By Joe Waadah
The tectonic plates which held together the politics of the Holy land rumbled; and howled in agony; much like a sinking titanic a couple of days ago right before our very eyes.
It was as creepy as it was unimaginable in the history of Israeli politics, that three unlikely bed follows could come together, forge a collective front with the intent of wrestling power from the longest serving Prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Likud Party under Natayahu has held the ace over the years, forging countless coalitions that his rivals couldn’t achieve when the opportunity presented. Well, this time, political analyst zeroed in on this development as things started unraveling.
It happens that after 12 years of leadership by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s parliament installed a coalition government Sunday led by Naftali Bennett, the Orthodox head of a small ultranationalist party. No one had the least inclination that a coalition of this nature could see the light of day.
Pundits of different political persuasion all chorused in unison that Netanyahu being a shrewd politician, would overcome the revolt, that the gang up would collapse along the way as that was not the first time, he has weathered such a political storm. As it turned out, analysts got it all wrong this time as they had little or no clue that the wind was no longer at his back.
His political demise may not be unconnected to a litany of ongoing fraud charges against him while fighting to save his plum job as the countries Prime minister. It certainly could not have been easy. The odds were stacked against him in such a way that surviving the vote in parliament could have only been by an exceptional miracle.
It was shocking to find out that people never gave up on him up until the vote in (the Knesset) Israeli parliament that finally nailed him. As it is, they now think this is going to be the end, although he has shown he is a political cat with far more than nine lives. Even if one cannot tell a lame duck from a rubber chicken, Netanyahu’s travail serves as a guide to help us understand the language of politics.
Even though he was the longest serving Prime minister in the history of Israel, in tune with parliamentary democracy, he will now serve as the leader of the official opposition. This coalition consist of eight parties. The Ra’am an independent Arab faction for the first time in history will sit at table as a member of the ruling coalition. The strategy and plan of action reached in a power sharing deal is for the current Prime minister to be replaced after two years by Yair Lapid, a former TV news anchor and centrist.
There is no question. He has fought in recent years with controversy upon controversy. Presently on trial for charges bordering on corruption, including bribery and fraud, this travail has adversely affected his political fortunes, hindering his party from securing enough votes to slide him into a majority in parliament.
It is worthy of note that Israel has had four general elections in the last two years, yet no party was able to win an outright majority.
It could be recalled that the new coalition succeeded in defeating the Likud-National Liberal Movement by a very tiny margin of just one vote in the Knesset. An indication that former Prime Minister Netanyahu is still popular and could stage a come back in the next general election. Although critics are expecting the former prime minister would work hard to trigger a crack in the coalition. He could do that by having two of three members of the governing party to defect.
The change in the political landscape on Sunday was one that rammed Prime minister Naftali who was a strong ally of the 71 years old Netanyahu into archrivals after the 60-59 vote. Netanyahu was seen by many as one whose ideologically views were far to the extreme right. The new prime minister promised that he would do all in his power to try to reconcile every body to heal a nation divided along party lines. There is no question, Prime minister is set to bring his wealth of experience as he steps in to navigate and preside over a varied and shaky alliance that consist of eight parties with deep ideological disparities.
Dogged and astute Netanyahu isn’t ready to throw in the towel yet, as he appears ready to hang in there till he defaces and topples the incoming administration in another election. “If it is destined for us to be in the opposition, we will do it with our backs straight until we topple this dangerous government and return to lead the country,” he said.
Will that be in four years or less, we do not know. I guess ours is to sit and see it all play out when it will.