If the Right had good reasons to oppose the prospective government over the very circumstances leading to its establishment, if it is indeed established, the outline of the coalition deal that was revealed on Monday simply poured more fuel on the already raging flame of defiance.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Under the auspices of right-wingers Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked and Gideon Sa'ar, the camp that has ruled the country for more than a decade is being stripped of nearly all its assets. The land of Israel will no longer be the same land once the new government is sworn in, and its Jewish values will also suffer a mortal blow once under the boot of the leftist camp – which represents an overwhelming majority of the new government.
Even in terms of the democratic values that this government should be seeking to uphold, if not by its right-wing faction then at least by its left-wing one, the new coalition outline first and foremost deals it a lethal blow with the preposterous and cowardly law proposal that aims to keep Benjamin Netanyahu from running for the next Knesset. Never has any government exploited its ruling power to prevent its main political rival from running for office.
Even parties such as Balad and dubious characters such as Labor MK Ibtisam Mara'ana were allowed to run in the past election.
"They're selling off the Negev," cried members of the Religious Zionist Party and Likud in light of the coalition deal with the Ra'am party, clueless as to just how bad things actually are.
If anyone harbored hopes that any government could ever rise here to resolve the issue of the illegal shacks, homes and tents dotting the Negev landscape from Beersheba to Kibbutz Yotvata, they have been dashed by this government. Not only will new cities be built for the outlaw Bedouins, but the illegal structures currently standing will remain untouched.
Anyone afraid for the country's Jewish identity is very quickly discovering that several of the foundational values of the Jewish people have been sold off by the designated prime minister, a man who wears a kippah on his head, to Avigdor Lieberman and Nitzan Horowitz. Same-sex marriage and the establishment of a special department to spread the reformists' doctrine is just a small part of the list.
We can also spot a few rays of light in the darkness. For example, the factions have vowed to promote the proposed Basic Law: Legislation – the purpose of which is to balance the relationship between the Supreme Court and the Knesset after decades of infringement on the jurisdiction of the legislative branch. Those reading the fine print, however, and those who have experience with agreements of this sort, know it's more likely that nothing will come of it because the parties, rather than committing to advancing the law itself, have merely promised to "establish a committee" – code speak for foot-dragging and obfuscation.
Upon reading the outline of the coalition agreement, one immediately understands why the leftists in the prospective government rushed to take what Bennett was offering. They, too, saw in him what many of his supporters had failed to see – specifically the flexible nature of his value system.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
