Coalition supporters with an ounce of integrity would admit the so-called "change" government is gradually institutionalizing inferior political norms and normalizing warped government priorities. The method at hand sees coalition members constantly pointing at some catastrophic threat – current ones include the possibility Otzma Yehudit party head Itamar Ben-Gvir will be appointed interior minister or Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu will form a government with the Joint Arab List – to justify the kind of emergency steps that would normally make black flag protesters head out in convoys toward Jerusalem.
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But the recent incident concerning Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi was a new low. Israeli political commentators have become so anxious about the fate of the government that they have begun describing Rinawi Zoabi as being in Netanyahu's corner and warning the Likud leader is leading a "violent and forceful camp" with the help of his "foolish followers."
The propaganda of panic has reached such a fever pitch that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went out of his way Saturday night to dedicate an entire social media post to the historical importance of the "rescue government" he established especially to redeem the State of Israel from the disasters imposed on it by 12 years of rule by the camp he once pretended to lead. At the same time, Bennett's partner and brother Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid enlisted his followers in a war against the "dark forces" threatening the coalition.
There is no limit to the demonization and fear-mongering from Netanyahu, the Likud, and its supporters that wasn't crossed over the last week.
When it comes to war, and in particular a war to rescue the country, you do what is necessary to win. How many steps have been taken over the last year to rescue this rescue project? We have seen budget upon budget, concession upon concession, and extortion upon extortion. Yet Lapid's reconciliation summit with Rinawie Zoabi and her entourage was beyond the pale.
We won't likely ever know what exactly was promised behind closed doors and what will be delivered in practice. So be it. Let's just call it "political bargaining." Extortion is now officially a legitimate tool for this government.
But how is it that the Israeli government got down on its knees to beg a woman to return to the coalition who, according to reports, was fairly close to being disqualified from representing the country in the diplomatic service as a result of her reservations on Israel's core values?
The question remains: Did Bennett and Lapid even bother to read Rinawie Zoabi's resignation letter before sending their emissaries off to "resolve the crisis?" Did they understand the significance of her arguments?
No. It's not just the money or budgets or whatever else Lapid would at one point have referred to as bribery that is so disturbing. What should have Israelis up in arms is Rinawi Zoabi's value system: the things she says and believes. Any Zionist government with the tiniest of spines would refuse to enter into negotiations with her. We would have been better off letting her go.
This is not the case for Bennett and Lapid, who have made it their life's mission to rescue Israel from Netanyahu and the Likud and commit to doing everything in their power to bringing Rinawie Zoabi back into the coalition.
Her return appears to embody the state's official confirmation and symbolic acceptance of her worldview, which does not remember the national anthem and which found the month of Ramadan "too much to bear" as a result of "violent officers on the Temple Mount," but not the incitement and terror campaign that ended in the deaths of 19 Israelis. Yes, Rinawi Zoabi went to meet with Lapid, but the sense is that what transpired was ultimately the surrender of our national honor.
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