By Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D
JERUSALEM — Minister of Finance, with some power over defense, Bezalel Smotrich, has inspired anger from American and other foreign officials, for his call about destroying the Arab settlement where two Jews were murdered.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister of Security, with power over the police, has quarreled, and gotten only partial support from his demands to be in control of the police, and how they should respond forcefully, to demonstrators he terms as leftists and anarchists.
Yair Netanyahu, the 31-year-old, presumably unemployed, son of Bibi, is often an extremist defender of the Israeli right wing. Among other comments, he’s said that demonstrators are “twins with their Palestinian barbarian brothers.”
Bibi’s wife, Sara, was prevented from leaving her hair dresser by a crowd of demonstrators. Against her? Against her husband?
Currently, the government is sitting with a majority of four seats in the Knesset. However, two Knesset Members of Likud have spoken against extremism, there are quarrels with and between the ultra-Orthodox, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis are demonstrating against the government on a weekly or more-often basis.
When Bibi called for a pause in legislation against the judiciary, for the sake of Purim celebration, Yaiv Levin, the Minister of Justice, threatened to resign and destroy the government if his legislation would be held up.
Bibi seems to support the various segments of his government, but what’s his choice? He’s facing three indictments for criminal offenses, and barely holding on. There are proposals to limit him, being considered but not likely to be approved by the judiciary. Without the extremists, he is nobody.
But it’s shaky, and in danger of toppling. When? Who knows?