Israel is defined — and rightly so — as the only democracy in the Middle East. Despite being threatened by a rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox bloc and a radical right that prefers Jewish religious law over it, Israeli democracy is vibrant. Total and unassailable, sometimes it goes as far as wild exaggeration, as we saw once again over the past week. The following is a summary of the events.
On Jan. 24 during the Davos summit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a briefing in which he declared that he had no intention of evacuating settlements or uprooting even a single settler from his home. The address elicited a coast-to-coast uproar to include the Palestinians, the dovish wing of the coalition (chiefly Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid) and, naturally, the Americans. The team of US Secretary of State John Kerry was livid. Netanyahu’s statement undercut the negotiations that are at their most sensitive and critical juncture.
Between Saturday night and Sunday, Washington exerted heavy pressure on the Prime Minister's Office until one of Netanyahu’s senior associates appeared and told a news agency that it was possible that in the setting of a permanent arrangement, Israeli settlers would live under Palestinian sovereignty and that the Israeli settlements would remain intact despite being under Palestinian rule. In other words, the settlements will not be an obstacle to peace. There’s no need to be alarmed.
Maybe the Americans took it in stride, but among the members of the Israeli right the exact opposite happened. An all-out war broke out. The right, which considers Netanyahu to be its leader, rose up in droves against him. Four deputy ministers lashed out at him. But the one that topped them all was Minister of Economy and Trade and Chairman of the hawkish HaBayit HaYehudi Party Naftali Bennett, who made the following unbelievable remark: The statements ascribed to Netanyahu, Bennett said, suggest that he “lost his ideological bearing.” I cannot recall of a more serious statement made by a minister against a sitting prime minister.
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