Knesset members have been switching party allegiances and moving from one party to the other. Some parties are splitting, while other parties merge. The jaw-dropping series of events over the last few days has left many voters stunned, not to mention upset. So many election promises tossed aside as a novel coronavirus bears down. Even the most creative mind could not have imagined Blue and White splitting into two factions (Hosen Yisrael, which will retain the Blue and White brand, and Yesh Atid-Telem) and four of its Knesset members switching from one faction to another.
All this transpired because Blue and White leader Benny Gantz swore before the March 2 election that he would never sit in a government with someone under criminal indictment, but has now abandoned the effort to form a government of his own — even though President Reuven Rivlin granted him a mandate to do so — and decided instead to form a government with interim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More than 2 million people voted in protest against Netanyahu, hoping that they could prevent him from forming an “immunity government” that would protect him from a trial on the criminal charges against him. This week they learned that they had really voted for a government to extract Netanyahu from his troubles.
The old Blue and White is in turmoil. Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, both members of Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem faction, decided to join the Netanyahu-Gantz government, so they broke from their original faction and formed Derech Eretz. How ironic! The name they chose, which literally means “courtesy,” is used to express fairness and loyalty. It seems insensitive of them to use it now, since violating election promises and distorting campaign slogans can hardly be called “courteous behavior.” In fact, it is the opposite.
Meanwhile, Pnina Tamano Shata left Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid to join Benny Gantz, while Gadeer Kamal Mreeh left Gantz, whom she says violated his election promises to the Druze community, to which she belongs, and joined Yesh Atid. Lapid congratulated Mreeh for refusing to abandon her values even after being promised a ministerial or deputy ministerial position. With all the drama in the Blue and White, did anyone notice that Orly Levy-Abekasis led Gesher out of the Labor-Gesher-Meretz bloc after being elected by voters from the left?
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
