JERUSALEM, Nov 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was battling to keep his government afloat on Friday after Defence
Minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
Left with a single seat majority in parliament after the walkout by
Lieberman and his hawkish Yisrael Beitenu party, most media saw little way
for Netanyahu to avoid calling a snap general election.
The veteran prime minister was expected to hold crunch talks later on
Friday with his other main right-wing rival, Education Minister Naftali
Bennett, whose religious nationalist Jewish Home party has threatened to quit
unless he is given Lieberman’s job.
The Gaza ceasefire, which ended the worst flare-up between Israel and the
territory’s Islamist rulers Hamas since a 2014 war, faced its first major
test later on Friday as Palestinian demonstrators were expected to gather
along the border for mass protests that have triggered deadly violence in
previous weeks.
The deal has already drawn heavy criticism, however, in Israeli
communities near the border that faced barrages of rockets earlier this week.
Hundreds joined a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Thursday despite a promise
from Netanyahu of more public money for emergency services.
Pro-Netanyahu freesheet Yisrael Hayom daily predicted that the prime
minister would do all he could to avoid a general election while his hard-won
security credentials were at issue.
“Holding elections with the fiasco in Gaza in the background cracks the
image of the ultimate leader that he has built over the course of years,” it
said.
“The chances of stopping this speeding train appear impossible, but
Netanyahu is still trying.”
The eight lawmakers of Bennett’s far-right Jewish Home party are not the
only threat to Netaynahu’s razor-thin parliamentary majority.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, whose centre-right Kulanu party hold 10
seats, has reportedly told Netanyahu that a snap election is necessary to
provide a stable government to keep the economy on track.
But Yisrael Hayom said Bennett was key to efforts to avoid an early
election and could yet prove Netanyahu’s political salvation.
“Naftali Bennett as defence minister and Netanyahu as prime minister could
together project stability and embark on a coordinated offensive against
anyone who gets in the way,” it said.
In a speech on Thursday, Bennett did not reiterate the resignation threat
but made his case for why he should get the defence post.
“The most dangerous thing for the state of Israel is that we begin to
think that there is no solution to terrorism, to terrorists, to missiles,” he
said.
“There is a solution. When Israel wants to win, we will win.”
There were no official details of when or where Bennett would meet
Netanyahu on Friday or what public statements if any would be made.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening calling
for tougher action against Hamas which has portrayed the ceasefire and
Lieberman’s resignation as a victory.
Netanyahu — flanked by Kahlon, Interior Minister Arie Deri and army top
brass — met with the leaders of Israeli border communities.
He briefed them on military efforts to quell Hamas attacks and also
announced a 500 million shekel ($139 million, 119 million euro) two-year
package to improve emergency medical and social services, a government
statement said.
With a major domestic political battle on his hands, Netanyahu cancelled a
planned two-day visit to Austria next week for a conference on anti-semitism
and anti-Zionism.
There has long been speculation that Netanyahu would call a general
election before its scheduled date of November 2019.
Police have recommended he be charged in two separate corruption cases and
the attorney general is expected to announce in the coming months whether to
put him on trial.
Analysts say the prime minister would be better positioned to fight any
charges with a fresh mandate from the voters.
But he would not have chosen to go the polls with voters’ attention
focused on the Gaza ceasefire and his rivals’ efforts to outbid his security
credentials.