Israel back to normal with budget passing – analysis

There was intense drama at Sunday’s cabinet deliberations on the state budget.

Because Israel had won a gold medal in gymnastics, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stopped the meeting for a congratulatory call to gymnast Artem Dolgopyat on Sports Minister Chili Tropper’s phone. 

There were, of course, political disagreements at the meeting. But that Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked’s protest against the inclusion of Coke Zero in a new sweet beverage sin tax was the most memorable dispute is significant.

It shows that Israel is slowly but surely going back to normal. Budget meetings are supposed to be boring, and the state budget is supposed to pass regularly.

After three years in which Israel operated without a state budget, the boredom that Foreign Minister Yair Lapid promised reporters upon the government’s formation cannot be taken for granted.

Health Minister Nitzan Horovitz invoked a kids’ song to complain about Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pronouncing that the budget would pass by the end of the marathon meeting.

“Let’s not say ‘Hop’ before we have jumped,” Horovitz said.

On the contrary. Since no one thinks Horovitz will jump ship and take his Meretz party out of its first coalition since June 2000, Bennett can tell the ministers when to jump and how high.

This budget is a test of the strength of both Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, and they are not going to let themselves fail. That is why Liberman insisted on receiving the Knesset Finance Committee chairmanship for his party in coalition talks.

In fights between the coalition and opposition over the makeup and control of Knesset committees, the key red line of the coalition is that it would keep a majority of two in the Finance Committee that will legislate the budget. 

Liberman is no pushover, so ministers are afraid to challenge him. Once the budget passes in the cabinet, it has the support of the coalition, a majority of the Knesset. MKs who entered the Knesset via the Norwegian Law have their hands tied and no muscles to flex.

The finance minister won’t win a medal, but if he maintains the stability of the current coalition, he will have four years to give out gold.