1. With Rav Rafi Peretz splitting off from Yamina, Netanyahu's brilliance in political maneuvering comes through once again. Not because he got Peretz - that is not so important for anything besides Netanyahu's image and support in the right wing. Peretz is taking a job that is almost meaningless, so the job and connection is meaningless for everything except image. Netanyahu's brilliance is in being able to hold the Likud together, even while making almost every Likud politician unhappy, while ravaging [almost] every other party.
Netanyahu has now successfully dismantled Kachol Lavan, Yamina, Labor and the Labor-Gesher-Meretz bloc.
Netanyahu's leadership skills and political savvy will be, or should be, studied for generations.
2. With Rav Rafi Peretz splitting off from Yamina and Joining the Netanyahu-led coalition he has shown, again or further, how fragmented the Dati Leumi community leadership is. Peretz is well respected (though not necessarily as a politician), yet he broke a major promise to Ben Gvir for "the sake of unity" in the DL camp, and now he is breaking up that unity for a minor ministry in a bloated government. It is not even for anything important or significant.
Perhaps Bennett deserved such turnabout, as he himself did similarly in previous election cycles, but at least Bennett did it for fairly important and significant roles and influence. Peretz is doing it for a meaningless ministry with almost no authority created just for him to join the coalition. Anyone who criticizes Bennett for his past breakaways and splits but praises and supports Peretz is being hypocritical and vindictive. And Peretz is not just screwing Bennett and Shaked, but also Smotritch and his supporters.
I am amazed Mafdal/BayitYehudi/Yamina still has any voters and supporters at all. They have shown themselves time and again to be selfish politicians (as perhaps many are) with almost no influence.
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