Breaking Israel’s Impasse: Recognize the Israeli Arabs  

While there continues to be an inordinate number of opinions being thrown at us, the Israeli public, there really is only one workable solution that gets us to the finish line and lets us move ahead.

But first, permit me to dispose of some of the options that have been bandied about but will actually never happen or, if they do, will make matters worse not better.

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Post’s lead editorial spoke in favor of a national unity government with Likud and Yashar joining together along with the Lapid/Bennett group and some others to form a solid majority.  While the concept of a national unity government to guide us through these turbulent times sounds attractive, there are some givens along with an unsuccessful past history, that make this idea totally impractical in this case.

Based on our knowledge of the personalities involved, it is clear that if this were to move forward, Bibi Netanyahu would insist on being the Prime Minister for the first two years of the rotation with Gaid Eisenkot taking over for the final two years.   However, the estimated 70% of the country that thinks that after 19 years in power, it is time for Netanyahu to move on, would definitely not be happy to see him serve for another two years as the leader of government.

Our history also tells us that the odds of the government lasting long enough for Gadi Eisenkot to take over are minimal at best. Truth be told, we have had six national unity governments in our 78-year history and only one, the 1984–1988 Rotational Government functioned for the full four years. Shimon Peres (Alignment) led in the first half, followed by Yitzhak Shamir (Likud) in the second half.  Triggered by a stark electoral deadlock between the two major political blocs similar to our current situation and in the midst of a severe economic crisis (some are old enough to remember the rampant inflation of those days), the two leaders agreed to rotate the prime ministerial position. Sadly, today we are not dealing with similar personalities which makes it difficult to conceive that this will work.

Secondly, there are those who counsel that it will be impossible for either of the two largest parties to form a coalition, so perhaps the best thing is to declare an impasse and go to a second round of elections. But nobody really wants to do that and it is not clear that the results will be any different the second time around.

Embarking on the route of new elections would cost the country an additional NIS 625 million (the estimated cost of this past election), “kick the can down the road” as it were until March-April of next year at the earliest and, according to law, the existing government then stays in power as a caretaker for the next six months. I needn’t point out her how much additional damage they could do during this interim period.

There is, however, a third option that everyone is aware of but one which is being danced around rather than tackled directly.

The Israeli Arab community, where traditionally voter turnout for national elections was in the low 30% range, this election reached almost 80% and resulted in their garnering 19 seats in the Knesset or 16% of the 120-seat legislative body. By doing so the Israeli Arab community has made a bold statement unequivocally recognizing the legitimacy of the Israeli government and confirming their interest in having a voice in that government. The significance of this is not to be belittled.

For sure the arguments against including them as part of the coalition are understandable. People have said to me that it is unconscionable to have members in the coalition who were unable and unwilling to condemn Hamas’ October 7^th massacre of over 1,200 Jews and the taking of over 250 hostages. Yes, it is definitely unconscionable yet is also unrealistic to think that we can continue to deny 20% of the population the right to full representation in the government that is in control of so much of their lives. Sadly, we knew that someday we would be faced with this challenge yet we did nothing about it for 78 years and now it is in our collective face.

Thus, we may just have to admit reality, suck it up and see how this could come together. Ra’am, with its 8 seats served five years ago in the government coalition under Naftali Bennett’s leadership and recognizes publicly that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. The Joint List, with 11 seats, has indicated that they prefer not to be “in” the government but they would support Eisenkot from the outside…..sort of like US Sen. Bernie Sanders who is an independent but caucuses with the Democrats there.

If the Democrats with 8 seats and Israeli Beitenu with 7 seats join as well that would give the coalition 56 seats, enough to form a viable minority government with 11 Joint List members voting with them for a healthy voting majority of 67.  Frankly, under this framework it would not surprise me if either or both United Torah Judaism with 7 seats and the Religious Zionists with 6 seats would choose to opt in so as not be kept out of the action.

The result would be to put the Likud under Bibi Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit under Itamar Ben Gvir as a minority bloc, joined by the Shas party under Arye Deri as well for an opposition of 40 seats, plus UTJ and the Religious Zionists if they choose not to be in the majority.

For those cynics who are now asking “When did he drink the Kool Aid?” the answer is it was not Kool Aid but piping hot black coffee that knocked me out of my stupor and into reality, helping me to recognize the new realities brought home by this election along with the opportunities they present.

There are no perfect solutions here. Nevertheless, the business of government must go on and the business of government is not conducting election after election as we did a few years ago until someone yelled “Uncle!” Responsible leadership recognizes the realities and deals with them realistically and creatively for the ultimate good and welfare of the community.

I hope that after President Herzog completes his individual meetings with the leaders of the 10 parties represented in the next Knesset, that he will do the brave thing and ask Gadi Eisenkot to form the next government.  Should he rise to the occasion and do so, what follows will be a test of Eisenkot’s mettle, a test he has already passed many times but never one as important as this one.

At this juncture in our history, we need both our President and Gadi Eisenkot to have the courage to do what is necessary in the face of cynical naysayers who seem to have forgotten how to get to “yes.”

We can learn from history. US Gen. George Patton during the battles of World War II,  felt that beyond physical bravery on the battlefield, he valued moral courage more—doing what is right, honest, or honorable even when it brings personal or professional risk. As he said: “Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”

Let us hope that those whom we entrusted with power have the moral courage to do the right thing. Our future depends on it.