The government has reached its end

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In the almost two years he has served as finance minister in the Netanyahu government, Yair has practiced good manners and has not spoken ill of the prime minister.

Even in background conversations, Lapid maintained a decent language when he referred to Netanyahu and internalized the fact that he is the captain and that the ministers must accept his authority.

All that was true – until this past Saturday.

The things Lapid said about Netanyahu during a cultural event in Tel Aviv proved beyond any doubt that the current government has come to an end. It's only a matter of time.

Lapid revealed one of the secrets known to anyone who is familiar with what is happening around the government table: "The prime minister hasn't spoken to me even once in the past month about the issues I have been tasked with," Lapid said. "Neither about the budget nor about the expected labor strike."

Indeed, Netanyahu hasn't spoken much with any of his ministers in the past year about work-related issues. His entire conducted basically amounted to countless photo opportunities and false discussions about the fear of the Ebola virus and what not.

"Nothing interests him apart from one issue," one of the ministers told me Saturday night, "which is anything that has to do with his survival." Netanyahu is preoccupied right now with a fourth term as prime minister, which many estimate will not even materialize.

"Netanyahu's basic problem is that despite his long term as prime minister, he has failed to create respect for himself among others," a senior government minister explained. "He doesn’t have the required authority for this position. The ministers have no respect for him."

There are quite a few other signs that the government has reached its end. Over the weekend, for example, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman presented his political plan for a regional agreement with the Arab states and the Palestinians. Lieberman has the sharpest instincts in Israeli politics and he has already launched his election campaign – a moment before everyone else.

The hysterical reactions to Lapid's comments Saturday on the past of sources in the Likud party also point to the fact that the government is walking on thin ice.

But they should remember one thing: As the talks about a future collaboration between the Likud and the ultra-Orthodox parties increase, they may drive potential voters away. Many of the Likud's supporters have no intention of selling their movement's values for the sake of Netanyahu's political survival.

If the attacks on Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni increase, the Likud will lose another segment of voters. Ministers Gideon Sa'ar and Amir Peretz, who quit the government recently, must have seen something others chose to ignore – that the emperor has no clothes.