Naftali Bennett is not willing to negotiate with Yair Lapid as long as Benjamin Netanyahu holds the president's mandate to form the next government. He also isn't willing to compromise on right-wing values and is demanding a ministerial majority in any rotational government led by him and Lapid – if one is ever established. And he is reiterating his refusal to sit in the same government with the Joint Arab List.
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This is all satisfactory to the right-wingers who voted for him. In actuality, however, his actions are, in fact, obstructing the formation of a right-wing government headed by Netanyahu. Instead of helping to persuade potential coalition partners to end their boycotts and join a true right-wing government, Bennett is projecting wide and far that everyone should instead hold tight. In 28 days, when Netanyahu's deadline for forming the government expires, all options will again be on the table.
Bennett, by adopting this position, is not breaking any campaign promises. At no point did he commit to joining a Netanyahu-led government. Moreover, it was Netanyahu who rejected him from the previous government, thereby dismantling the right-wing bloc with his bare hands. Ilan Yeshua's testimony in court on Sunday shed considerable light on the degree of animosity between the two.
But – there is also a but. Because there is a country that needs managing and values that need preserving. And the values of the Right cannot be safeguarded by the alternative government that Lapid, Bennett and Gideon Sa'ar's plan on establishing once Netanyahu's mandate expires. As long as Bennett leaves this option open rather than removing it from the table, a right-wing government cannot truly rise. Things can start moving only if all the sides understand no other option exists; that it's either Netanyahu or elections.
Bennett has no desire to rely on support from members of the Joint Arab List, nor from the Ra'am party, apparently, and therefore is planning for an alternative. The Haredi factions won't come easy and neither will Bezalel Smotrich. The weak link that he and Sa'ar have identified is Moshe Gafni.
On multiple occasions, the United Torah Judaism chairman has described himself as diplomatically left-wing. He also said that sitting in a left-wing government is better for the Haredim than sitting in a right-wing government. The only reason he has been stuck with Netanyahu in recent years is that this is the will of the voters. The younger Haredim are right-wingers. Some of them used the leadership crisis in the party as an excuse to vote outside the party for the first time – for Smotrich.
Gafni also holds a significant grudge against Netanyahu. When giving his party's recommendation to the president, he let it spill that despite his support for Netanyahu, he would have no problem recommending another candidate from the Likud. If there's anyone Netanyahu must fear defecting to a Bennett-Sa'ar-Lapid government, one without the Arabs, it is Gafni.
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