What Bibi-Liberman alliance means for Israel’s opposition
With opposition chair Isaac Herzog failing to join the coalition, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid, also in the opposition, is getting stronger.
On May 20, soon after recently resigned Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced that he isn't quitting politics, and that he would run in the future for a top spot in the country’s leadership, the new chairman of the coalition, Knesset member David Bitan of the Likud, was quick to provide his own interpretation of this statement. He determined that Ya’alon would assume the No. 2 slot in Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party.
It is doubtful that Bitan based his remarks on any real information he might have. It is far more reasonable to assume that this was simply an assessment that fit in neatly with all the dizzying events that reshuffled the Israeli political deck and allowed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to open the Knesset’s summer session on May 23, with a stable coalition of 66 members.
