1.
In the newspapers after Sukkot, Parashat Bereishit, the great puzzle was: Will there be national elections or not? Who dreamed then that they would descend upon us in such abundance and with so many recurring dates?.
Only a week remained until the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, a session that opened the last year of Netanyahu's fourth coalition. Will the government fulfill its days this time? Well, that is essentially the million-dollar question.
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And it was precisely then, when it was so close to the end and dissolution, that M. Carmeli in the "Hamodiya" withdrew from his repeated prophecies in previous years that "we are going to the elections.".
""Whether you still have the patience to deal with elections or not, when, how much and why, the political system still has a lot of speculation to offer you... When the political reality is deceptive, when those who are supposed to decide decide, regret, wait, check, decide, regret and over and over again this way, we find ourselves dealing with the election date time after time.".
According to him at the time, before Netanyahu left to participate in the UN conference in New York, "the Prime Minister decided to convene a press conference in which he would announce elections soon. Kahlon was in on the secret and was also supposed to participate in that press conference alongside the Prime Minister.".
In the end, it didn't work out. "He wanted to make up his mind again," Netanyahu said.
2.
It was the week the winter session of the Knesset opened when Aryeh Zisman from Yated Ne'eman came out with the announcement: "The plow has fallen (now they are working on the 'excuse')"!
If a week earlier Zisman believed that "the prevailing assessment around the prime minister is that he has not yet made the decision. Netanyahu is still undecided. This issue of progress or not progress is changing with him at lightning speed. One moment here and one moment there. Sources close to him say the following: 'Right now the prime minister is not really in a hurry to break up the coalition, but he is not going to fight tooth and nail for its existence as he did in the past' - this week, he was already more decisive.
According to Zisman, "Netanyahu is preparing the media and political ground for early elections." Despite "his statements about 'efforts to try to solve the recruitment problem and other problems,' and another statement about 'if we find a way, I would be happy to continue with this government until the end of the year,' most of Netanyahu's coalition partners are convinced that the ball has already been dropped, and the elections will be brought forward.".
And he was right. Even though Degel Hatorah Chairman Moshe Gafni himself was interviewed at the time and said that he was under the impression that Netanyahu was not interested in the elections this coming winter…
In the end, the commentators know better.
3.
A week later, Yaakov Rivlin gave an interesting headline in 'Bekhila': "Quarreling on the deck of the Titanic." He didn't even know to what extent. At the end of a year, we will understand how right he was.
He described the opening of the headquarters in Beit Shemesh, the sour faces he met, everyone was sour to everyone, except for Aria Deri and Uri Maklev, the Shas-Degel alliance, who smiled at each other ("They hugged for a long time and squinted to see if the cameras caught the emotional moment").
But what? Conflicts between the ultra-Orthodox parties, among themselves, could have a negative impact "on the life of every ultra-Orthodox citizen in the Holy Land, and not just the unfortunate ones," Rivlin said at the time.
Why? Because in his opinion, the conscription law will not pass before the elections, because the "death certificate" of the Netanyahu government is already ready, "only the date remains open," and because Netanyahu wants elections on any issue, just not on the indictment ("In closed conversations that are not in front of the cameras, he more than signals that he is looking towards elections during the winter.".
Rivlin added: "Before our eyes, the horrific scenario of elections against the backdrop of the conscription law is taking shape, in the heat of the debate over the planning and construction file in Beitar Illit... The facts are that there is no solution to the conscription crisis and the greater crisis of elections against the backdrop of the conscription law...""
And he was right.
While the Haredim are busy with internal squabbles (which is how they lost Beit Shemesh, by the way, and whatever the smiles between Deri and Maklev may be), instigators rose up against them and turned the second-term elections into secular-Haredim battles.
4.
The entry of new MKs, in very large numbers, led to quite a few laughs, as well as curiosities.
In the Shemini affair, the weekend newspapers summarized the opening of the summer session of the Knesset, a session during which no coalition was formed and the state continued to function under a 'transitional government'. Until this very day, the end of the year.
Many tried to describe the opening of the session, but the most apt joke was made by Yitzhak Feldman of Bekhila, in his column "Hello, Grade 21.".
""In view of the chaos that took place in the Knesset and the uncertainty about who is an assistant, who is an MK, and who is in charge of the buffet, I approached MK Benjamin Gantz, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, and introduced myself to him:
'"Hello my son, my name is Isaac.".
""Very nice, Benny Gantz.".
""We are both new members of Knesset, I wish you success and divine help.".
Gantz looked at me, hesitated for a moment to ask which party I was from, that wasn't respectful enough, but then he preferred to end it as quickly as possible.
""A society, right?""
""yes".
""Good luck, you will do an excellent job.".
""No son, I'm kidding, I'm not a member of Knesset.".
He looked at me with puzzled eyes, and didn't even laugh.
I can only imagine what happened next. He must have met Pindarus, who congratulated him on his success, told him his name was Yitzhak and that he was a new Knesset member of Torah Judaism.
""Come on, come on," Gantz told him, "you don't tell a joke twice.".
Cute, right?
I'll just mention that in the panel hosted by the talented journalist, Feldman told the same story a little differently. Here's the story:
I was walking through the Knesset corridors, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz arrived. I said to him: 'Hello, I'm Yitzhak, a new MK.'.
Gantz shook his hand and asked: "Are you from the association?" Feldman told him, "Yes.".
Gantz almost left, and then Feldman laughed and told him: Not really, I'm not a member of Knesset.
A few minutes later, the new Degel MK, Yitzhak Pindaros, passed by, next to Gantz.
He shakes his hand and says: 'I'm Yitzhak, a new MK.' And Gantz says to him: Are you back again?
Meir Porush, sitting on stage, could only roll with laughter...
5.
One of the difficult questions that accompanied the last election campaign was: Why did Netanyahu oppose Ayelet Shaked's joining the Likud?.
Here is Eli Beitan's explanation, in 'Bakhila':
""Political commentators were quick to explain that the reason the Netanyahu family is trying to prevent this union is the abysmal hatred between the family and Bennett and Shaked. But I think this is a partial explanation, and perhaps incorrect.".
Even those who have never considered voting for Netanyahu know that he is a rational and calculated politician. Rational – even if not necessarily right.
In the last elections, over four hundred thousand right-wing voters left home to vote for right-wing parties, but not for Netanyahu, and now they are left without an option. There were also hundreds of thousands of right-wing voters who voted for Shas and United Torah Judaism, the Union of Right-wing Parties, and Lieberman – but those still have someone to vote for. In contrast, voters for Feiglin's Zehut, the New Right, Orly Levy's Gesher, and Kahlon's Kulanu were left without a political home. A minority of them will vote for Likud, but not all of them.
These are the voters who will decide the fate of the bloc, and who knows better than Netanyahu that many will be reluctant to vote for the party of Smotrich and Rabbi Rafi Peretz. To establish an ultra-Orthodox-right bloc, Netanyahu needs a party that will absorb this vote, which is liberal and young in nature but distinctly right-wing, and will preserve it for the bloc.
Netanyahu must have the New Right run alone. This is not a personal matter, this is the order of the hour. With Shaked at the helm, drawing conclusions from the failed campaign and without Feiglin and Kahlon (and perhaps with Lieberman labeled as a leftist), the New Right can pass the threshold alone, thereby ensuring Netanyahu the next government.".
Makes sense, you have to admit. Especially in light of the results.
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