The terrible disaster at Mount Meron did not stop the clock on Prime Minister Netanyahu's mandate to form a government. Unless there is a last-minute surprise, the prime minister might have to relinquish it at midnight Tuesday.
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After attacking Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu met with him secretly on Thursday, considered recommending him to be tapped, and tried to work with him to promote a law to hold direct elections for prime minister, Netanyahu is back where he started. He has the support of 59 MKs, no more. On the other side, there are also reports of difficulties and impasses. Apparently, everything is gridlocked. But actually, the fate of an impasse in a right-wing government is not the same that would meet an impasse in a left-wing government.
On Netanyahu's side, everything is held up for reasons that he does not control. He is short two votes. True, he might have been able to do more. He could have convinced Religious Zionist party leader Bezalel Smotrich, pressured Gideon Sa'ar, but in the end, it is up to others, not Netanyahu whether he will have the necessary majority to form a government.
This is not the case with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and his friends. There, the gridlock has mostly to do with the basic lines and the division of ministerial portfolios. They have the numbers to form a government: one of 58 MKs with backing from either Ra'am or the Joint Arab List. All that is required is a bend here, a concession there, and everything will fit. No one should buy the insistence on values and principles, none of which will be preserved when the goal is to oust Netanyahu from power.
If in the past, liberal values, the peace process, and civil reforms were the camp's bread and butter, its holy grail has become the ouster of Netanyahu. None of the leaders of the parties in the camp – Yesh Atid, Labor, Meretz, or Yisrael Beytenu – will allow themselves to miss the opportunity because they want the education portfolio or a two-state solution.
What could trip them up would be if, after Netanyahu, the mandate is handed over to the Knesset or to Bennett. Thus far, the bloc to replace Netanyahu has thought that Lapid had the mandate clinched, but it turns out that Netanyahu has something to say about that. In a surprising last-minute gambit, the prime minister could recommended Bennett in an attempt to check Lapid, and ensure that Lapid won't receive the mandate when his own runs out. He might do this if he concludes that the mandate won't be handed over to the Knesset, and that is his first preference.
Therefore, in the next few days the idea of direct elections for the prime minister might once against take center stage. After being slandered and buried, the law might make a comeback thanks to the political morass, and the fact that neither side has a chance.
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