When Naftali Bennett’s government came into being on June 13, no one in Israel would have been surprised if it survived only a few weeks, or months, and then evaporated. This unprecedented political object, a coalition of eight parties that opposes everything, if not their desire to turn the page, after fifteen years of reign of Benyamin Netanyahu, sealed its own fate on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 November: it will last.
With remarkable discipline, his supporters approved a budget for what is left of 2021 and for 2022, the equivalent of a vote of confidence in Israel. The country had been deprived of it for three years, caught in a chaotic cycle of four legislative elections, during which Mr. Netanyahu, transitional prime minister, increasingly managed day-to-day affairs. What was most surprising was the ease with which these votes took place: over three days and two nights, parliamentarians rejected one by one of the hundreds of motions tabled by the opposition.
This failed to attract a single defection, in order to break a majority of sixty-one votes out of one hundred and twenty, last resort to obtain the dissolution of the government by the deadline of November 14, then the organization, mechanically, of a fifth ballot. From now on, it will be almost impossible for opponents of the coalition to bring it down for the next seventeen months, an eternity. But it will still have to survive its own inconsistencies.
At the opening of this parliamentary marathon, Mr. Bennett challenged the opposition, which organizes chaos in the hemicycle at each of his speeches, by denouncing “A hysterical and deceptive campaign of delegitimization”, led by supporters of Mr. Netanyahu. For several days, the latter have been attacking the 14.7 billion euros provided for in this budget for the Arab community, which represents 20% of the country’s population. Mansour Abbas’ Islamo-conservative movement, the United Arab List (LAU), negotiated this sum, claiming to be the first Arab group to participate in a Zionist government.
The Netanyahu camp insists that public funds will inevitably end up feeding Hamas’ coffers. For ” evidence “, it highlights the shared ideological origins of Mr. Abbas’ party and the armed movement in power in Gaza – the international brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood. He scrutinizes the works of charity of an association, headed by a member of the LAU, which helps families of “martyrs” in Gaza, with private funds and with the consent of the Israeli army.
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