Right up until the government was sworn in at the Knesset the night of May 14, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his closest advisers believed that former Interior Minister Gilad Erdan would be placated and join the new Cabinet. Netanyahu believed that things would remain as they always had been in his long relationship with Erdan. He believed that even if Erdan had hoped for a more senior appointment, he would accept being named minister of internal security, gaining him access to the Security Cabinet, and minister of strategic affairs. The prime minister’s working assumption was that although Erdan came in first in the recent Likud primaries, he would reach the inevitable conclusion that he would not get the Foreign Ministry, which is on hold for Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog, should a unity government eventually be formed.
But Erdan surprised everyone, including maybe even himself, when he decided on that momentous day to break the pattern of his usual relationship with Netanyahu. He took a gamble that could lead to the end of an impressive political career, but that could also be a political masterstroke, paving the way for him to contend for the Likud leadership at some time in the future.
