1.
Even in the most far-reaching imaginations I had - and have had - about the disintegration of Bennett and Yamina's lie, I did not imagine that it would happen so quickly and in such an embarrassing, that is, so joyful, manner.
Yes, it's heartening to see what Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Matan Kahane and the rest of my Yamina friends are going through these days. And it's not just joy over their defeat, it's mainly joy over the fact that in the end the truth won. It turned out that lies have no legs.
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True, it has power, it has a hold on reality, or at least on public opinion. The lie can reach the most important position in the country and continue to lie from there. But never a lie. And it is comforting to see that. It is encouraging. It also gives strength and hope regarding other public systems that we are still in the midst of, where the lie is still defeating us.
You see how the leaders of the Right, people who until a few months ago controlled government ministries, set the agenda, appointed cronies, and passed budgets - instantly become the laughing stock of the political system. And what's most amusing about the new situation is the fact that it's clear to anyone looking from the sidelines that their time has passed, only they themselves haven't internalized it, for some reason.
They are still trying, in a desperate effort, to stay relevant somehow. They give interviews, publish ridiculous posts, shoot absurd videos, and don't realize that the game is over.
2.
I find myself trying to get into the depths of their souls in recent days: Does Nir Orbach really think that Israeli public life owes him his one-time image? Does he really believe that religious Zionism will not get along without his leadership and thought, and the only question is in what political framework will we be able to accept him?
And what about Ayelet Shaked? In her case, it's already becoming pitiful (actually, let me be precise: my pity hasn't awakened yet, but if she keeps going like this, you'll know).
The phrase "Ayelet Shaked's party does not pass the threshold" has been the hallmark of every election poll in recent weeks, no matter who the pollster is, no matter what channel. A kind of constant mantra that is always there, like "read the consumer leaflet before using.".
Sometimes I see her being interviewed/speaking/tweeting/taking pictures bringing flowers to her husband on Tu B'Av and I tell myself that this is probably the symbolic fate of someone who broke all her promises and brought this government to the State of Israel, all for the position of Minister of the Interior: She will never return to her greatness, but she will forever continue to try to get back there. There's something poetic about that.
I just don't understand one thing: have all her followers and lovers abandoned her to such an extent in the past year that she doesn't have a single true friend left to tell her what she looks like?
3.
It's amazing to see not only how quickly Yamina fell, but how far it has scattered in all directions, without any glue. When there is no ideology, there is no ideology. Everyone negotiates with everyone else, not knowing whether they are just-not-Bibi or just-Bibi, the main thing is to somehow pass the threshold. Shaked and Handel are actually sitting in a government with Ra'am right now, not resigning, and running on an election promise that says "We will never sit with Ra'am!""
This is not "immersing with a creeper in his hand," it is dipping with the creeper while holding a celebratory press conference against immersion.
The political reporters competed this week with their jokes about the Yamina refugees and the show they put on in the Knesset committee. After Amichai Shikli, the only loyalist, was declared by them to have resigned, they themselves resigned, one by one, and all because of chairology. At the height of the unclear divisions, Naftali Bennett split this week into a single faction called – I didn’t make it up – 'Together'.
Well, the truth is that he was going around with the name 'Yamina' for the past year, it was funnier.
4.
And among the refugees and job seekers, there are also those who have long since become full-fledged political converts. Matan Kahane. This is truly inconceivable. The man has started speaking Balfourian, he attacks Netanyahu in a style that would not embarrass Eli Avidar, and above all incites against the sector from which he comes and to which he lied. And believe me, I do not use the word "incite" lightly.
Not everyone who doesn't think like you, not every political scoundrel, is an instigator. But yes, that's what Matan Kahane has been doing since the government was formed: speaking in media interviews about the sector and its rabbis and representatives in words and terms that they have used for years, especially since the assassination of Rabin, its greatest persecutors and detractors.
