When the opposition declares the government to be illegitimate

In the beginning of December 2019, I published an article in The Jerusalem Post with the title “The Knesset’s legitimation function – a temporary breakdown?” The conduct of the new opposition these days, following the formation of the new government led by Naftali Bennett, suggests that since my original article was written, somewhere between the first and second rounds of elections in 2019, the situation has further deteriorated, to worrying dimensions.

Just a short reminder of what is meant by “the Knesset’s legitimation function.” The legitimation function of a parliament refers to the fact that by participating in the work of the parliament, and playing by the rules of the game, MPs perform an important role in legitimizing the system of government in the eyes of their voters.

This function is of special importance in the case of MPs who belong to parties, which are not happy with the current system of government, and would like to replace it with a totally different system.

In Israel’s case this is especially important with regards to the ultra-Orthodox MKs and the Arab MKs, who together represent 30% of the population, and each of which would like Israel to have a totally different regime: the haredim a theocratic state run on the basis of the Halacha, and the Arabs – a state defined as “the state of all its citizens.” If either of these communities will be alienated to the point of deciding to break the rules of the game, Israel’s liberal democratic regime will be greatly weakened.

Since I wrote my previous article on the subject several changes have taken place, which somewhat changes the political balance within the system. The first is that the ultra-Orthodox parties, which have participated in most governments to the present, are in the opposition, and the second is that for the first time in Israel’s history an Arab party – Ra’am (United Arab List) – is part of the coalition.

However, the most critical change is that for the first time in 12 years the Likud, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is in the opposition, together with the ultra-Orthodox parties, the Religious Zionist Party and the Joint List, and since the swearing in of the new government, the Jewish parties in the opposition are engaged in a systematic and ruthless smearing and delegitimization campaign against the government and its head.

The driving force behind the campaign, since it became evident that there was a real chance that the Government of Change would materialize, was Netanyahu himself. After Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid informed President Reuven Rivlin and then-Knesset speaker Yariv Levin on June 2, that he had managed to form a government in which Bennett would serve first as prime minister and would be replaced by himself in August 2023, all hell broke loose.

The prospective government was referred to by its opponents as based on fraud, dangerous to Israel’s security, “Left,” incoherent and therefore illegitimate, with the ultra-Orthodox parties adding their ha’penny to the rampant demagoguery by accusing it of being intent on destroying Israel’s Jewish character.

Bennett was referred to as a crook, a liar, unqualified to serve as prime minister and lacking a concrete political base, all of which added up to making him illegitimate in the eyes of his critics. In his last speech as prime minister, Netanyahu spoke of toppling the new government as soon as possible, without giving it even 100 days of grace.

OF COURSE, it is perfectly legitimate for the losing side in elections to express its negative feelings about a new government and a new prime minister. However, there are limits to what may be legitimately said and done, and it is especially not legitimate to fabricate and forge facts to “substantiate” the factual basis of the complaints against the government and its head.

In their attacks on the legitimacy of the government there are numerous lies and untruths that are continuously repeated. For example, it is said that “a majority of the people” do not support the new government. This may equally be said about the right-wing religious government that Netanyahu tried to form – not because there isn’t a large Jewish majority that wants a right-wing-religious government, but because there isn’t a Jewish majority that wants a right-wing-religious government headed by Netanyahu, and consequently the Arab parties all of a sudden found themselves in the position of kingmakers. The fact that Mansour Abbas decided to join the government and provide it with a slim majority, resulted mainly from the refusal of the Religious Zionist Party to agree to serve in a government dependent on the support of any of the Arab parties.

Then there is the claim that Bennett and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar were elected by right-wing voters, who were then fraudulently used to form a left-wing government. First of all, the new government is not a left-wing government. It is a government of parity in which the right-wing members on the one hand and the Left/ Center members on the other can veto policies to which they object.

Secondly, Sa’ar informed potential voters all along the last election campaign that if they want a government led by Netanyahu they shouldn’t vote for his party, while Bennett kept declaring that his main goal was to avoid fifth elections, and that he preferred a right-wing government – if one could be formed – which proved impossible, with Netanyahu as leader of the Likud.

In addition, it is not illegitimate for a party to act differently than it had promised in its election campaign. Menachem Begin did so in his agreement to the peace deal with Egypt, which involved returning the whole of Sinai to Egypt; Yitzhak Rabin did so with the Oslo Accords; Ariel Sharon did so with the unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif; and Benny Gantz and Amir Peretz did so when they joined the emergency government with Netanyahu just over a year ago.

As to the fact that Bennett heads a parliamentary group with only seven members (one of whom voted against the formation of the government), the law does not provide for the leader of the largest party being the only one who can form a government. In fact, the leader of any party, no matter what its size, can form a government as long as there is a majority that supports the government, and this is certainly the case at the moment, even though the majority is narrow, and the balance could change.

However, what is most disturbing about the current situation is that a large part of the opposition is currently busy delegitimizing the government and the system of government that enabled it to come into being, and that large parts of the public are listening to and absorbing what it is saying.

In other words, close to half of the MKs are not performing their legitimation function, but rather a delegitimization function. The fact that most of these MKs have reservations about the liberal democratic system, and would prefer a conservative democracy that does not place much value on human rights and equality for women, minorities and the gay community, gives rise to some grim thoughts about what lurks ahead.

The writer was a researcher in the Knesset Research and Information Center until her retirement, and recently published a book in Hebrew,

the Jewish people – but only if they change their policy today.

A word to the editor, please at least be even-handed in your op-eds.

EDMUND JONAH Rishon LeZion