Last night, Prime Minister Netanyahu stepped in front of the public. There was speculation in the media about what he would say. Many said he would give in and appoint Bennet Minister of Defense, the main thing was not elections. But they were wrong. Netanyahu is not someone who puts himself in the corner. In his speech, Netanyahu enumerated his achievements for the safety of Israel, while also appeasing his fallen brother Joni, and also that he himself had almost died in the fight for Israel. The security of Israel is paramount. He also referred to the controversial ceasefire with Hamas. There are many details that are deliberately kept secret, Netanyahu said. They should not be published for security reasons. He asked for the trust of the citizens, even if it looked as if Israel had capitulated to terror. And because security is so close to him, Netanyahu said that from now on he will take over the post of defense minister.
At that moment, everyone was sure that the days of the government were numbered and Ministers Naftali Bennet and Ayelet Shaked would resign today and their party’s exit from the coalition.
But it turned out differently. This morning, there was a statement from the two ministers. Bennet turned around and said his party would remain in the coalition despite Netanyahu’s refusal to appoint him defense minister. „The country is in the midst of a security crisis,“ said Bennet. „I declare that at this moment we will withdraw all our demands and help Prime Minister Netanyahu defeat Hamas. I know. that we lose some political points but that’s not important now. I prefer losing to Netanyahu rather than the state of Israel losing to Hamas boss Yahya Sinwar. Our role in government is too important to take your hand off the wheel now. Politically, we may lose something, but that is the responsible step we must take for the good of our nation. “
Politics is often like a game of chess. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a figure to be in a better position later. If Bennet had succeeded in his attempt to become Minister of Defense, he would not have forgiven him later. If Bennet had made his threat true and resigned, bringing down the government, he would also be in a very bad position against Netanyahu after the elections. So he had no choice but to withdraw his own ambitions and show his loyalty to Netanyahu. And Netanyahu? He seems to be a pretty good chess player.
