Benjamin Netanyahu failed to assess the force of resistance within the Likud to the crumbs he had left to distribute among his party mates. It started with Communications Minister David Amsalem.
Amsalem asked for the Jerusalem portfolio, which was promised to him and has since been given to Rabbi Rafi Peretz, in exchange for his resignation from the Yamina party to join the coalition. It continued with Gila Gamliel, who adamantly refused to accept a portfolio comprised of scraps taken from the Education Ministry and packaged specially for her. And the apex came when Tzahi Hanegbi and Avi Dichter announced they would boycott the swearing-in ceremony for the new government because they weren't given portfolios. Although Yamina isn't part of the coalition and Gilad Erdan was sent to New York, which opened up another 2-3 portfolios for Netanyahu to distribute, the prime minister couldn't feed all the mouths with the crumbs in his hand.
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And perhaps the portfolio problem is just a symptom of a much larger malfunction, which served as the impetus for the formation of the government in its current iteration. Virtually every Likud minister asked himself in recent weeks where Netanyahu was headed with all this. Why was the most polished politician in the world rushing to sign a deal with Benny Gantz – who had already lost his party and political assets – as an equal coalition partner when the two sides were from equal, completely concede judiciary and communications reforms, give representatives of the Left the government in two and a half years, and all this amid the backdrop of polls indicating a massive win for the Right in another election. There was a great deal of speculation. Clear answers were far scarcer.
Netanyahu was the Right's winning horse. The various components of the right-wing bloc were adept at preserving this asset time after time, even as it lost its winning ways as of late. But the moment the prime minister, arguably among the most successful in the country's history, saddled himself with an expiration date, he essentially squandered his most valuable resource. As long as he was the only player on the field, everything revolved around him. But when the aura begins to dim, suddenly we can see the other players on the field. Ministers and Knesset members in the Likud are beginning to think about the day after; when they'll have to stand on their own two feet and fight for their place on the totem pole, regardless of whether or not they supported Netanyahu or hindered him.
And that's when things start falling apart – earlier than expected. Politicians smell weakness. When they are personally affronted, egos kick into action and ravage previously strong relationships. In establishing the current government, Netanyahu is accruing several bitter enemies from home and mainly hurting himself.
At a press conference with senior Yamina members on Thursday, Naftali Bennett said that henceforth they would represent "a governmental alternative" from the opposition. It's a bit presumptuous from a leader with six mandates, which dwindled to five on Thursday, to challenge a leader with 36 mandates, but the direction is clear. In recent statements, Likud mouthpieces stressed that the "Bennett era is over." In actuality, the only thing that's clear is that when the new government is sworn in on Sunday, it will be the Netanyahu era that is over. And the person who made that happen is none other than Netanyahu himself.
