One worrisome explanation for Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's resignation is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially meant merely to put Ya'alon in his place regarding his outspokenness on matters related to the rule of law. An even more troubling explanation is that Netanyahu sought to part ways with Ya'alon to align himself with the rightists in Likud and other coalition parties who rejected Ya'alons position on purity of arms and his opposition to anti-democratic trends. The cracks in the relationship between Netanyahu and Ya'alon emerged in a string of events and culminated when Netanyahu kept Yaalon in the dark regarding coalition negotiations in which Ya'alon's defense portfolio was up for grabs. Had Netanyahu given the defense portfolio to someone with a more suitable military background than Lieberman, the move would not have been criticized. But instead, Netanyahu chose Lieberman, a man with a long trail of corruption allegations and an associate on numerous individuals now awaiting indictments on a slew of serious criminal charges. Just as the sages forbade the Nazirites from approaching vineyards to keep them from the temptation of drinking the wine, it is not wise to tempt Lieberman with a 70 billion shekel ($18 billion) budget, of which he will be in charge as part of his new role. Netanyahu erred politically and diplomatically, as it is clear that shortly after taking office, Hamas will test the new defense minister and fire rockets at Israel, to which I anticipate Lieberman will respond moderately and will be ridiculed as a result. He then will blame Netanyahu for holding him back (wisely, just as Netanyahu did during the Gaza operation in 2014 along with Ya'alon and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, despite criticism from the radical right). Embarrassment will ensue. And just as he did with Ya'alon recently, Netanyahu will summon Lieberman for a "clarification meeting," which I am not even certain Lieberman will deign to attend. Ya'alon's ousting marks more than just another farewell to a senior minister and it will continue to resonate in Israel and across the globe, as newspapers in the West proved over the weekend. The affair has caused more damage to Israel; it has played right into the hands of malicious people seeking to present Israel as more violent and less democratic. It will be difficult to erase this damage, despite the act that I am certain that Lieberman will surprise us and outdo Netanyahu in terms of closer cooperation with the U.S. And what about Ya'alon? He is a survivor. Many public figures (Netanyahu included) wondered about Ya'alons future plans while he was cloistered at the Shalem Center and writing his book, which indicated he remained an original Ben-Gurionist. There is no doubt in my mind that Ya'alon will return, as there is a line of people and political parties waiting with open arms to accept him as their leader.
