It has happened again. Without any warning, the coalition has lost another lawmaker, with Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi resigning right under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's noses.
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Perhaps what led to this was the leaders' lack of vigilance or maybe Zoabi is a stumbling block that has been removed. After all, the writing on the wall was obvious, which could be the reason why Lapid has previously arranged the rebellious MK the cushiony position as Israeli consul in Shanghai. Just last week he boasted how no one could be better fitted for the job.
Little did Lapid know that the appointment would never come about and another brick would fall from the cynical wall he has built through a series of appointments and promises geared at suppressing rebellions and ensuring his office as prime minister, even for an interim government.
This was supposed to be an auspicious time for the prime minister-designate. In a way, he has succeeded in stripping Bennett of his political title, assets, and influence. Lapid turned him into an irrelevant figure, took full control of dialogue with Washington and the upcoming Biden visit, and pulled off a maneuver that made the sole person in charge.
Then came Zoabi who completely changed Lapid's reality: the "healing" government is on the verge of collapse. And worst of all, if the coalition does topple, it will have been brought about by a leftist, and Bennett will continue to serve as prime minister until a new government is established.
The "experiment" – as Bennett put it – of creating a "unity" government, has failed because no sweet talk can unite that which is not meant to be united. Turns out, "healing" would have required all coalition members to give up every ounce of their ideology, all notion of truth sacrificed on the altar of false unity.
The leaders now face a simple and cruel choice. Drag on the coalition at the mercy of the Joint Arab List in each and every vote. And we know that Bennett, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, and Religious Services Matan Kahana (who resigned this week) have forgotten the meaning of "red line."
But a single vote in the Knesset is one thing, and daily attempts to function while relying on Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Sami Abu Shehadeh is another.
Making the "right-wing" parties in the coalition prisoner of Balad – especially given the events of the recent terror wave, including Tibi interfering with police work in a protest in Jerusalem – would be a path to catastrophe.
It would not only chuck the Zionist vision into the dustbin of history but lead to all-out war within the already unstable government.
