A new delusion of the 'Not Just Bibi' people: Rivlin's run for prime minister

August 7, 2020   

Ben Caspit, a commentator for the Maariv newspaper and considered one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's greatest critics, presents in his column a bizarre scenario, according to which the president of the state would be the one to head the "Not Just Bibi" camp if Israel goes to the polls. Regular income from National Insurance? Check your eligibility for a monthly pension today ""The despair in the political system has reached saturation point," writes Caspit. "Some are talking, seriously, about President Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin running for prime minister. There is talk of it on both the right wing and the center-left wing of the political map. "How? We'll find a way. The president will resign, the Knesset will legislate what is necessary, the president will head the anti-Bibi camp and win the elections," hopes Caspit. According to him, "if anyone is able to bring in right-wing voters and not drive away left-wing voters (by virtue of being a state liberal, a Beguineist, a Likudnik of the kind that was exterminated by the royal family), it's Rivlin." "By the way, it must be emphasized: Rivlin himself does not share this delusion. I assume that if he were asked, he would throw the questioners off all the stairs. He has exhausted his political career. His only problem is that he remains the last state right-winger to be expelled." Caspit further claims that "the only real drama that could occur around Rivlin is if Israel is indeed dragged into elections by Netanyahu. From conversations with him that associates have had recently, they have the impression that if the president has discretion regarding the assignment of forming a government to Netanyahu, he would prefer to resign and not do it. "This is not a case where Netanyahu obtains 61 or more recommendations. In this case, Rivlin has no discretion and must assign the task of forming a government to Netanyahu. In any other case, it simply will not happen. If Netanyahu has a decisive advantage in the number of recommendations over his opponent, Rivlin will resign and not assign him the task of forming a government. He will not go down in history as someone who assigned the task of forming a government to someone accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.".