Even after the government fell, Kahane continued to justify its existence, but something changed in him: If throughout the entire process he stuck to Yamina's line, according to which there was simply no other choice, in recent weeks he has turned it into a move from the start. And he also says outright that after the next elections he is in favor of forming a government with Ra'am.
5.
This is a subject for psychological research: What process did he go through that caused him to transform from a right-winger to a left-winger in a year? There is truly a story here that doesn't happen every day: an elected official who comes to the Knesset with well-founded opinions, after a glorious military career, that is, a mature and well-built person, who presents himself as religious, right-wing, who fights the left, and then during his short term changes all his opinions from one extreme to the other. Black becomes white, an enemy becomes a lover. If a moment ago the left was the danger to our existence, now it is Bibi. If a moment ago the Likud was a partner, now it is assigned and the Arab parties are allies.
According to reports this week, Kahane has closed on a fairly high-ranking position in Gantz's left-wing party. Then the day will come and the lie will be proven. After all, if they had said that about him a year ago, he would have sued for libel.
Apparently the people in the marketing and sales department of the 'State Camp' (what a ridiculous name. But, as mentioned, there is nothing more ridiculous than the name 'Yamina') think that he will bring them votes from religious liberals. I so hope that's not true, and according to my tests with friends who are supposedly excited by the move, it even insults them. I have disagreements on several issues with many of my Lite friends, but why would you think that they would want this man to represent them in the Knesset, after such conduct?
6.
And it is impossible to talk about the evaporation of the Right without mentioning the founder, the father of the movement, the originator of the idea, Naftali Bennett. His conduct in the days that have passed since he handed over the role to Yair Lapid teaches us so much about him. Even more than his fraudulent move to establish a left-Arab government just to fulfill his great dream of being Bibi. These days we see how far he is from being Bibi. Not only in qualities and abilities, but also in dealing with difficulties and striving to realize some ideology.
What did we have here? Prime Minister Netanyahu is being removed from office, in a legal but very dishonest move, after 12 consecutive years in power. I could completely understand him if he said: Okay. Don't want me? No problem. Arrange it yourself. I'm going to do my lectures. What do I have to do with the opposition? What, will I now sit in on votes? In Knesset debates? I'm not good enough. It's not for me. And that way I can also close a plea deal with the prosecution and end this whole trial.
But that's not what Netanyahu did. He stayed here to fight the left-Arab government day and night, and even early in the morning, from the Knesset plenary. He led movements. He gave speeches. He went out into the field to meet people. Would you say I'm a Bibist? Well, Netanyahu is not perfect in my opinion, but apparently when you act (also) out of a sense of mission, nothing is too small for you.
7.
And look at Bennett in contrast: not 12 years but 12 months in the role of Prime Minister, sitting in a chair that is not truly his, with power that he does not deserve, without a real mandate, and when naturally, correctly and honestly, this lie expires - he fails to gather the strength to continue on his own. Why are you giving up so quickly, Naftali? You weren't even thrown into the opposition. If you are not the actual Prime Minister, only an alternate Prime Minister, then you have nothing to do in this government anymore?
If the great Menachem Lapid stuck you in a small room on the 8th floor of the Prime Minister's Office, then do you break the rules? Don't you have an ideology to promote? Don't you want to use your veto power and prevent the scandalous appointment of the extreme leftist Manny Mazuz to such an important and influential position for the next eight years? Don't you have any interest in mitigating Defense Minister Gantz's harm to settlements in Judea and Samaria?
So okay, you didn't find, despite all your sweaty efforts, your place on the red carpet next to Biden. So that's why you don't come the next day for meetings and discussions? Don't you have anything to promote, anything to save, in a dialogue with the President of the United States and his team? After all, just a moment ago you tried to convince us that the government must stay alive, even with zero public support, just so that you, and God forbid Lapid, would stand as a protective shield against President Biden during his important visit here. So, is an alternative shield already too small for you?
