When the 34th Government was formed back in 2015, two things struck me as odd. First, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence that he should keep the communications portfolio; and second, the fact that the coalition agreements included a provision that required the parties to fall in line with Netanyahu's policies on communication matters.
Israeli prime ministers have occasionally held on to the defense portfolio to prevent a situation where a defense minister would undercut their diplomatic initiatives. Some prime ministers have kept the foreign affairs portfolio to themselves. But until 2015, it was unheard of that a prime minister would insist on holding on to the communications portfolio, or for that matter the health or agriculture portfolios.
The truth of the matter is that there is simply no need to have a Communications Ministry. It would best to replace it with a communications regulatory authority. I remember back in the day, when some prime ministers wanted to cut the size of government upon entering office, they would receive a list of various government agencies that could be eliminated in the first 100 days in office. The Communications Ministry has always topped this list, but it has nevertheless survived. This is because prime ministers needed it in order to placate backbenchers who wanted ministerial portfolios.
That is why I was shocked when I learned that Netanyahu adamantly refused to let anyone hold that job and inserted the provision stipulating that "coalition factions and their parties shall not support legislation on communications matters without clearing this with the communications minister, and the coalition members will oppose any initiative or bill on communications matters that is opposed by the communications minister. "
Thus, it appears that communications, not security and not peace agreements or settlements, were Netanyahu's top concern. When this request was made, coalition members scratched their heads, trying to figure out why Netanyahu was investing so much effort into this bizarre, yet unimportant, matter. One of them told me: "We know the communications portfolio is Netanyahu's baby, and if this is the price to pay in order to get the important things done, then this comes very cheap."
Netanyahu felt extremely powerful in the wake of the 2015 election because the Likud party, despite having won only a quarter of the Knesset seats, was well positioned to form two kinds of coalitions – one with the Right and the other with the Left. No other party had any real chance of leading a government. As a result, Netanyahu felt strong enough to demand that all ministers and coalition members fall in line with his positions on communications matters.
By taking this portfolio, he managed to stall the planned reforms. But now, it appears that this tight grip has come back to haunt him by threatening his most prized portfolio, his job as prime minister. The man who desired so much control over the media is now facing a media nightmare.
