If the exit polls hold true and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is to establish the next government, the challenge facing the right-wing bloc is clear.
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In early June, a few days after the announcement of the fifth elections, Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich gathered several known right-wing opinion makers to brief them in a background talk, as is customary. Although it was at the start of the election campaign, Smotrich refrained from attempting to convince them to vote for him. He claimed that the right-wing bloc would be victorious and immediately began discussing the day after the elections. He wanted to formulate how the right-wing bloc would act the day after its victory, primarily regarding the most important thing, in his opinion – governance.
Smotrich and many others from the right-wing bloc felt that during Netanyahu's 12-year rule, they held power but did not rule. There are many examples of this: judges who intervened in the government's activity, the level of crime in the south, the inability to promote programs in government offices due to the dominance of powerful officials, and more. Why did they not rule? In their view, the cause was the judicial system, judicial advisors, and the media.
MK David Amsalem said such advisors prevented him from reforming the Israeli Corporations Authority and MK Amir Ohana recalled how then-Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit refused to allow other legal advisors to even voice their opinion in government discussions. Similarly, Netanyahu said how the media attacked every move he made – even regarding the issue of procuring coronavirus vaccines that helped overcome the pandemic.
Members of the right-wing bloc promise to fix this in the coming term. They promise their model will be no different than the outgoing government's. They will revert the legal advisory body to its natural size as one that only advises and is not the deciding authority. They cite the Israel-Lebanon maritime agreement as an example. The current attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, recommended that the deal be brought to the Knesset for approval, a recommendation that was ultimately rejected.
The right-wing bloc is expected to be less anxious about the opposition or the media's cries of alarm regarding the issue of ministerial appointments. After Prime Minister Yair Lapid promised 18 ministers and ended up with 26, the right-wing bloc too will be allowed to do as they please.
Regarding the same idea, they say they are no longer afraid of venomous criticism against the distribution of coalition funds performed by the last government, in which it distributed hundreds of millions of funds, from educational needs to money for cats, despite its promises not to use them.
Another interesting point: if, at the end of the coalition negotiations, MK Ben-Gvir's demand to become public security minister is met, he will have a particularly difficult term. It is easy to shout from within the opposition and very difficult to face security authorities who inform you that a decision you are about to make will likely result in dozens of casualties and complications in the international arena.
If fellow lawmaker Baruch Marzel has already attacked Ben-Gvir for "centering" himself in the current campaign and for neglecting the messages associated with Rabbi Meir Kahane, in several months, the Otzma Yehudit leader may face protests at home for becoming a particularly moderate leftist.
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