Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein waited with bated breath for the moment when no one else could maneuver and entertain proposals to eliminate the presidency or delay the election of President Shimon Peres' successor. He immediately announced that the election would be held as scheduled, and even went a step further, reducing the campaign period to 21 days. The sages said, "A man should never teach his student a shortcut," but this lesson -- a shortcut to the polls -- was in its rightful place. In this campaign period and in future ones. There is nothing to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- after June 10, when the next president is elected -- from calling for a thorough examination into whether the presidency is still a viable office. This way, the discussion would be free of the immediate pressure to elect (or not) a successor. This campaign period, however, is a dirty one. Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer frequented casinos in London; Hatnuah MK Meir Sheetrit paid a mint to a maid who came to him with financial claims with no clear reason as to why; National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) was facing sexual assault accusations that had exhausted the statute of limitation, with additional accusations that no one has any specifics about coming out of the woodwork -- are they simply trying to cast a shadow over him? Everything is shrouded in mystery. And there are yet other candidates who may too find themselves in embarrassing situations. Two factions made interesting choices on the election on Monday. Habayit Hayehudi gave its members freedom to vote for whichever candidate they wish, and Yesh Atid decided to divide its votes between several candidates to allow them to compete for the votes of 120 Knesset members. This way, if it is so desired, there will be two rounds of elections before the Knesset can chant "long live the president." Naturally, all eyes are on Likud-Beytenu. Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman promised to back Netanyahu's candidate and to bring with him a unified Yisrael Beytenu. But Likud is split and it is not yet clear whom the prime minister will back or how many votes he will be able to bring with him. Netanyahu is not hiding his intention to prevent former Knesset Speaker Likud MK Reuven Rivlin from being elected. He still has a week to choose a candidate to support. Will he introduce a candidate who cannot be rejected? Like Albert Einstein, who refused David Ben-Gurion's offer to make him the second president? I do not think he has someone like that up his sleeve, but if he intends to choose someone like former Israeli Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman -- he would do better to postpone that idea. There may be candidates whom Netanyahu would not rule out outright. However, he cannot support former interim president Dalia Itzik -- who is identified politically with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and is also a family friend. What about Sheetrit? But he left the Likud, and those at the center of the party will not view that favorably. Ultimately, Rivlin should not be ruled out because, despite the bad blood between him and Netanyahu, there will be those who work to reconcile them, and the drama will come to an end before the MKs disappear behind the curtain for the secret ballot vote. The best of all would be if all parties allow members to vote freely. That would ensure the best outcome.
