JERUSALEM — After the third election, Benny Gantz split his Blue andWhite party–leaving behind Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya’alon–and joined Benjamin Netanyahu in a coalition. The deal was complex, and is still being adjusted, and who knows what Gantz’s expectations were.
In any case, some months into the new government, the accomplishments are hard to find. Polls are showing a dip in support for Likud and Gantz, and slight improvements in the parties that stayed out of the coalition. They are also showing zero mandates expected for the once great Labor Party, which itself split as two members joined the coalition.
If it can be considered such, the only visible accomplishment is a huge government, with 35 “ministers. Some of these have full portfolios, and are said to be running real departments. Others have only part of a government, or a strange combination, e.g., Water and Higher Education. Others have a made up title with no function, e.g., Ministers of Jerusalem Affairs, Regional Cooperation, Settlement Affairs, Social Equality, Community Power and Enhancement; and there is also one Ministers without Portfolio.
The number reflects the need to accommodate several parties in the government, each with aide, car, and driver. The cost is said to be less than that of another election. However, we are still wondering what programmatic accomplishments have been achieved by this coalition. The longer it lasts, the more justification seems to apply to Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya’alon’s warning that Gantz’s acceptance of Bibi’s word for anything will prove to be worthless.
Complaints are mounting, especially from sectors of the unemployed, laid off, independents, operators of halls for weddings and other occasions, bar owners, restaurateurs, and those providing cultural events. They’ve been left out of acceptable–or any–programs for aid, and have been been closed in the government’s effort to deal with the current high wave of Coronavirus infections.
One sign of the coalition’s fault comes from the multiple plans and promises, none implemented, or implemented only in part, to deal with the economics or the infections.
One fumble has come from the Health Minister. A few hours after announcing a limit of 20 for house gatherings, he hosted a birthday party for his wife for more than 50 guests. Technically he may have been within his rights, since the limit was only scheduled to go into effect the next morning, but it was a major public relations fumble. Equivalent to the President and the Prime Minister having a Passover Seder for family while regular folks were observing a no guests policy.
Plans are not in short supply. The Finance Minister has announced any number; the Prime Minister has promised plans “within 48 hours,” but that time passed without any production; the Minister of the Economy has announced his; the Prime Minister has asked Nir Barkat to formulate an economic plan. Earlier the Prime Minister indicated that Barkat would be named Finance Minister, but then he was passed over without any post in the government. And Naftali Bennett has also pronounced his plans, from outside the government where he was left after the last election.
Barkat has been severe in his criticism of the existing Finance Minister, both for his understanding of the economic problems and for the lack of clear plans actually being implemented.
And then there are comments from media personalities, current and former office holders in the Finance Ministry and Bank of Israel, and others, who have their own suggestions or sharp criticism of what is being done or not done.
In response to all of this there has been blistering criticism of the government by individuals claiming to have been left out, along with some claiming to be hungry, and with one televised picture of an elderly gentleman dumpster diving in search of something to eat. All this along with much criticism of Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister without Portfolio, who was filmed saying that no one was really hungry.
The government declared Beitar Iilit to be a closed city, but its Mayor was sharply critical, claiming that hsi ultra-Orthodox community was being singled out. He managed to delay the implementation of the closure so individuals could leave. One was photographed claiming that he’d bring his family to Jerusalem, no doubt to another ultra-Orthodox neighborhood about to be closed.
A television reporter included “Jerusalem” among the places to be closed, due to a high incidence of infections. We can only hope that he meant certain neighborhoods, and not our own home of French Hill. There’s been a major in-movement of ultra-Orthodox families to French Hill. Some of them cover their faces with masks; some don’t. We’re hoping for the best.
Jerusalem’s Mayor complained about the designation of some neighborhoods to be subject for closures. He said that would turn them into nests that would cause even more infections.
SHAS and Torah Judaism, the Sephardi and Ashkenazi political parties in the coalition have kept the government from treating Yeshivot in the same manner as schools and colleges. We’ve seen pictures of large study halls with more than 100 students close to one another, and we know that one Yeshiva was the source of a major wave of infections. Weddings and other gatherings have also been identified as problematic, as has a high school graduation party in the largely secular city of Raanana.
With all of this, Israel has fallen out of the small circle of countries that coped well with the earlier wave of Coronavirus. Our tourists are no longer welcome in Cyprus, Greece, or the European Community. Our daily infections have exceeded 1,400, there is not good news about the recent closures ordered by the government. Some gyms have designated themselves as study halls; they are claiming that their studios have not been included in the closure. We can assume that the Health Minister’s birthday party for his wife will not cause his resignation, but will add to the lack of observance of limitations the people are willing to accept.
President Rivlin criticized the chaos in plans and lack of implementation.
“The State of Israel did not develop a clear combat theory to fight the coronavirus . . . We do not have a single body that keeps track of the information, the battle, the coping, and the discussion with the public . . . The reins must be placed in the hands of the body that can bring about the best results, to which all of the other ministries subordinate themselves and assist.”
In anticipation of a planned demonstration by the disaffected, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister went on prime time television–all three channels–to proclaim their new plan. It is supposed to put money into bank accounts during the following week. Not clear how much each will receive. Unemployment and other benefits extended from three months to a year from now.
The next day the Prime Minister met with activists planning the demonstration, and urged them to desist. But other activists asserted that those meeting with the Prime Minister did not speak for them.
Thousands demonstrated on Saturday night, after the end of Shabbat, against the government and what it hadn’t done. Many without masks, and tight crowding, despite earlier indications by the police that they’d prevent it.
So who knows how many infections will be traced to this protest?
Leaders of Blue and White expressed support for the demonstrators. Likud’s Finance Minister expressed ambivalence. So far no word from the Prime Minister.
Then there was confusion over the closures of pools and gyms. The government decided to close both, but a Knesset Committee, led by a Likudnik, voted to open them. The Prime Minister conceded the issue of pools, stuck fast on closing the gyms, but the Committee held to its position.
The State of Israel did not develop a clear combat theory because there is a tense, unfriendly coalition. Everyone is in business for himself, along with lobbyists supporting each sector wanting to stay open. The Prime Minister is losing support, other parties offer their criticism and their plans, and implementation lags behind the planners. Activists criticize, often screaming and crying in front of the television cameras. No one is in charge.
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Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworl.com