No one at the Knesset on Wednesday said a word about the approval of the budget, the housing tax proposal or even the healthcare reform. The topic that the Meretz MKs forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to focus on quickly turned into the first of many campaign stops ahead of likely early elections. It was as heated as the worst elections meetings, and it will continue to be just that way in the future unless the formula for a stable government is found. The current crisis is easy to solve. We could tuck the Jewish state bill away in the attic of the Knesset building; and we could then vote on Netanyahu's version, which is different from that of MK Zeev Elkin (Likud), MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), MK Yariv Levin (Likud) and MK Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beytenu). It is assured the support of Yesh Atid and Hatnuah. And then that would be that until the next crisis. Or we could adopt the version left behind by former minister Benny Begin, which is Zionist, national and democratic, and can be part of a sort of joint venture with the Declaration of Independence, written in the words of David Ben-Gurion -- this too would be acceptable to the ministers who currently oppose the bill. A week-long extension But, in practice, this is not happening. Netanyahu is stuck with Elkin's version of the Jewish state bill as part of the double strategy he leads: He announced that he would convene a vote on the bill in a week's time, ensuring the ejection of Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid and Hatnuah Chairwoman Tzipi Livni. But Lapid and Livni's exit is conditioned on Netanyahu striking a deal with the ultra-Orthodox parties, ensuring that they enter a coalition led by him now or join his coalition after the early elections. He needs another week to allow the haredi leaders and Shas Council of Torah Sages to consult among themselves and to get back to him about which possibilities, if any, work for them. A week ago, another possibility was discussed, under which Yesh Atid, Labor, Yisrael Beytenu and Shas would form a transitional coalition called the "Nir Coalition" (a reference to the ad-hoc coalition established by Menachem Begin 55 years ago to remove the position of Knesset speaker from the hands of the ruling Mapai party, for the benefit of Nahum Nir-Rafalkes of Ahdut Haavoda, a party of the Zionist Left). This possibility is becoming less likely by the hour, and so, Netanyahu can rest assured that he will be leading the government on the day the polls open. But when will that be? And whom will it serve- Politicians rely on public opinion polls. They always forget how that led to disappointment in the past.
