On Dec. 21, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a thorny dilemma: Should he engage in a media blitz against extreme right-party HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, who gave ideological legitimization for refusal to obey military orders during the evacuation of settlements a day earlier, or just ignore him. In order to understand the depth of the dilemma, we must first recognize the most prominent phenomenon in the current election campaign. That is the “strong turn to the Right” of almost all the parties in the “Centrist-Left-moderate Right” bloc, as a means of gaining additional votes in the ballot-box in less than a month’s time.

In the feverish, internal discussions held in the Likud-Beitenu election headquarters, reservations were expressed that an attack on Bennett from the Likud-Beitenu, let alone from Netanyahu, might achieve the opposite results. In other words, it might strengthen Bennett’s right-wing image, thus gaining more mandates for him — at their expense. Netanyahu’s attack might be understood as a sign that Netanyahu intends to evacuate settlements after the elections.

On the other hand, some of Netanyahu’s advisors felt that as prime minister could not simply ignore Bennett’s statement, a statement that effectively legitimizes the refusal to obey orders — a phenomenon that was always viewed as marginal and dangerous in Israeli society. The assessment was that if Netanyahu would keep silent, he would be pummeled by all the parties on the spectrum between the moderate Left, through the numerous Centrist parties, and as far as the moderate Right. Those advisors argued that his silence could cost him heavy electoral losses. But beyond all these considerations was the sense of victory that spread throughout the Likud-Beitenu headquarters that morning; a triumph that stemmed from the fact that finally, the opportunity had fallen into their laps to strike out against the “Cinderella” of the 2013 election campaign. Bennett’s party had been growing from week to week at the Likud’s expense, and now they had the opportunity to punch him back. Therefore, they could not afford to let Bennett get away.

To this we must, of course, add Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal motivation: Bennett has served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff when the latter was head of the opposition. Bennett left the post on the background of conflicts between him and the PM's spouse, Sarah Netanyahu, and now he has turned into Netanyahu’s main headache in the elections.