The glue that held the parts of the "Anyone but Bibi" coalition is finally drying up and peeling off. For a year and three months, Avigdor Lieberman controlled Israeli politics, leading the system into an unbelievable state of collapse and ongoing uncertainly. Through three elections, he managed to destabilize things and tip the scales with the goal being to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or regrettably, to make him superfluous through personalized legislation that would limit his activity.
Lieberman's primary goal was to break apart the Likud by ousting Netanyahu, and spark a ferocious battle among those vying to succeed him as head of the party. He made two demands that emphasized his position as tipper-of-the-scales: first, to form a government without the haredi parties United Torah Judaism and Shas. It's incredible. Since 1977, the haredim, whom Menachem Begin brought into his government with great political skill, have become an active and integral part of the government. Their recalcitrance has been replaced by cooperation – albeit problematic and not without crises – but the haredim are now part of the system of government.
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The obsessive desire to detach the Likud from the haredim made Lieberman's partners in his political schemes – such as standing Moshe Leon for mayor of Jerusalem – into political lepers from whom everyone kept their distance. Every election poster Lieberman put up was emblazoned with a slogan demanding that the haredim be removed from the coalition. Supposedly, that was the only way Israel could return to the straight and narrow, to progress, to liberalism, to rationalism and enlightenment. Lies were piled on top of lies.
The move to cut the Likud off from the haredim never got off the ground; Lieberman was unable to get the right-wing bloc to change its colors. The boon he thought he would bring to the Left, making himself necessary to them, vanished. Litzman and Deri, along with Bennett and Shaked, were unwilling to meet with Gantz. In the Likud, Gideon Sa'ar and his group showed responsibility and united around Netanyahu as party leader.
This was when a fraud of unprecedented proportions was cooked up. Remember, Lieberman was the one who had spearheaded the move to keep Arab Israelis out of the Knesset by demanding that every citizen be required to sign a declaration of loyalty to Israel as Jewish, democratic state. Anyone who refused would lose their right to vote or stand for election, and would be ineligible for an Israeli identity card. But in order to oust Netanyahu, Lieberman opted for close cooperation with the Joint Arab List – in other words, to pass personalized legislation that would prevent Netanyahu from continuing to serve as prime minister after 58 MKs from the Right expressed unequivocal support for him. In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Lieberman explained to anyone who would listen that Netanyahu didn't want an emergency government or a unity government, but merely to serve his own interests. Then Gantz and Ashkenazi showed up booted Lieberman out of his position to decide, finally making him irrelevant.
Lieberman's story is now that of Yair Lapid. They bound their fates together. There is a chance that they might form a political bond based on speeches of hate for Netanyahu, loathing for the haredim, and excoriating Gantz and Ashkenazi. It's possible that Lapid might save Lieberman from falling below the minimum electoral threshold in the next election. But it's more likely that Lapid will soon realize the significance of his new asset, and the package will fall apart.
