A Prime Minister on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust is doing all that is in his power to continue in the same role. The reason is that over the past three election seasons he has lost his ability to form a sustainable coalition. Netanyahu now prefers interim governments, avoiding, since 2019, from passing an annual budget, and will continue to do so as long as he can.
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If, after today's elections, his party chooses a different MK to replace him, that new leader will have his choice of parties with whom to form a stable government. The question is whether there are any sufficiently courageous people left in the Likud to publicly say what everyone is whispering and cut off the cord that is suffocating their party and tying them to Netanyahu.
Publicly, at least, the Likud's frontline members are extolling their miracle-working chief. But not all are blind devotees. The same leader boasting of bringing rain can't avoiding taking responsibility for droughts. Netanyahu has rightfully taken pride in the successful vaccination drive and the pressure he laid on the pharmaceutical companies to achieve it; yet he also made grave mistakes in dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Israel, with its staggering 6,100 deaths from COVID-19, is near the top of the list of countries with a high death rate relative to population. This is the true reality test, in which the leader who brought the vaccine to Israel has patently failed in protecting its citizens from the disease.
Likewise, Netanyahu's normalization of relations with a number of Arab states was not the result of a deliberate policy; rather, he shrewdly exploited the inevitable concession of the dangerous annexation plan to demand a price for what would not have materialized in any case. However, the important process was managed coarsely, needlessly causing tension with the countries who took this brave step. The United Arab Emirates sought to quietly prevent the Prime Minister's visit as part of his election campaign; after the hint wasn't taken, a public statement exposed the tension that followed on a short-lived honeymoon.
The affair of the failed flight to the UAE via Jordan revealed Israel's poor relations with the Jordanian royal palace, which then deteriorated still further. And in recent days, voices are being heard from Saudi Arabia to the effect that the expectations that it join the normalization process are unrealistic.
Netanyahu is no magician. He is an experienced politician holding on for dear life and using any means to do so – including welcoming into the Knesset people from outside his party, whose membership in the Israeli parliament is shameful. Tonight, the decision will be in the hands of the Likud's MKs. It is in their power to ensure that this year's first elections will also be its last.
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