Coalition Confusion

JERUSALEM — A week ago, the whip of the Israeli coalition indicated her resignation. Involved were the efforts of the government to allow hospital visitors to bring non-kosher food with them during Passover. The woman who resigned was a member of Naftalt Bennett’s political party, a rightist group in the confused government coalition.

Her resignation has been said not to be tied directly to the issue of non-kosher food during Passover, but her response to a general leftward drift of the government.

Who knows?

We’ve had days of speculation, as to how the government can survive, with less than a clear majority of the Knesset behind it. We’ve also heard that Benyamin Netanyahu has been maneuvering for supporters, but has failed to assemble a coalition large enough to unseat the present government.

In fact, things are pretty close to a tie, with something like 60 supporters of the government, and perhaps 58 who could be counted on to support Netanyahu.

And in the middle has come a complicating factor: the killing of three young men at a bar in Tel Aviv and the wounding of several others. The killer has been killed, but the effect of his action may serve to postpone any collapse of the government, or a call for an election.

Actually, the Knesset isn’t sitting until after Passover, which gives us several weeks for party politicians to shop around for partners for whatever they are inclined to do.

We’re hearing of ideologues on the right and left, but actually there seems to be a general absence of ideology in Israeli politics. There are lots of interests, and no shortage of ego among party leaders and their supporters seeking to find a leader who can keep things going. Bennett has been criticized for focusing too much on wider issues, like Ukraine and Russia, and overlooking the weakness inherent of serving as Prime Minister with a party of only six, now five, Knesset Members, some of whom have been restless.

The essence of Israel’s government has been its opposition to Netanyahu. It includes a range of parties, from so-called leftist Meretz and Labor, rightist clusters associated with Bennett and Gideon Sa’ar, plus an Arab party. And Benny Gantz, leading a party with 8 Knesset Members, which defies efforts to define anything close to an ideology. It’s hard to imagine anything more diverse than this government, but it’s managed to stay in office since the middle of June, 2021, and it’s managed to enact a budget plus a number of other measures that had stymied the previous governments led by Netanyahu.

Why did the whip of the coalition take this opportunity to resign? And could the killings in Tel Aviv give her second thoughts, or at least pause to other members who have signaled their sense of anxiety in a government lacking anything close to a cementing ideology?

Recent polls show that Netanyahu as an individual leads the politicians in his popular support. This despite formal accusations of criminal behavior and a trial likely to take several years to finish its work.

All told, the situation reflects the breadth of politics and overall confusion of Israeli politics. Things in the country are not all that bad, despite a recent increase in anti-Jewish violence. While there’s been 14 deaths in recent weeks, the comparable figure among Arabs is more than 100 deaths. U.N. statistics show 251 Israeli deaths against 5,590 Arab deaths from 2008 through 2020. There are many Arab deaths as the result of Arab on Arab murder, reflecting their many illegal weapons.

Israel’s economy is strong, as is its response to COVID. It has acquired associations at various degrees of openness with several Muslim countries. While the situation of Palestinians remains dicey, there has been more or less peaceful relations with both the West Bank and Gaza areas. Israel allows daily inflows to work from both, and has reached something of an accommodation about the management of the Temple Mount.

Currently Israeli security forces are active in the area around Jenin, West Bank, from which several killers have come in the recent period. Some Arabs damaged Joseph’s tomb,  near Nablus in the West Bank, which is viewed as sacred to religious Jews as well as Samaritans. Also actions around Bethlehem and Ashkelon.