Have Israeli politicians forgotten who they are supposed to serve?
The Knesset opposition seems to have forgotten that it has a crucial role to play in keeping the government in check.
When Israel’s 34th government was sworn in on May 14, pundits predicted that it would not last long. They said that the 59 members of the opposition in the 20th Knesset would make the lives of the 61 coalition members miserable. They expected Isaac Herzog, leader of the Zionist Camp, and Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid, to either find their way quickly into the new government or to drag Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over sizzling hot coals, all the way to early elections. On paper, the predictions appeared valid. The desiccated majority that Netanyahu relies on, and that so many ministers are, effectively, confined to their ministries — away from the Knesset — provides some added advantage to the opposition. In theory at least, the narrower the coalition, the greater space the opposition has to operate. The chances of opposition members obtaining a majority for their proposed legislation is inversely proportionate to the number of Knesset members supporting the government. Herzog, head of the opposition and thus representing 59 Knesset members — or 53 if one omits Yisrael Beitenu, which often sides with Netanyahu — gets generous radio and television airtime.
Yet, despite the grim predictions that accompanied the formation of Netanyahu’s fourth government, it appears that talk of its impending demise was somewhat premature. Netanyahu seems more worried about the lack of confidence in him among the Democratic minority in the US Congress, stemming from Iranian nuclear deal antics, than a no-confidence motion in the Knesset. Even now, with President Barack Obama having won assurance that the agreement with Iran — the “bad agreement,” as Netanyahu calls it — will survive congressional review, there are no signs of internal pressure on Netanyahu in Israel. He may have failed in his life’s mission of saving Israel from a “second Holocaust,” but he still has no plans to retire to his villa in Caesarea. If Netanyahu's resounding failure to block the nuclear agreement didn’t send shock waves through his government, what could possibly put its existence at risk?
