Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's previous government chose to spend its way out of the social justice protests in 2011. Netanyahu, along with former Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, signed off on billions of shekels. Any impartial observer would fault Netanyahu and Steinitz for pursuing this course.
The idea of having the state comptroller investigate a duly elected government because of this or that error is nothing short of ludicrous. But Labor MK Micky Rosenthal has proposed just that. Just what exactly would the state comptroller scrutinize? Whether the cabinet ministers' hearts are pure?
You can forgive Rosenthal for pursuing this matter. But Yesh Atid has also been making sounds that it might support an investigation, as if it wants this to delegitimize the very forum it partakes in. This is how bad things start. First there are the intra-coalition provocations. Then the attacks become a pandemic.
These developments all boil down to the government's packed schedule as it tries to pass the 2013 state budget.
Netanyahu, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon and Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz convened on Sunday but failed to iron out their disagreements over how much of the defense budget would be cut. Needless to say, the budget as a whole could not be finalized either.
But you would think that a government that was sworn in just six weeks ago would not lose its head, and instead reach a compromise that everyone could live with even if that means certain people would have to give up some of their demands. The sooner we get to this point, the less poisonous our public discourse will be.
For now, it seems that our nomenclature has reached a low point. The IDF has become synonymous with fat; its officers, once glorified as handsome fighters, are now portrayed by Finance Ministry officials as chubby grunts. The government has to clean up the condescending language employed by the officials who look down at government ministers and citizens. But that is not the main challenge at hand; neither are the actual decisions. After all, the disagreements are not as big as they used to be: Should we buy this or that plane, should we increase or decrease funding for prescription drugs, should the education budget stay as it is or be expanded-
The government's most important role is to close ranks and follow through on its decisions. It must then write them into law with virtually no amendments. The government must stay the course and stand firm even in the face of public outrage; it must not bow to pressure and be swayed by the heart-wrenching statements that would be heard left and right. Cabinet ministers would have to keep their composure when the kids and grandchildren of cabinet ministers ask them whether the stuff they hear in school is true.
Netanyahu has to assume the role of the responsible adult. He must make the tough decisions. He must cut, slash and slice the budgets all the while knowing that this treatment, while painful, is life-saving; he must accept the hostility of those who will have been vanquished in this budget battle. There is no other option on the table.
The cabinet is poised to approve the entire budget bill on Monday, although the meeting could be postponed. The clock is ticking; a delay would not serve any purpose.
A tough decision must be made. An even tougher decision must be made to follow through on that decision.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו