The vote for the state budget, which was finalized early Friday, essentially ensured that Yair Lapid would become prime minister, both due to his rotation agreement with Naftali Bennett and the clause signed by the Yamina party stipulating that if the government falls for any reason – he will head the transition government.
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It's obvious why Lapid insisted on including such a clause in the coalition agreement. The interesting question is why Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed. He had significant enough power to reject the proposal, or at least negotiate certain returns in his favor, as Lapid knew he wasn't likely to have such a prime opportunity again. The answer is simple: Yamina officially abandoned its right-wing ideology, and the party is now focusing on centrist voters or merging with a centrist party.
This new direction was also evident in the lead-up to the budget vote. Journalist Yaara Shapira revealed this week that as part of its preparations for the vote, "problematic" lawmakers were identified – from the Joint Arab List – who could torpedo the budget at the last minute. Case and response files were made for these "problematic" MKs, with tailor-made budgetary bonuses to stave off any signs of trouble.
In other words, every member of the Joint Arab List served as the buffer between the new budget and a particularly stinging slap to the face. Each of them was likely to demand and receive the moon and stars. It will have happened behind closed doors, at the last minute, almost assuredly without any attention or outcry from the press. The outrageous sum of 53 billion for Mansour Abbas was just the beginning.
Yamina is employing the customary excuse: "Everyone is compromising so the government doesn't fall." However, in the wake of the complete construction freeze (and pardon me for ignoring the latest spin), leaning on terrorist supporters, shelving the immigration bill, and essentially any law that even sounds right-wing – everyone realizes that the members of Yamina are the only ones compromising – on everything. Considering the current state of affairs – a party without a base that won't pass the electoral threshold – their concerns are understandable. But this is merely spin, and the members of Yamina know it. Every single party in the coalition is just as afraid of elections as Yamina.
Ayelet Shaked could have supported the immigration bill, which she herself drafted, instead of shuttling between MKs to make sure it failed; instead of eliminating it, Bennett could have instructed his party to support the bill that sought to keep terrorists from becoming citizens, and more. Spoiler alert: The bills would have passed, and the government wouldn't have fallen. Yamina, a wily and clever political actor, knew this. Despite that knowledge, they still decided to concede it all.
"Today is the 104th anniversary of the cursed Balfour Declaration," said MK Osama Saadi of the Joint Arab List during his address before the Knesset plenum on Tuesday, causing a small storm. Instead of demanding an apology or at least responding, we can only guess what Yamina's "bonus package" for Saadi entailed to ensure his budget vote. That's how it is when you've officially kicked your ideology to the curb – all that's left is guesses.
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