Tensions between Israel and Gaza escalated the morning of Nov. 12 with the assassination of senior Islamic Jihad member Baha Abu al-Atta and a retaliatory barrage of rocket fire on Israeli towns in the south, the lowlands and metropolitan Tel Aviv. As it happened, the escalation comes in the midst of coalition talks and while members of the Joint List are considering supporting a Gantz-led minority government. One might wonder whether the Joint List’s Knesset members remain free to reconsider their interests as Israeli Arabs who want to integrate into Israeli society by offering outside support to the minority government headed by Blue and White’s Benny Gantz. Or does it mean that they have shifted their focus to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, leaving the possibility of a minority government to collapse?
Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz' attempts to form a new coalition, the option of a minority government headed by Gantz keeps hovering in the background. It got a big boost late last week. Just moments before the start of the Sabbath on Nov. 8, Netanyahu surprised everyone by appointing New Right senior Naftali Bennett as defense minister. It is hard to forget how critical the Likud was of Bennett just one year ago. The party went so far as to declare Dec. 18, “The security of Israel rises above politics, and the Defense Ministry is not some way to find a job for Naftali Bennett.” It is obvious to everyone that the sole purpose of the appointment was to prevent Netanyahu’s 55-seat bloc from falling apart.
