It all started about a week ago, when then-Defense Minister committed a technical foul and was benched. The ball, which has the words "Who will topple a right-wing government" on it, was then handed over to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who passed it to Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who gave it to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who passed it back to Bennett. Bennett threw ball, only to see it get stuck between the board and the hoop.
On Sunday, everyone was waiting for the high-stakes meeting between Netanyahu and Kahlon, hoping this would tell us whether the government is going survive. Everyone was abuzz about the rabbit Netanyahu might pull out of his hat during the meeting. But the meeting ended in a draw and an agreement to continue talking. The rabbit, so it turned out, was pulled against Bennett.
Just minutes before Netanyahu's statement on Sunday evening, his social media team uploaded a post showing him next to a military chopper with the caption, "Pictured: the prime minister and defense minister." Once he appeared before the cameras, he started off with a recap of his military experience and spoke at length about the major national security decisions he has made over his career in politics.
Netanyahu has placed Bennett in a bind. Had he heeded his request and given him the defense portfolio, he would have used it for nonstop photo-ops with the troops, donning a military vest (or bubble coat) and a helmet, while touring the Gaza Strip border or the north. This would have shored up Bennett's military credentials and improved his electoral prospects in the next elections.
But now, had he resigned for having been denied this portfolio, Bennett would have been the punching bag in the campaign under the slogan "Don't vote for the person who toppled a right-wing government." But since he decided not to resign after a week of stressing that the government cannot survive without him as defense minister, he was humiliated like a player who is just standing underneath the hoop and trying hopelessly to reach it.
