Shakespearian figures had no control over what happened to them, those who have orchestrated the current scenario are a group of sober politicians, almost all of whom are graduates of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Byzantine court. Among the ministers of the new government, Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Gideon Sa’ar, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman, Benny Gantz, Ze’ev Elkin, Yoaz Hendel and Yifat Shasha-Biton are among those who have personal experience of trying to survive in a political environment in which the ambition of anyone who is not Netanyahu is frowned upon, promises and signed agreements are not worth the paper they were printed on, and blind obedience is the only personal trait appreciated.
Whether this experience will also teach them how to cooperate after Macbeth has been removed from the helm is yet to be seen.
I wouldn’t take seriously the predictions of the Likud’s self-appointed prophets, like former (what a sweet word) coalition chairman Mickey Zohar, who keeps predicting that the new government will not survive for more than a few weeks (or maximum a year – when he is in a generous mood). “Since the destruction of the Temple, prophecy has been granted to fools only,” but it is still up to our new leaders to prove this proverb to be correct.
I MUST admit that I find the “greetings”
that some of the members of the outgoing government have imparted to the new government in general, and to its head in particular, to be not only scandalous and totally false, but further proof that for a group of people to remain in power for too long – whoever they may be – is undesirable.
First of all, Netanyahu’s statement that the new government is the most fraudulent government that Israel has ever had, because Bennett’s six remaining Knesset seats were attained at the expense of voters who wanted a right-wing government, shows how short a memory he has. True, not all of Bennett’s voters believed that he would actually go through with joining a “just not Bibi” coalition, but we are not talking of all of Yamina’s voters – most likely no more than a third. However, Netanyahu’s fifth government – the national emergency government – was established with 15 members from Blue and White (out of the original 33), two members of the Labor Party (out of three – MK Merav Michaeli refused to join) and Orly Levy-Abecassis (who had run in a joint list with Meretz and Labor), all of whom were elected on platforms of “just not Bibi.”
In other words, for Netanyahu a political maneuver constitutes an act of fraud if its result is to oust him from power, but is perfectly legitimate if it helps keep him in power.
The cries of dismay sounded by the ultra-Orthodox leaders are no less scandalous in their content. Arye Deri, Ya’acov Litzman and Moshe Gafni all portray Bennett as a heretic and evil man, who ought to remove his kippah and be banished, and the new government as intent on destroying the Jewish religion in Israel.
“We are not talking of separating religion from the state, but of uprooting religion from the state,” Deri complained, while Gafni called on members of the National-Religious camp to excommunicate the members of Yamina who will support the “evil government.”
What total nonsense, and what audacity. The ultra-Orthodox cannot tell anyone whether he/she can wear a kippah, and they cannot determine the nature of the Jewish state, which is not their own private property, but that of the Jewish people as a whole – of which the ultra-Orthodox are but a small minority in the world.
The new government expresses this basic reality much better than a Likud/ ultra-Orthodox/religious-Zionist government. After the haredim demonstratively refused to obey the rules of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, and proved their irresponsible conduct and lack of concern for the lives of their followers in the Mount Meron catastrophe, it is the ultra-Orthodox religious and political leaders who should eat humble pie and start putting their own house in order, rather than slander the new government.
Then there are the likes of former minister David Amsalem, who mocked the new government for being made up of “tzfonbonim” (a derogatory term for Ashkenazim from north Tel Aviv). This refers to the fact that the new government was formed by a group of Ashkenazi men (and one woman). This is undoubtedly true, but where were the Mizrahi men in the foundation of the new coalition? Where were the prominent Mizrahi men who stated in a clear voice “It is time for Netanyahu to go!”? There were very few of them.
However, what should be noted is that women form a third of the new government (nine ministers), and of them three are non-Ashkenazi (Shasha-Biton, Meirav Cohen and Pnina Tamano-Shata), and another two have Mizrahi fathers (Shaked – a Persian-born father, and Orna Barbivai – an-Iraqi born father).
BY THE time this article appears, we shall know whether the Likud and the ultra-Orthodox parties will enable a smooth transfer of power, whether they will accept the legitimacy of the power change, or continue to claim foul play and turn the transfer of power (which should end on Wednesday) into a messy affair that will leave a bitter taste in everyone’s mouths.
Lapid demonstrated in his statement that the supporters of the new government should avoid “jumping into the fountain” (he was referring especially to the fountain on Rabin Square in Tel Aviv – which is fortunately under repairs, and empty) and yelling victory, that he understands how delicate the situation is, and that the correct move is to avoid rubbing salt into the new opposition’s open wounds.
I doubt whether Netanyahu will demonstrate similar sensitivity – that is not in the man’s nature.
After the magic of the midsummer night’s dream will vanish, the new government will have to do its best not only to survive, but to thrive without any cooperation whatsoever from the opposition. On the contrary, it is doubtful whether it will even receive 100 days of grace.
It was against this background that an encounter, in the course of my Saturday afternoon walk, with a member of the Knesset’s operations division gave me some encouragement. He told me that he and members of his team were almost finished with the preparations for the ceremony on Sunday afternoon. Knowing that he is an avid Likud supporter, I asked him whether he had any misgivings about the events. “No”, he answered, “it is time for change, and even though this is not the government I prayed for, I wish it success. There are some good people there.”
Amen.