Right-wing infighting: A warning sign for Netanyahu
By firing Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angered his loyal partners, the national-religious camp.
“I propose a cease-fire in the right-wing camp from now until the election is over," tweeted journalist Shimon Riklin on June 11. "In the context of this cease-fire, everyone will be allowed to express opinions on any issue, as long as that does not harm the right’s chances to win the election and form the next government.”
Riklin’s tweet went viral the moment it appeared. Many respondents offered a fairly reasonable explanation for it, claiming that Riklin must have received a “conciliatory call” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, in response to another tweet, in which Riklin surprised everyone by publicly criticizing the prime minister.
Riklin is staunchly aligned with the right and considered to be one of the media figures most closely identified with Netanyahu. He has over 81,000 followers on Twitter and hosts a show about current affairs on Channel 20. In the last election, he used all these platforms to support Netanyahu. On more than one occasion, his tweets and statements reflected the mood in the prime minister’s office or in his residence on Balfour Street.
Riklin’s tweet that was critical of Netanyahu came one day after two popular figures on the right, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked (of the New Right), were summarily dismissed from their posts on June 3. The brusque way that they were fired was received angrily by journalists from the national-religious camp, as well as by members of that community. They were still in shock after the Knesset was dissolved right after Netanyahu failed to form a government, and especially after they learned about his failed plans to bring the Labor Party into his coalition. The ideological right regarded all of this as a cynical and troubling move on the part of the prime minister.
