PM Netanyahu had 28 days to try to form a coalition. He failed. Netanyahu spent much of that time working to prevent an alternative government rather than trying to form a coalition. He never even got together with Gdeon Saar and his people to try to persuade them (not that there was much of a chance), and he spent more time attacking Naftali Bennett and Yamina than trying to finish a coalition - even though they agreed to join a Netanyahu government if he could get 61.
When Netanyahu's 28 days came to an end with no coalition, the mandate was given to MK Yair Lapid to try to form a coalition. He is working to that goal now, and he might or might not be successful. Odds are against him being successful, but all we can do right now is wait and see.
Today Deputy Minister Meir Porush and MK Yisroel Eichler, both from UTJ, sent a letter to PM Netanyahu. They suggested that Netanyahu step aside for a year and a half and allow someone else from the Likud to be Prime Minister, thus enabling them to form a full right wing coalition. After the year and a half, Netanyahu would return to the premiership.
Porush and Eichler are assuming that Saar and Bennett would be fine with such an arrangement and join this government.
What I do not get is, why now? Right now it is not in Netanyahu's hands to form a government. He had just about a month to try. Where were they then? Right now it is in Lapid's hands. If Lapid fails, we almost definitely go to elections. The President almost definitely won't give it back to Netanyahu after he already failed. So why now?
And, despite the why now, what is this new proposal anyway? Netanyahu offered everybody and their cousin, except Gideon Saar, first slot in a rotation arrangement. How is this new, dramatic, letter to Netanyahu presenting a new option, not previously explored? The problem with such a promise is not that Netanyahu refuses to make the promise, but that nobody believes anything he says because in the past he has broken so many promises to all the people now opposed to him - they no longer trust a word he says and are no longer willing to work with him. And if UTJ or Shas offers to guarantee the promise be kept, we all know how that turned out last time and that nobody will accept such a guarantee now because of it.
So, what are they trying to accomplish with this letter?
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel ------------------------------------------------------
