Ever since the Likud's historic rise to power in 1977, most of the governing coalitions that have been established have included conflict. The fact that they didn't have common ground on every issue didn't keep them from working, whether they succeeded or failed.
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If the divisive campaign by right-wing officials doesn't torpedo the democratic process, and if a Bennett-Lapid government is sworn in, it will be managed by a group of experienced people. If they act in the right spirit, they will be able to confront the difficult challenges ahead of them. Anyone who thinks that the next government will lose the glue that holds it together the moment Netanyahu leaves the Prime Minister's Residence on Balfour St. is wrong. The new glue will be the group's desire to prove to itself and others and it can succeed where its predecessors failed.
The main disagreement is the willingness of some members to divide the country to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state, compared to the others who oppose the idea of such a division. It is possible to decide not to discuss the issue, but it's also possible that reality will require the decision makers to make proposals and suggest solutions, and the idea of a confederation between Israel and the Palestinians could be one of the most important of these, and this government could be the one to make it happens.
When it comes to relations with the US, there is room to reopen cooperation on security and defense. We are fortunate to have a special relationship, even at times of clashes with the US president, but are still far from realizing the raw potential of that relationship. For most of Netanyahu's time in office, this hasn't been something that could be discussed, but the new prime minister and the veteran president, a fervent supporters of Israel, could reexamine the security ties.
One main topic in this area is the possibility of bringing Israel into NATO. Israel isn't really part of the organization, and when it doesn't suit Turkey, we don't even have observer status. An American effort to bring Israel into NATO could upgrade our defense status when it comes to the strategic threats that lie ahead.
Another important security option is a deal to deepen bilateral access to sensitive technologies. This is a subject that the defense establishment has been working on for some time, and despite the intimacy of Israel-US security ties, there is still room to expand them, particularly here. A third deal could be signed on joint funding for R&D in certain areas. This is something that has been extensively discussed, but never implemented.
The new government can also delve into the possibility of a defense pact between Israel and the US. There are defense officials who support this idea and others who oppose it, and even if Israel decides to ask the US to look into the matter, there is no guarantee it will agree. Thus far, there hasn't been any discussion of the idea in any cabinet, and there is no reason not to hold an in-depth discussion of it. The US has defense pacts with countries with which its ties are much less close than its ties with Israel, and as far as we are concerned, a pact of this kind could be the ultimate upgrade to our security. This subject is something that must be reexamined by a government that doesn't have collective baggage.
And we haven't even discussed a constitution (which could even include the infamous override law, in certain circumstances); or the major problems we will have to solve together, like the matter of the Bedouin community in the Negev, the sectors of the population who are exempt from IDF service, or even fulfilling the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin's promise to bring back the residents of the Arab villages Iqrit and Birim – whom we asked to leave for two weeks during the War of Independence – something neither his government nor the ones that came after it dared to do.
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