Birdnow's Aviary

March 27, 2020

In Israel, a surprise government

Dana Mathewson

Ho! Lee! Cow!

In a logical and therefore surprising conclusion to Israelâ€™s long-standing political paralysis, Benny Gantz has agreed to form a unity government with current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As I understand the status of the agreement, the details are being worked out and the parties to the agreement have yet to sign on the dotted line. This JNS report by Dov Lipman relates details and wrinkles. Here is Lipmanâ€™s opening:

After nearly a year of political paralysis, Israel is finally on its way towards a national unity government as the nation battles against the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic. Benny Gantz, who has stood as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâ€™s chief rival through three consecutive election cycles, announced that his party faction would join Netanyahuâ€™s right-wing coalition to form a new government.

According to the terms of the agreement, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for 18 months before handing the premiership as part of a rotation to Gantz, who will serve under Netanyahu as deputy prime minister and defense minister for the first 18 months, and then become prime minister in September 2021.

This last part bothers me no end. From what I know about Benny Gantz, I would not want him in charge of anything more important than sweeping the street in front of the Parliament building(s). But if Netanyahu trusts him enough to agree to this, who am I to object? They didn't ask me, after all.

We shall have to see what happens. The story is here: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/03/in-israel-a-surprise-government.php

David Dickinson makes this short but to-the-point comment: "Based on what Bibi had to say about Gantz in his interview with Mark Levin a couple of weeks ago, I can't imagine he's too thrilled with having to make this deal."

Bingo! But I can't imagine Bibi letting Benny Gantz get away with any shenanigans. Gantz strikes me as having the astuteness of a Joe Biden.

I should add that a very, very sharp analyst of today's scene, blogger William Stroock, has the following entry on his blog in comment on this situation:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Once and Future Israeli PM

Bibi you magnificent bastard! You did it!

Benny Gantz blew up his own Blue and White Party for the sake of stability and will be Netanyahu's Defence Minister. In eighteen months the premiership will rotate to him. Yeah, sure. Though that may just be for how long Bibi wants to hang on.

Of course a good deal of this has to do with the Wuhan Chinese Virus from Wuhan China, and there is the matter of Netanyahu's upcoming corruption trial, but still.

The PM, now and always.

Stroock's blog, which I commend to your attention, is http://williamstroock.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 02:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 So Bebes made a deal with El Diablo, eh? My guess is he had little choice. And who knows what will happen a year and a half from now? My guess is Netanyahu knew that perhaps such a deal could break down.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at March 28, 2020 07:55 AM (4MGfI)

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