Netanyahu back from political abyss after rival Gantz ‘bottles’ attempt to lead Israel
LESS than a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be teetering on the brink of political annihilation.
After three inconclusive elections and his indictment on corruption charges, Israel’s prime minister faced being unseated by a general who styled himself as the antidote to Mr Netanyahu’s hard-Right identity politics.
But on Thursday, the fortunes of Mr Netanyahu and his arch-rival, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White alliance, were dramatically reversed.
Mr Gantz, who had supposedly been absorbed in talks on forming a minority government, announced that he was nominating himself as speaker of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
It was the first time in history that a politician with a mandate to become Israel’s prime minister had instead dropped his sights to the humble role of Knesset speaker.
What had gone wrong? As the dust began to settle, one answer became clear: Mr Gantz, in the words of one Israeli correspondent, had “bottled it”, after realising he could not unite the disparate factions in his own alliance.
Behind closed doors, Israeli media reported, a deal had been struck to allow Mr Netanyahu to stay in power at the head of a unity government.
In return, Mr Gantz would serve as both speaker and foreign minister, before taking over as leader in 18 months.
After months of turmoil and rhetoric, including one outlandish claim by Mr Netanyahu’s allies that the supreme court was plotting against him, “Bibi” appears to have emerged as victor.
“Gantz’s resignation to the need to sit under [Netanyahu’s] government … is nothing but a resounding victory for the prime minister,” Jason Pearlman, a former adviser to Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel, told The Sunday Telegraph. “Netanyahu has once again proven his political indestructibility.”
Mr Gantz’s party and supporters, many of whom voted Blue and White solely to remove Mr Netanyahu from power, are furious.
“It’s exactly what I did not want to happen, to see Gantz actually partner with Netanyahu,” said Tami Golan, 46, who voted for Mr Gantz in three elections. “I understand coronavirus makes for a special situation, but I can’t help but feel disappointed.”
“The only reason that led them to vote for this half-baked party was the desire to see Netanyahu outside of Balfour Street,” wrote Nahum Barnea, of the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
The victory for Mr Netanyahu is twofold – not only is he likely to remain in power, but the move by Mr Gantz has destroyed Blue and White, with two key factions quitting the alliance in protest this week.
Yair Lapid, the leader of one of those factions, accused Mr Gantz of stealing anti-Netanyahu votes and handing them to the country’s embattled prime minister on a plate.
He said: “This week of all weeks, in which the attacks on the justice system were at their worst, a prize was given to those who disobey the law. A prize to criminality. You can’t crawl into a government like that and tell us you did it for the good of the country.”
Mr Gantz’s allies insist he put country before party, choosing to serve in a relatively stable government under his arch-enemy, rather than push for a deeply unpopular fourth election or risk a volatile, minority coalition.
Mr Gantz also believes that a role under Mr Netanyahu should be an opportunity to mitigate some of the prime minister’s excesses.