What happened to Benjamin Netanyahu -- and to the people running the negotiations, Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin -- who transformed the sweeping victory at the polls into a tiny, pale government doomed to stumble? When Likud celebrated its 30 mandates in the 20th Knesset, no one could have foreseen in their worst nightmares that once the government was formed it would be the opposite of the motto of the Olympic Games: slower, lower and weaker.
Likud's victory in the election led to overconfidence. It led to the feeling that Yisrael Beytenu, Habayit Hayehudi and Kulanu were trapped in the coalition, and that even the haredim were eager to join it. Likud officials were tone-deaf to the disappointment of the party's natural partners, the humiliation of Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, and their desire for payback from Netanyahu.
It was as clear as the sun. These very pages carried columns stating it was better to conclude the negotiations right away. Drawing them out reduced the coalition's framework, upped the payments to its partners, and caused tensions.
From the onset Netanyahu promised to form a right-wing government. His rivals, who accused him of saying things he did not mean, said he would soon be making Zionist Union an offer. But he did not work that way. In his desire to stay credible in the eyes of his voters, he did not so much as telephone Isaac Herzog. The ideological stance of his assistants, Elkin and Levin, during the talks compelled them to refrain from phoning the Zionist Union. Likud had set out on its trip without a spare tire.
While Netanyahu got the credibility he sought, Lieberman drew his own conclusions. In his hostility toward Netanyahu -- even as he falsely claimed the large criminal investigation against the leaders of his party was a conspiracy -- he led his party to the opposition. Cleverly, he did so at the last moment.
Likud made a mistake. Netanyahu should have stated that the talks would conclude 28 days after he received the mandate to form a government from President Reuven Rivlin. He would be required to form a right-wing government by that date, but would be released from his vow if Bennett and Lieberman did not cooperate. His voters would have given him license to do so, since a bad government with Herzog was better than his cathartic loss.
Netanyahu is in a bad position even in his new government. If two Knesset members get the sniffles, the government could fall. As the playwright Nissim Aloni put it, "Every bastard is a king."
The wise thing to do is to plan a joint move by Netanyahu, Herzog and Kahlon. They should announce that in light of the changing circumstances in the world and in the Middle East and the increasing diplomatic pressure on Israel, they have decided to form a "holding government" for a single term only.
Such a government would have clear fundamental policies:
If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was to give his consent, Netanyahu would hold talks with him. Israel would refuse to halt construction in Judea and Samaria, but would be willing to limit it to the settlement blocs during the "holding period." The agreements that Netanyahu made with Kahlon on economic matters would be valid, with emphasis on the housing initiative. The agreements with the haredim would also be valid if they joined the government, but they would be cut back by one-third in the financial sphere. All topics having to do with religion and state and the status of the courts would be frozen unless an initiative were to be put forward and agreed upon unanimously by Netanyahu, Herzog and Kahlon.
Such a coalition could be formed in 24 hours. Perhaps it could be formed now. It is possible that someone in Zionist Union or in Likud could drop out toward the right or the left, into the opposition. If only they would -- please -- the weight on the government wagon would be reduced. With such a government, we could have stability for four whole years and more. But when the current government was in formation, nobody recalled the saying of the sages: "Who is wise? The one who foresees the outcome." It is not yet too late. The outcome can be foreseen after the fact as well.
Ayelet Shaked is smart and practical, but two things are lacking in her being given the post of justice minister. The first is that her training is in engineering. Not only is she not a jurist, but she is also not a graduate in a humanities field. The second and main point is that she sees herself as the heir of Professor Daniel Friedmann's school of thought. That says everything.
Those on the side of light will see her not as justice minister but as a distorter of justice. Her attitude toward the High Court of Justice and toward the procedures by which judges are selected is disruptive to democracy. Her opinions have a great deal of support in Likud and in Habayit Hayehudi. Moshe Kahlon will be called on to stand guard on behalf of the many good people on the side of light who served in previous governments and are no longer with us, as in the biblical verse: "The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps."
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו