A tragedy posing as a comedy
Op-ed: Netanyahu is like a drunk driver zigzagging on the road: One moment he's swaying onto the left shoulder, the next he's on the right. Usually he comes out unharmed, but this time he'll have to do a defense driving course, with Lieberman as his teacher.
According to Herzog, Netanyahu called him four times on Wednesday, a curious thing all on its own, after all, the two spoke the night before and agreed that the talks between them have been unsuccessful. Herzog asked Netayahu why he's partnering with Lieberman. "I don't have a choice," Netanyahu told him. "I have to make him defense minister. The Likud ministers are threatening to flip on me." He mentioned Yariv Levin, Ze'ev Elkin, and others. He spoke of himself as a victim, and his own party as the enemy.
Should we believe Netanyahu? Should we believe that Herzog believes Netanyahu? What happened puts the credibility of both of them, and that of the entire political system, in question. This is a tragedy posing as a comedy. If it's making anyone laugh, it is a bitter and cruel laugh.
US President Lyndon B. Johnson once appointed a rival to an important position. When asked why, he provided a military answer: "It's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
With Lieberman, it's hard to tell: He possesses uninhibited intellectual flexibility. But it appears to me that Lieberman's entry to the government brings an interesting modification to the Johnson doctrine: He's entering the tent, if he's entering it at all, not to piss out, but to piss in from inside the tent. Until now, he has been trying to take Netanyahu down from without, now he'll try to take him down from within, and/or succeed him. This is what Lieberman's comeback is all about.
There is one advantage to bringing Lieberman's party into the coalition: The 61 MKs will be bolstered by six additional disciplined hands for votes, which will significantly weaken the extortion attempts made by the Oren Hazans of the Likud. The rest, however, makes Netanyahu's life harder, not easier.
Problem number one: Instead of presenting to the world a more moderate government ahead of the diplomatic battles to come in the fall, Netanyahu is presenting the most radical government to ever exist in Israeli history. This is what its members also say, not just its rivals.
Problem number two: At the cabinet, Netanyahu will be sitting between Lieberman and Bennett, as the two compete against each other and against Netanyahu for the right wing's voters. This situation casts doubt on whether Netanyahu is able to separate his and his ministers' vitriolic rhetoric to what is being done on the ground. It's hard to decide not to act; it's just as hard to decide to act, because of the suspicions among the public and from the world. Netanyahu dispersed his third government because he got tired of being hostage to Lapid, Bennett and Livni's demands. Now he's seeking to become Lieberman and Bennett's hostage.
Problem number three: Lieberman was getting along pretty well at the Foreign Ministry, but the defense establishment is a different story altogether. The first criticism that was made against his appointment is his lack of experience on matters of defense. Inexperience can be an advantage sometimes: It allows thinking outside the box. But Lieberman's tendency to push empty "at one stroke" kind of solutions is dangerous and his combative rhetoric is dangerous. He hasn't learned, or completely internalized, the limitations of the use of force. We had a defense minister like that in the past, and he was actually from the left-wing: Pinhas Lavon. He served as the defense minister from the end of 1953 to the beginning of 1955. His term was fraught with dubious military operations and affairs that kept haunting the State of Israel for years afterwards.
Problem number four: One of the customary rules of Israeli democracy is that a prime minister must not appoint a defense minister with aspirations to replace him. So, for example, when Peres was his rival Rabin's defense minister, the government stopped functioning. For that reason, prime ministers in the past preferred to keep the Defense Ministry to themselves, or otherwise entrust it to loyal soldiers like Moshe Arens or Ya'alon. Lieberman is not the type.
Problem number five: The IDF's values and the existence of law and order in the territories. Bogie Ya'alon has been on the side of the law and values in the Hebron shooting affair, while Lieberman was on the other side of the divide. Lieberman showed up at the military court to show his solidarity with the shooting soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria. Lieberman's appointment creates uncertainty among every combat soldier, not to mention the top brass generals: What are the norms, and who is dictating them?
Herzog will meet his fate within his party. Sooner or later, the party will hold elections, and it is likely that neither he, nor his rival Yachimovich, will come out on top. Neither came out of this affair unscathed. It was fascinating to watch Herzog's rage on Wednesday night as he lashed out at Yachimovich: Had he invested the same amount of energy in his role as the head of the opposition, perhaps we would have had an opposition.
American columnist Thomas Friedman once described Netanyahu as a drunk driver zigzaging hither and thither on the road, at one point driving onto the left shoulder of the road, and at another onto the right shoulder. Usually he comes out unharmed, but not this time: This time he's sentenced to a defensive driving course. The cruel teacher is called Yvette Lieberman.
