Netanyahu is a serial deal-breaker – opinion

Israel is once again in a political crisis as new elections loom on the horizon. The reason is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s countless attempts to browbeat his coalition partner Benny Gantz and his Blue and White Party, bullying and using them as tools for his own unwillingness to leave office and allow anyone else to lead Israel. For more than 10 years, he has broken promises and forced the country into endless elections, sidelining every coalition partner, taking on numerous ministries rather than governing, and reducing the role of key members of his own party, eroding state institutions and faith in the system.The latest story is yet another attempt by Netanyahu to force Gantz to accept putting off a budget even though Israel desperately needs one. In 2019, when the country suffered through endless elections, Israel lacked basic financing for programs. But this did not appear to matter to Netanyahu, who felt his political career came first and that endless elections were preferable to passing a budget. Despite boastful statements about how only strong countries survive and how people should put their egos aside, the reality is that politics for Netanyahu is always about the short-term battle with political opponents to achieve his end goal: staying in office.Back in August, a similar crisis erupted. Netanyahu had once again not gone through with passing a budget. Once again, last-minute negotiations with Blue and White resulted in another decision to avoid new elections. In March, after the third election in a year and with the country facing the COVID-19 crisis, Netanyahu achieved a unity government through claims that unity is important in the face of the pandemic. Gantz did what a good national leader should do: He agreed to be alternate prime minister and let Prime Minister Netanyahu once again have the first rotation in office. Most political watchers knew this was a scam and that as soon as the day came for Gantz to assume the office, there would be elections to prevent it from happening. But Gantz understood that the health of the nation must come first. So he accepted a deal.The deal was, of course, broken. By August, there was no budget. Once again, Gantz put the country first and agreed to postpone passing a budget until December 23. But now, the Likud openly says it will not agree to pass a budget until February. It is time to understand that there will never be a budget. The reason is that a budget does not interest Israel’s current leader. He is focused on staying in office. Normal countries, like our partners in the UAE, run according to a state budget. Not Israel, though. Despite all the boasting about the greatness of the country, Israel is run on short-term plans for what might happen next week. It’s a testimony to the greatness of the people of Israel that the country is as successful as it is.The budget is not the only part of the coalition deal that Netanyahu has broken. There were supposed to be appointments: a police chief, state prosecutor, director-general of the Justice Ministry and more.

The country deserves better. It deserves more than endless elections designed to keep one man in office. It also deserves an opposition that does not consistently cave in to endless invented crises that are manufactured for political gain. The country needs stable leadership to preserve itself as an active and healthy democracy. It is true that Netanyahu has maintained a general peace and avoided costly wars while in office. He deserves genuine praise for that. Netanyahu’s tragedy is not that he is a bad leader, but that he has eroded institutions and presented the country with an ultimatum that assumes only he can run the country forever.There is no excuse for Netanyahu not adhering to the coalition agreement he signed with Gantz. Violating that agreement is clearly designed to help keep him in power, even if it means the Israeli public will suffer due to the politics being played at their expense during a global pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis.
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