The great mystery of Israeli politics is how and why the Likud movement hasn't broken up in the face of the pressure being deployed against it by the political forces, from within and without, who have united together in order to bring it down. What does this mystery of the 30-35 mandates, which are an integral part of the loyalty the Likud enjoys, mean?
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When Likud was the dominant force in the right-wing coalition, we were told day and night that this cohesion and loyalty could be explained by the largesse of power that was distributed to its supporters. Today, Likud is in the opposition and the largesse of power has moved to the Left, but despite this, all the possible manipulations for its break-up have failed.
Why? The main goal of those attacking Likud was never Binyamin Netanyahu. That was always a futile goal. Netanyahu is the means being used to advance the attackers' strategic goal, which was and still is the dismantling of the party into fractious parts, and in so doing to destroy the movement. The attackers' main intention is to strive for the dismantlement of the internal democratic idea that is at the heart of the party.
The dream of the attackers, who are today led by Yair Lapid, is the creation of a collection of tiny parties devoid of ideas, for example, New Hope and Yamina, who exist close to the Knesset's electoral threshold, and struggle with one another until blood flows and they disappear. The goal is the creation of a template of parties, from Left and Right, who exist close to the electoral threshold and whose weakness forces themselves to be reliant upon him. However, it is also clear to Lapid that the political camp he has created, and which he is reliant on, is a table with three legs, sometimes two, and its instability is paralyzed in the face of the presence and stability and of the Likud movement.
Furthermore, even the trial of Netanyahu, which was supposed to be the political tie-breaker and to pulverize the Likud, hasn't been successful for them. The country has broken up into two: those who believe in Netanyahu's innocence and those who clamor for his removal and are convinced of his guilt even before the evidence has been heard. When the legal cloud, led by the attorney general, clears, it becomes clear that he believes that the removal of Netanyahu was delivered into his hands as a mission from God to save "the Jewish people." But the same people, in whose name the attorney general speaks, stand amazed against the circus of futile proofs that fade away in the slightest breeze. In any event, the same part of the Jewish people, the Likud members who have been essentially excommunicated by the wise attorney general, are steadfast in their support of Netanyahu. The legal-political assault has not led to the anticipated erosion and crisis.
There was a similar result for every effort made by Lapid and his part to attract Likud members. Again and again, he offered junior and senior Likud figures the whole world if they would abandon the Likud and join his ranks. The result, in short, was nothing. Gideon Sa'ar's party, built on failing princes, thought that Likud members would march in their steps. In practice, Sa'ar no longer exists as a right-wing alternative. Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked jumped ship so they could lead the country, but in so doing abandoned every promise and political idea that they previously held. The Right responded accordingly and denounced them from within. Even now that Sa'ar and Bennett have taken the reins, the people who voted for them are distancing themselves from them and see them as the worst combination for Israel's image.
If so, what is the secret of the mystery of Likud's strength? Simply, Likud is the only arena for national dialogue, pluralism and democracy, and creates a partnership between diverse groups regarding the nature of Israeli society and culture.
On the Left, the dominant discourse is concerned with the oppression of the other, silencing him and making him disappear under the guise of progressivism, but the Likud movement isn't run on the basis of a lordship of silencing and exclusion, instead, it sees the growth of nationwide participation as the central element of its activity. While the Likud movement has a culture of equal democracy, and against it stand Lieberman and Sa'ar, Bennett and Lapid, for whom the results of all party activities are known in advance, it has become a center that still stirs and unites its members, whether the movement is in the coalition or in the opposition.
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