If asked to, Herzog must join coalition
Op-ed: As almost the entire world prepares to lash out at Israel's next government, the left should remember that the state comes before the party.
Let's see him and them face America which is laughing at us, the Muslim world which is slowly uniting to act against us, the terror organizations which are sowing fear among the world's Jewish and non-Jewish communities, almost all European countries which are "fed up" with us, the problem of Israel's Arabs who are waking up to a different life, and mainly the Iranian nuclear bomb. Let's see him and them, the wizards of Oz.
This thought is shared by many who are not necessarily in the left. After ruling the state – which will mark its 67th birthday next week – for more than 30 years, many people, in the right-wing camp as well, believe that the State of Israel is hanging on the edge of abyss, and that the prime minister and the new government and coalition may take one step forward.
And that's the big problem right now: A state is not an experiment lab. Those who want Netanyahu and his next government to "rack their brains" in order to teach his supporters a lesson are thinking first of all about themselves: They may care about the state, but the party comes first. It's what we call "to hell with the world" or "told you so" or "it's your problem."
The thing is that it's everyone's problem. Hamas and the Islamic State, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, as well as the Arab armies, don't inquire about a person's political affiliation before shooting or launching rockets and missiles.
At the moment, it seems that (almost) the entire world is preparing to lash out at the next government. In the meantime the state is being anesthetized by its leaders, and mainly given artificial respiration by the United States. But the world believes that the great America is slowly removing its immunity from the State of Israel, and it will rush to settle the score with us for the years we found shelter under the shadow of America's wings. For decades we ate out of its hand, drank its blood, used it for our own needs.
Now the American president is trying to brush the small Israel off the great America's shoulder. Did we really think it would last forever? That the conduct of the prime minister and his government vis-à-vis the great patron would end with thunderous applause? Yes, we've already heard how important we are to America and how much we've helped the US. There was once a film called "The Mouse That Roared"…
The person who developed a good and clear understanding of the political and security situation at the time was Menachem Begin. On the eve of the Six-Day War, when we appeared to be facing a second Holocaust, he overcame his and his party's political rivalries and suggested – unbelievably – that his hater and great political rival, David Ben-Gurion, would be appointed head of an emergency government. With the lack of such an option, he agreed to join the left-wing government and became part of the great victory. The public didn't forget this national gesture of his.
On the other hand, that same Menachem Begin knew how to abuse the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash), which was founded at the time and gave him the victory over the Labor Party. He formed a government and a coalition without Dash, and only after completing the job he said to the arrogant leaders who thought that they were second to none: Now that I have a government without you, you are free to join if you want to. It was the sweet taste of victory.
That may be what Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing for Isaac Herzog: He will form a horrible coalition, and will only then call the Zionist Union leader and suggest that he join in light of the dangers. What should Herzog do if that happens?
As the world is changing before our astonished eyes, and as this is really " a time of trouble for Jacob," he will have to swallow an anti-nausea pill and join the government and add the members of his party to the coalition.
I say this with a lot of grief. We would have liked things to be different, but this is what we got. And it's always important to know and to remember that the state is more important than the party and than being in power. Always.
