In the wake of the Knesset's decision to dissolve and call early elections, officially approved late Monday night, the public discourse has focused on which parliamentary bloc would be able to form a coalition: How many seats will the Likud-right-religious bloc get? Will the center-left parties run on a joint list? Will the Arab parties join forces and merge as well? This chatter intensified after new polls were released. Such talk, given our political landscape, seems out of place. First, our parliamentary system makes it possible to forge composite coalitions that could, at least theoretically, depart from the ideological contours of the so-called blocs. Second, voters on the Left and Right are no longer as split along party lines as they used to be. The ideological wall that set them apart from each other has eroded over the past 10 years, if not more than that. From a historical perspective, Israeli politics has never truly been defined by political blocs: the national religious and ultra-Orthodox parties have joined nearly every coalition, partnering with both left and right "blocs;" the Arab parties have never officially joined an Israeli government, regardless of whether it was the right-wing or the left-wing bloc that was in power; the traditional linchpins of the two major blocs Likud and Labor have occasionally formed national unity governments; the so-called right-wing parties have often pursued "left-wing bloc" policy, and vice-versa. These are only some examples of how the whole concept of "political blocs" can be turned on its head. This concept seems particularly irrelevant when it comes to the coming elections. On foreign policy and security, there is almost no difference between Labor and Likud, which will most likely be the two largest parties and heads of the Left and Right "blocs" in the 19th Knesset. Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich barely talks about these issues and when she does, in most cases she falls in line with Prime Minister Netanyahu's policy. The same with Yair Lapid, who left his job as the host of Channel 2's Friday night news magazine to become the head of a new party called Yesh Atid (There is a Future). Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of Yisrael Beytenu, sits shoulder-to-shoulder with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the current government. Both are senior coalition partners. So what do we have left? Meretz MKs seldom make their voices heard on foreign policy, even though they are almost certainly at odds with Netanyahu on that front; the parties that are to the right of Netanyahu may disagree with some of his policies, but trust his overall judgment. The fault lines on socioeconomic issues, which ostensibly divide the parties, are not as big as they appear. When push comes to shove, Yachimovich and Netanyahu will be able to agree on basic guidelines to facilitate a coalition and allow the new prime minister, probably Netanyahu, to appoint the Labor leader as finance minister. Lapid could become education minister in any government, regardless of its makeup, or its social agenda, or for that matter, who the prime minister is. Shas bigwigs such as current leader Interior Minister Eli Yishai and his predecessor Aryeh Deri, or Housing Minister Ariel Atias, can serve as interior, housing or health ministers under Socialist Shelly, Capitalist Bibi, or Pragmatist Ehud Olmert (the former prime minister from Kadima who may re-enter politics). Candidates can find their voices in different parties and in different blocs. Homefront Defense Minister Avi Dichter, for example, who recently mounted an unsuccessful bid to become the leader of the seemingly center-left Kadima party, is planning to run for a Likud seat. Couldn't the Likud's Moshe Kahlon, the minister of welfare and social services as well as minister of communications, who recently announced he was leaving the Knesset, find his place in the Labor party? And former Deputy Chief of General Staff Moshe Kaplinsky, who may occupy the number-two slot on Lapid's Knesset list according to some analysts, would likely feel at home regardless of which party he joined. Where the parties differ from one another is their candidates and the faith their constituents have in them. With such subtle differences, we might as well forgo any further talk of "political blocs."
