If anything unites all party leaders after the results of this week's election for the 24th Knesset, it is the hope of gaining the support of Yamina leader Naftali Bennett.
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Bennett, who throughout the campaign tried to position himself to tip the scales, is now able to do just that, with neither side in possession of enough mandates to form a government without him. Incidentally, there's no guarantee that there will be a government even after he joins a side, but without him, there definitely won't be.
The Yamina leader is facing a difficult decision. A few officials from Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope party, Blue and White, and even Labor and Meretz, are saying that the desire to oust Netanyahu is stronger than any other aspiration, so they would agree to support Bennett – who is farther to the Right than Netanyahu – as prime minister. It would be hard for any politician to turn down an offer to be prime minister.
But the price might be too high. If Bennett were to accept their offer, the government would depend on members of the Joint Arab List. It's not certain Bennett is willing to accept that, as it would mean cutting himself off from the Right. Such a government would be mostly left-wing, especially in civil and legal areas, and would be unlikely to remain in power for long. It took Bennett a long time to throw off the "alliance" he once made with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, an alliance that did serious damage to his right-wing base, and it's not certain he's willing to set out on a similar adventure now.
But the alternative isn't terribly attractive, either. If Bennett joins a Netanyahu government, he can have his choice of ministerial portfolios, but Netanyahu would remain prime minister. The same Netanyahu who went after him for months, made videos about him, and waged a propaganda war to weaken him – and succeeded. The same Netanyahu who also chose not to bring him into the coalition.
What's more, Bennett jointing Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc won't secure the necessary majority of mandate. It would bring the bloc to 59, no more. In that case, there would be room for creative solutions such as bringing in Sa'ar, MKs who defect from other parties, or Ra'am abstaining, but none of these would be easy, and we cannot know if they will work. In the meantime, if Bennett announces that he's joining Netanyahu, he will be "burned" in the eyes of the people who want to replace the prime minister, who already suspect Bennett of being "in his pocket."
A battle is now underway for the ear of the president, and the Likud has to wait. If Bennett recommends himself as prime minister or does not recommend anyone else, Lapid might have more votes than Netanyahu. In this case, Netanyahu wouldn't insist on being given the first mandate, because he would have nothing to do with it. As long as Bennett is on the fence, Netanyahu's options will open only when the other side tries and fails. But the other side could also succeed.
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