Homefront Defense Ministry Director-General Dan Ronen's resignation was well-timed. Maybe even a tad overdue. Not because Ronen is in any way unqualified for the position, but because he was devoid of the tools to perform it.
The government had decided to give the ministry certain authority, but this was challenged even before it was fully and really put to the test. The ministry was never given the chance.
Three positions dominate the debate about the necessity of the Homefront Defense Ministry. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon believes that there is no need for it. The ministry was formed during the previous government's term to facilitate Ehud Barak's coalition demands by naming Matan Vilnai its minister, and as Ya'alon sees it, the work is done by the defense establishment and the Israel Defense Forces regardless of the ministry's title.
A different opinion, which supports Homefront Defense Minister Gilad Erdan's position that the responsibility for homefront defense should be divided between him and Ya'alon, is based on the premise that while the military can afford to allocate resources to handle civilian crises during peacetime, in cannot adequately do so during wartime.
And then there is the suggestion made by MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud), who believes that the responsibility for homefront defense should be placed with the Public Security Ministry, as part of its responsibilities already include ensuring the public's defense and security, and therefore it should include the Israel Fire and Rescue Services (a move that has already been implemented), as well as the Magen David Adom emergency medical service.
It is hard to say which of these positions is best, because the experts themselves are divided in their opinions, and there is no doubt that various internal interests and ego considerations play a part in shaping the relevant individuals' opinions.
If we learn that the government cannot or does not want to enforce its decision on the defense establishment, or if it has changed its mind, that the situation must be changed in favor of a clean slate. This situation is uncomfortably reminiscent of the fact that the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has gone without a chairman for so long that the High Court of Justice has seen fit to grant a motion by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel compelling the Knesset to decide on the matter within the next two weeks.
Israeli politics operates under the premise that the solution to any awkward situation is to drag it out until it fades away of its own accord, but some situations are the exception to the rule. Erdan refuses to let things resolve themselves in a disrespectful manner, and on Tuesday he stated that unless a solution was devised by the end of May, he would ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismantle the ministry. It is the right thing to do.
Erdan will have plenty of worthy work to do within the government. Waiting helplessly for the realization of the authority vested in his ministry does him little good.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו