Israeli politics, with its old and new protagonists alike, put on a dismal and hypocritical show at the cabinet meeting on July 28 — the meeting that approved the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners. On the morning of the vote, several ministers cried out in current events radio programs and on their Facebook pages against the “dangerous gesture” made with too little in return — renewal of the talks with the Palestinian Authority. Their words were directed to their right-wing constituents in the settlements, but none of them considered vacating their ministerial chairs around the cabinet table — in the name of ideology.

The march of hypocrisy was headed by one of the senior representatives of the new politics, HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman and Trade and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett. “Terrorists must be killed, not released. All my life, I struggled to carry out both parts of this statement. Tomorrow, I will vote against,” wrote Bennett childishly on his popular Facebook page, on the eve of the vote. Later on, he even sharpened his severe tone to call the cabinet decision a “mark of Cain,” and even left to join the demonstration held outside the Prime Minister’s Office against release of the prisoners. Bennett knew that at the end of the day — after the approval of the proposal — he would continue to sit in the Economics Ministry he likes so much, and ignore the many calls of his supporters who begged him on his Facebook page to stand by his principles and quit the government.

Transport Minister Yisrael Katz of the Likud-Beitenu party also voted against the proposal. We wonder if he would have done this, it would have meant the end of his role as transportation minister. Katz, like Bennett, is very aware of the fact that he pays no price for his vote and does not endanger anything with his emphatic words against the release of prisoners and his opposition to the decision. We can be sure that the day will come when Katz will remind his party members in the far-right camp of the Likud how he did not betray his party’s ideology. He will then remind everyone how he — as opposed to other ministers — acted in accordance with his beliefs and heroically withstood the pressures imposed by the prime minister.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also party to this game. While the prime minister did want to win the vote, he also wanted to appear as someone who wrestled with his conscience to achieve this result. He tried to show the world — and the right wing — that it did not come easily to him, that he was tormented in making a decision that would adversely affect Israel’s morals and deterrent power. That he and his cabinet were groaning under the weight of the decision. Netanyahu also flirts with the Israeli Center: He emerges as a responsible prime minister, a moderate leader who wrestles with extremists and understands that diplomatic negotiations are vital. Thus, the prime minister was also able to benefit from the opposition of his party’s ministers Katz and Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan.