Close Menu
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
    Middle East Transparent
    • Home
    • Categories
      1. Headlines
      2. Features
      3. Commentary
      4. Magazine
      Featured
      Headlines The Wall Street Journal

      A New Palestinian Offer for Peace With Israel

      Recent
      6 July 2025

      A New Palestinian Offer for Peace With Israel

      3 July 2025

      Why al-Sharaa’s success in Syria is good for Israel and the US

      27 June 2025

      The Poisoned Chalice: President Trump’s Opportunity with Iran

    • Contact us
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • English
    • Français (French)
    Middle East Transparent
    You are at:Home»Categories»Headlines»Maybe Netanyahu Is Just Sick of It All

    Maybe Netanyahu Is Just Sick of It All

    0
    By Salman Masalha on 30 October 2019 Headlines

    In a new election Netanyahu would be fighting for his life. He would go for broke and try to attack anyone who gets in his way with all his might

     

    rational examination of the situation in the Knesset after the most recent election leads to the conclusion that there is a consensus on both the right and the left against yet another round of voting. Only one person, by the name of Benjamin Netanyahu, wants a new election campaign with all his might.

    It is logical that nobody has any interest at present in entering the vortex of another campaign. Even the bloc Netanyahu has built around himself in order to entrench himself as prime minister, come what may, is not all of a piece. The wall he has erected around himself is composed of a large number of bricks made of materials of different degrees of hardness, and therefore it’s unlikely that it will remain in place in the long run.

    Even if we are still hearing voices expressing unreserved support for the prime minister, nobody is promising Likud backbenchers a seat in the next Knesset should another election be called. In addition, several Likud MKs are already preparing for a primary and revving their engines in advance of a fight over the party leadership.

    Political logic says that Shas has no interest in another election. Its leaders would have to be total idiots, politically speaking, to be in favor of the Knesset being dissolved and going to the polls again. Such a step would be a big gamble for Shas: It increased its strength in the last election, but nobody can guarantee that this success will be repeated.

    In this context, the situation in Hayamin Hehadash, led by Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett, is no different. After they returned to the Knesset, following their failure to pass the minimum electoral threshold in the previous election, it doesn’t seem likely that they would be interested in another round of voting.

    In a new election Netanyahu would be fighting for his life. He would go for broke and try to attack anyone who gets in his way with all his might, to survive in light of the indictments looming on the horizon.

    Nor is it likely that Avigdor Lieberman is such an idiot that he would support the Knesset being dissolved again. After all, at the polls in September, the strength of his Yisrael Beiteinu rose, after the party barely eked by the 3.2-percent electoral threshold in the first election, in April. So for Lieberman, as well, a new election is likely to be one gamble too many. His interest is to maintain his strength and his status as a swing vote between the two blocs.

    The Democratic Union and Labor emerged battered from the last round of voting, and were saved by the skin of their teeth from falling below the threshold. Nobody can guarantee that a new election – if there is one – wouldn’t spell disaster for them, and so naturally they have no interest in going to the polls again. And it is almost certain that the Joint List, which with great effort succeeded in September to bring back the votes it lost earlier in the year, won’t rush to support the dissolving of the Knesset and a new election. There could be many upsets in the Arab community, and nobody is promising the party a repeat success.

    Kahol Lavan, which won the distinction of being the largest party in the Knesset, has no interest in another election. And now, after leader Benny Gantz has received the mandate from the president to form a government, the party’s other leaders will do everything possible to succeed in that mission.

    Based on all the above, it is not likely that we will find ourselves in a third election campaign in the course of one year. At some point down the road we will see the beginning of movement within the blocs, the parties and perhaps even among the MKs.

    Meanwhile, the last election brought us at least one positive thing. Israel’s citizens are beginning to breathe somewhat cleaner air: There is no longer a stench emanating from the residence on Balfour Street from the tweets of Netanyahu, Jr. Is that perhaps a sign that his father has had enough? That would also be something, in these chaotic times.
    *
    Haaretz, 30/10/2019

    ***
    For Hebrew, press here

    IN PLACE
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Copy Link
    Previous Articleتعليق “سيدر” وتعنّت باسيل، ومناوراته الخارجية، فرضَت استقالة الحريري
    Next Article عبد المهدي بعد الحريري؟: فتيات، وابتهاج، وتحدّي في مظاهرات بغداد “على نهج انتفاضة لبنان”!
    Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest

    guest

    0 Comments
    Newest
    Oldest Most Voted
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    RSS Recent post in french
    • Nouvelle approche des Forces Libanaises: Alliances ou Endiguement ? 5 July 2025 Kamal Richa
    • Ce que nous attendons de vous, Monsieur le Président 3 July 2025 Michel Hajji Georgiou
    • Il faut être pour Nétanyahou lorsqu’il affaiblit la menace iranienne ; et ardemment contre lui lorsqu’il détruit Gaza 1 July 2025 Denis Charbit
    • En Syrie, la mystérieuse disparition du corps de Hafez el-Assad 11 June 2025 Apolline Convain
    • En Syrie, après les massacres d’alaouites, la difficulté de recueillir des témoignages : « Je n’ai pas confiance » 5 June 2025 Madjid Zerrouky
    RSS Recent post in arabic
    • عن “الإرث السوري” للبنان (مع تحديث وخرائط جديدة) 8 July 2025 جاك كيلو
    • كربلاء.. وسرديتها 6 July 2025 فاخر السلطان
    • مقال “وول ستريت جورنال” الذي يثير ضجة: إمارة إبراهيمية في “الخليل”! 6 July 2025 الشفّاف
    • نهج “القوات اللبنانية” الجديد في الشارع المسيحي: تحالفات أم احتواء؟ 5 July 2025 كمال ريشا
    • (تحديث) رسالة “سرية” من “الإصلاحيين” إلى إسرائيل عرضوا فيها دعمهم لتغيير النظام 5 July 2025 شفاف- خاص
    26 February 2011

    Metransparent Preliminary Black List of Qaddafi’s Financial Aides Outside Libya

    6 December 2008

    Interview with Prof Hafiz Mohammad Saeed

    7 July 2009

    The messy state of the Hindu temples in Pakistan

    27 July 2009

    Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany Apeal to the World Conscience

    8 March 2022

    Russian Orthodox priests call for immediate end to war in Ukraine

    Recent Comments
    • Edward Ziadeh on Why al-Sharaa’s success in Syria is good for Israel and the US
    • Giant Squirrel on Holier Than Thou: Politics and the Pulpit in America
    • Edward Ziadeh on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    • Victoria Perea on As Church awaits a Conclave, President Trump puts up picture of himself as next Pope
    Donate
    Donate
    © 2025 Middle East Transparent

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    loader

    Inscrivez-vous à la newsletter

    En vous inscrivant, vous acceptez nos conditions et notre politique de confidentialité.

    loader

    Subscribe to updates

    By signing up, you agree to our terms privacy policy agreement.

    loader

    اشترك في التحديثات

    بالتسجيل، فإنك توافق على شروطنا واتفاقية سياسة الخصوصية الخاصة بنا.

    wpDiscuz