I’ve kept silent for some time while the politicians are trying to avoid yet another general election in Israel by forming a government. As Avigdor Liberman, the head of the “Russian” Yisrael Beiteinu party, refuses to sit with the Right of Binyamin Netanyahu, if the Orthodox are included, and with the less Right (there’s really no Left nowadays in Israel) of Benny Gantz, if it’ll depend on the support of the Arab party, some drastic measures are needed.
My mistrust of politicians made me fear that a war would get them out of the impasse. I’ve, therefore, in ignorance asked myself if the spectacular assassination in Gaza of the commander of Islamic Jihad Baha Abu al-Ata and his wife, and injuring his four children, was an attempt to initiate a military conflict.
Some commentators seem to suggest it, notably the editor of +972 Magazine Edo Konrad. He wrote: “Netanyahu has long been accused by critics of exacerbating or initiating military operations as an escape route from his political or legal quagmires. He is facing indictments for corruption, and probably prefers the prospect of dealing with that as the prime minister of a unity government, rather during a third election campaign, or while sitting in the opposition.”
As Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff, seems to support Netanyahu in the present action, the prospect of a unity government in which Gantz will have ceded to most of Netanyahu’s demands becomes closer to being realized. Gantz appears to agree with military actions against militants in general and in Gaza in particular.
Islamic Jihad has responded with a barrage of rockets. Though, mercifully, this hasn’t yet caused Israeli casualties, it has paralyzed much of the south of the country causing school closures, financial losses and general disquiet. In the hope of bringing this to an end, supporters of the party of Gantz may not object to him yielding to the prime minister’s demands. The latter’s political skills are legendary.
To quote Konrad again: “Even as Israel is becoming chronically unable to form a government, the ‘Gaza consensus’ – the endless pounding of the strip into oblivion – persists and could tip the scales in Netanyahu’s favor.”
Republished from San Diego Jewish World