A great experiment in Israeli politics appears to be heading for an abrupt end much before it could be properly tried. The government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett experienced its first and perhaps final coalition crisis after a relatively obscure coalition member, Idit Silman, announced that she was quitting the coalition. Her departure brings a tie in the Knesset (Parliament) with the coalition and the Opposition having 60 members each in a 120-member House. The experiment that Bennett had embarked on was to keep together a rare alliance of liberal and Arab deputies who opted to join his government last June. This marked a watershed moment in Israel’s history as rightist forces had so long dominated the country’s politics, fomenting the Arab-Israel conflict. Bennett stitched up a coalition ending former PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12 years in power. The Bennett government made some small steps toward introducing a more secular, centrist and calmer political climate. This showed the hardline politics of Netanyahu could be replaced by a multifaceted coalition aiming at inclusive governance. But, the good work being done gets a jolt with the surprise decision of Idit Silman to leave the coalition on what may appear to outsiders to be a flimsy issue. Her grievance was against the government’s decision to serve, among hospital patients, ‘leavened’ bread (bread with a raising agent such as yeast) during Passover, a key Jewish ritual. In Idit’s view this is a threat to Israelis’ identity. Significantly, the government had only acted as per the directive of the country’s Supreme court. This shows how right wing politicians are often very rigid and not prepared to accept even court verdicts.
Bennett has not yet made any comment on the development. This means he might not have given up all hopes for continuing with his political experiment of knitting together a unity government that includes his former opponents. Bennett has led his party Yamina into an eight-party coalition with relative success for nearly a year, the high point of which is his negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. The Bennett government is not in imminent danger of a collapse immediately since the Knesset will resume its session in May and till then nothing can be done to topple the government. Right from the beginning, its continuance was a risky proposition for its wafer-thin majority of 61 against 59. If one more member of the coalition quits, the government will fall. The needle of suspicion for engineering the crisis points towards Netanyahu who had threatened, the day he was removed from power, that he would work for the demise of the government. He did not conceal his joy when Idit resigned. He not only hailed her decision, but also urged others in the coalition to follow in her footsteps. But, that does not mean he can return to power immediately, since some of the right wing members of the Knesset are very opposed to him. Moreover, Bennett has done a good job running his coalition of rivals and set an example before the Israelis of what a more centrist government could look like. But his main problem has been that he is not a particularly popular Prime Minister. His inexperience could be one reason, but he was not as articulate as Netanyahu in explaining his policies to the people.
Netanyahu’s chances of return have brightened even if there is a fresh election – fifth during the past four years. If reports of ambitious and frustrated centrists such as Defense Minister Benny Gantz distancing themselves from Bennett are true, then the days of the present coalition government are indeed numbered. In that event, Netanyahu will make a strong bid for return, cashing in on his much greater popularity than other politicians. Though he is embroiled in corruption and criminal charges, the prosecution appears to not be based on solid evidence. That is why hours after Idit’s resignation, Netanyahu appealed to additional members of the ruling coalition to defect and form a new government with him at the head.
Israel seems to be going back to square one. The same old problems such as fractured peace in West Bank and the Palestinian problem that have cooled off a bit under Bennett’s coalition government are likely to resurface in the event of Netanyahu returning to power. The new accommodating politics that the coalition government ushered in showed some promise during the past nine months. Analysts say it would be unfortunate if the government is not allowed to last longer.