Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, having decided a few weeks ago not to use the exit point for another round of elections, is now considering using the next exit point – Dec. 23, which is the last date to pass the state budget. However, after recent events in the Blue and White party, Netanyahu may not have to do anything. His partners will do the work for him – and leave.
Looking at the reactions from the Likud over the past day, it seems there is a reason they are fanning the flames and pushing Blue and White out of the coalition. But it won't be simple. Benny Gantz and his buddies have a lot to lose if they leave now.
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The vote over limiting public protests during the pandemic was the watershed moment for the fad party that sucked unparalleled amounts of left-wing votes from the electorate compared to previous bellwether parties. Benny Gantz, who while creating his party tried to prepare the most beautiful political mosaic possible, now sees that the sum is not greater than the whole and that the various forces in the factions are beginning to each pull in their own way.
Most notably, Blue and White's dovish wing is going crazy with calls to resign the unity government, while the faction's hawkish wing is calling on Gantz to sit tight and bide his time. Gantz is clearly leaning towards the latter, but with his other hand is trying to somehow placate the former.
For Gantz, resignation would be a disaster. He will be seen as the reason for going to a fourth election – and during a pandemic no less – while in the meantime all the centers of power, from the justice to communication ministries, will return to Netanyahu.
He understands that, and so do most of his allies, but on the left things are reaching a boiling point. The gut, the base, the neighbors, the friends, the relatives can no longer stand being part of this government. Gantz's situation is impossible. One or more resignations like that of Asaf Zamir, and the whole house of cards he built will come crashing down on his head. If up until today he knew how to placate his party members with hollow videos and tweets – as of this week, all that is no longer relevant. Gantz needs an impressive and resounding left wing achievement, but that, at the moment, is nowhere to be found.
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