The Left’s New Spin, Unity Coalition, and Small Parties

(Israelnationalnews.com) The Left’s New Spin

As it already became clear Thursday that Netanyahu will almost certainly be the next Prime Minister, the left already started to look for a way to spin his victory into a loss. Tzipi Livni and the media, although they could no longer tell the public that the left won, realized that at least they could say that Bibi lost.

Ynet in its leading article said, “While the President is making a decision, it is becoming clear that it will be difficult for Likud to make a wide and stable government.” The article goes on to quote Kadima MK Roni Bar-On, who said Kadima should go to the opposition. “Kadima is the only alternative to Netanyahu’s extreme government,” he said. He also went on to predict that the “government that will be formed will last for the shortest amount of time in the history of Israel.”

Meaning the new claim on the left: a majority government isn’t “stable.” 65 members of the Knesset have agreed that Netanyahu should be Prime Minister. Has anyone forgotten how many are left wing? Only 44. So in the left’s new arithmetic, 65 versus 44 isn’t good enough. According to them, 60 percent of the public is not fit to rule.

A National Unity Government?

Netanyahu has said numerous times in the past few weeks that he wants a unity government including Kadima. Why? Mainly because the more MKs Netanyahu has in his government, the more power he gains at the expense of the individual parties. In Israel, 60 MKs are needed to govern. That means that if Netanyahu only has a coalition of 65 MKs, any one of the parties can pull out and take down the government. If Kadima would agree to join, no one party would have that veto power.

Voting for Smaller Parties

This short lesson in Israeli politics shows why people who voted for smaller parties at the expense of voting for the Likud made the right choice. If a 65 MK coalition does indeed form, Netanyahu cannot risk making a policy decision which would cause any of the parties to pull out. He cannot make a decision against the religious parties, because they have 20 MKs. He cannot make a decision against Lieberman’s interests, because he has 15 MKs. And finally he cannot even make a decision against the national religious parties’ interests, because they have 7 MKs.

In short, we can hope that in opposition to the left’s claim, if Netanyahu succeeds in forming a 65 MK government it can be both stable and reflect the wishes of the majority of Israelis. In addition, there is reason to hope that it will be a government which will be right-wing, pro-religion, and pro-the Land of Israel.