Public outrage has a lot of power. When it comes to coronavirus regulation breaches, the first targets were British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is being urged to resign following an alleged lockdown party; chairman of global banking giant Credit Suisse, Antonio Horta-Osorio, who stepped down after breaking quarantine rules; tennis player Novak Djokovic, who was booted from the Australian Open for not being vaccinated against COVID; and US President Joe Biden, who has failed every test.
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In Israel, the one who proved that he knows the dangerous volatility of the public is former President of the Supreme Court of Justice Aharon Barak. Because it is very possible that the next target of the public tsunami would be the judiciary. The fact that criticism regarding former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plea deal comes from the Left and the Right shows that the matter is explosive. Therefore, resolving it swiftly is the smartest decision.
Let us put aside the question of whether Netanyahu would be returning to politics. The more pressing matter is the transfer of Likud leadership, even if temporarily, which must be done as quickly and as shrewdly as possible. The potential candidates are required to come to an agreement.
The Bennett-Lapid government's attempts to survive are fraught with dangers. On the one hand, we will see a crazy race of coalition members pushing their agendas, and the coalition has already demonstrated that it is weakened when it failed to pass the IDF draft bill. On the other hand, Ra'am's demands will increase as rapidly as the number of daily coronavirus cases.
The people of Israel have been paying a heavy political price in recent months, and especially now, which stems from the conduct of careerist right-wing leaders. Because according to the law, a prime minister may stay in office until the final court ruling.
Mandating resignation in case of an indictment has effectively placed the power to determine who will be prime minister in the hands of the attorney general and the state attorney. Until 2019, Israel was a country that had stability, prosperity, and international power. Suddenly, it began to go down a rabbit hole, which continues until today.
Netanyahu's plea bargain is not driven by considerations of justice, but that of worthwhileness. His legacy of 13 years as prime minister – with all its achievements – will withstand the disgrace of the plea deal. The former premier will have to swallow a hard pill and force out a few words admitting to having committed the claims spelled out against him.
The Left and its associates are in a state of a verbal nervous breakdown. Once the plea deal is signed, the media will enter into an epileptic fit the likes of which we have never seen before.
What matters from a national point of view, is how the Likud will conduct itself in determining its next leader and how it will behave in the run-up to a future election campaign.
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