1.
It shouldn't have looked like this. It should have ended differently. If it were normal, there would have long ago been a strong right-wing government here, stretching from Smotrich to Bogy, headed by Netanyahu or by Netanyahu's successor (because if it were normal, it's not certain that Netanyahu would be leading the Likud).
And maybe it was a government headed by a centrist. Maybe it was Yair Lapid and his deputy Shai Piron, the religious rabbi. And in his coalition there were fragments of Likud and Haredim and the right and a little secular center and a little bit of the left, and that too was normal and natural.
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But no. It wasn't normal. It was crazy from the moment someone on the left got it into their heads that they could return to power and leave the right and the religious in opposition, and the means to do that is Netanyahu's head – it ceased to be normal and ceased to be democratic.
The past six years are something that will be studied with horror in the future. The story of the extensive collaboration between the multitude of Netanyahu haters for their own reasons, those who were fired or reprimanded or had their promotions blocked or simply fell into it and turned it into a career, and political opportunists with the artillery aid of the media and the backing of the legal system – is the story of a terrifying and shocking journey that I wish had ended with the formation of this government.
2.
So we got this government. It is big and ugly and causes immense discomfort (not because of the financial expenditure, which is negligible. Because of the ethnicity and the atmosphere of dividing the spoils), but it is the maximum that could be established in this crazy reality. Because the exercise presented above – succeeded. It succeeded 3 times.
A huge audience followed these false ideas and fell into the trap. What could have been done? The only way to prevent elections, which technically could not be held because of the Corona virus (if it were not for this, I would have been happy to hold them), was this. There is also a lot of logic in the fact that the two leaders of Blue and White, Gantz and Ashkenazi, who were never part of the "plan" until the end – join Bibi and enter the government headed by him.
3.
The enormous price of giving up half the term is unbearable. And it is unjust. We will be forced to take solace in the glass half full: a split in Blue and White, Lieberman out, the Joint List out, Blue and White bending on the issue of the court, the opportunity to apply sovereignty.
I hope she's right inside. Without her, it will be very, very bitter.
4.
So what do all those who are now talking about the fact that fifty-one percent of the people wanted nothing but Bibi and are whining and giggling think? After all, they, unlike their unfortunate flock of voters, know the truth. After all, they were there in the rooms, in the strategic discussions when the plan was being implemented. They know it in detail.
They remember the 2015 attempt and its failure, they remember the moment when they started talking about the suspicious letters and the great opportunity was born, they know the graphs, the data, they thought up every spin and formulated every slogan. Why don't they say to themselves: Enough. We tried. We failed. Why do they continue to ruin life here?
And the bigger question: They got what they wanted. In a year and a half, Netanyahu will leave the prime minister's office. After all, that's what they wanted, right? It's true that they weren't the ones who inherited him, but their former partner Gantz, but if the goal was to move Netanyahu, it was almost achieved, wasn't it?
5.
Well, there are two answers to that. The first is, of course, as is well known, that the goal was never to remove Netanyahu. The goal was to seize power. Removing Netanyahu was only the means, as stated and as discussed.
But there is another answer. Much more shocking: these are the days of Corona, boredom is great and most of the answers can be found on Netflix. Somewhere in the middle of season 4 of The Paper House, a discussion develops between the professor and Palermo about his future loyalty. You are a megalomaniac, the professor tells him. I can't trust you. That's right, Palermo explains to him. I love myself, but much more than myself – I love the show. I am loyal to the show.
And the truth that needs to be told is that in the past year, Israel has been the victim of a plan. A bunch of machos came up with a plan, an excellent one, by the way, and it progressed almost flawlessly. Lie followed lie, spin followed spin – and the plan moved forward. From election to election, the chances grew. And the passion to win grew. And adrenaline was produced in quantities. And no one remembered what and why we had pledged to do, and who we were actually going with and why.
And no one paid attention to the little things like two or three Knesset members who would never go with the Joint List or a party chairman whose heart is elsewhere. What worked was only: the plan.
With tremendous concentration on each attack individually and not on the entire game (a line painfully dedicated to L. Shelah). And that, you must admit, is much worse. This is not politics. This is sports.
6.
And now the High Court. This is no longer politics or sports. This is our life. Let's go to war.
