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What will be the political fallout of the security situation? - Analysis
[Jpost] Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu al-Atta has been in the IDF’s crosshairs for a long time; his assassination considered over a year ago, and finally decided, together with Prime Minister and then-defense minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to do it 10 days ago. And while the IDF’s considerations were apparently free of politics, there will likely be political reverberations to the actions taken in the middle of the government-forming period....Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz has eight days left until his deadline to form a government, and President Reuven Rivlin cannot legally give him an extension. In a video addressed to the citizens of Israel, Gantz reassured the public that the strike on Gaza was not political and had to be done even in the difficult political timing. "For the sake of Israel's security, the political and security echelons are often tasked with making difficult decisions, while taking into account the potential ramifications," he said. "Such was the decision to execute last night's operation, on which I was briefed ahead of time. This was an appropriate decision, both politically and operationally. ...Those accusing Netanyahu of allowing the operation to move forward now for political reasons ‐ like the Joint List and some MKs in Labor-Gesher and Democratic Union ‐ might point to Avigdor Liberman’s remarks in an interview on Walla! News in which he said that he wanted the assassination to happen last year, when he was defense minister, but Netanyahu blocked his decision. Then, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin all but confirmed it’s true by responding to a question from Channel 12 about the comment by saying he’s surprised Liberman would reveal classified contents of a Security Cabinet meeting. It must be said, though, that if Netanyahu was doing this for political reasons, he could have picked better timing. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz currently has the mandate to form a government. If this suddenly inspires Likud and Blue and White to put their differences aside and form a unity government, then Gantz would legally be prime minister first, which is not what Netanyahu wants. If the IDF had its eye on al-Atta for so long, the ideal political timing for Netanyahu could have been three weeks ago, when he still had the mandate, or even in May, when he was struggling to convince Liberman to join a right-wing coalition. ...There is one political option that has come up in recent weeks that could be taken totally off the table due to the latest events, and that is the possibility of Gantz forming a minority government supported from the outside by the Joint List. If some in Blue and White were willing to ignore the deep differences between them and the Joint List for a shared goal, getting rid of Netanyahu, that will be much harder to do now. The fact that Arabs are for it, should've clued you jerks Gantz may have said "this action will have no impact on the political advances taking place," but it is almost guaranteed to narrow his options and rid him of what little leverage he had in negotiations with Netanyahu. Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-12 |
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