Silvan Shalom had no other choice
Op-ed: There was nothing the interior minister could have done apart from bidding farewell to public life and hoping it would stop the ongoing flow of testimonies of alleged sexual harassment against more than 10 women.
But although the decision was made only several days after the affair broke out again, it may have been significantly too late for Shalom. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein decided Sunday that despite the resignation, the examination of the evidence would continue. It seems that even the attorney general, who usually prefers to do nothing, realized that it would be difficult to sweep the dust under the carpet this time as if no sandstorm had taken place here this week.
The examination will continue, the attorney general's statement said. An examination, not an investigation.
This semantic weakness could possibly be a good sign for Shalom. Judging from the past, these examinations can take a long time. And now, with Shalom outside political life, no one will hold a stopwatch. The fact is that no one cares what happened or didn’t happen with the complaints against former Knesset Member Yinon Magal.
Those who know Shalom can imagine just how difficult the decision was for him. In the previous round, it took him a long time to decide to drop his bid for president, although the delay was a big bet.
This time, the price is much higher: For Shalom, bidding farewell to the life he has been living for 23 years now, in which he served as senior minister in quite a few ministries, must feel like Samson felt when his hair was cut off. His source of power has been taken away from him. His strength. The great respect won by the orphaned child from Be'er Sheva, who had felt as if he had reached the sky and touched the stars.
For years, Shalom saw himself as a premiership candidate. He truly believed that he would make it all the way. He had good reasons to believe in it: He was a devious and skilled politician, and enjoyed a lot of popularity in the Likud. There were times in which he definitely posed a threat to Benjamin Netanyahu, or at least created a headache for the prime minister.
Since dropping his presidential bid, he knew that his political career had passed its peak and that he was sentenced to an ongoing decline in his different positions. But he definitely hoped for a more respectable retirement from political work.
For those of us who have been covering the political system for a long time, Shalom's forced absence cannot be taken for granted. He was one of its best commentators and can take credit for quite a few significant political moves. Although recently he seemed to have lost his vitality and no longer stood out among senior Likud ministers, his departure will definitely be considered a loss by many party activists and members.
The vice premier's resignation under these circumstances adds another title to the prime minister with the highest number of roles and titles we have ever seen. From now on, Netanyahu should be called prime minister and vice premier, foreign minister, interior minister, communications minister, economy minister and regional cooperation minister.
At this rate, we might not need a government soon. We'll have a one-man government.
