All this horsetrading is precisely why we need electoral reform.
- Tzippi Livni insists on controlling peace negotiations, and the PM has to give it to her, despite having promised not to, because he must form a coalition, and she is willing, for the right price, despite having promised not to join
- Yair Lapid demands only 18 ministers, while the PM insists on more, to be able to keep everyone happy and join, and support, the coalition he must form.
- Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennet can demand the implementation of certain policy items, even before being in the government, whether it is the operation of bus line son Shabbos or changing the rules of the IDF draft or any other policy issue, because Netanyahu's time is running out and he must form a coalition.
- Different parties can blacklist other parties, and it puts more pressure on Netanyahu and makes it more difficult to form a stable coalition.
Netanyahu's job does not need to be easy, and the various political parties are not obligated to negotiate in a way that will make it easy for Netanyahu to form his coalition, but all these reforms and policy items are things that should be debated by the government, researched and analyzed, and voted on. All these demands are what makes the PM too weak to function properly and efficiently, let along in the way his own voters expected him to work.
I am not blaming any one specific politician or party. They all bear some of the responsibility and blame, including Netanyahu himself whose leadership has been left wanting, he has set a very divisive tone, pitting parties and politicians against each other. It is the system that is failing the country. The system is built on this horsetrading, and this is what needs to change.
