Even as Blue and White leader Benny Gantz struggles to break the impasse in his effort to form a government, Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman continues to rule out a narrow or minority governing coalition, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on going first in any power-sharing agreement with Gantz, all eyes are nonetheless on Jerusalem. In a modest office on Salah al-Din Street, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is holding intense discussions with 20 senior-level attorneys before announcing his decision on whether to indict Netanyahu on charges of corruption.
The decision by Mandelblit at such a politically charged moment in time could be a game changer, a powerful push that will extricate the political wagon from the deep mud in which it is currently mired. With efforts underway to pull together a coalition government, a decision by Mandelblit to indict the prime minister — including on charges of bribery, a very serious offense in Israel — could be the impetus that forces some of the key political players out of their comfort zones. In other words, it could blow up the bloc of ultra-Orthodox and right-wing parties that have sworn allegiance to Netanyahu, prompt a rebellion within his own Likud, convince such stalwart right wingers as New Right leaders Naftali Bennet and Ayelet Shaked to defect to the opposing camp and even make Liberman ease up on the pledge he made to his voters to only join a liberal unity government without ultra-Orthodox and right-wing parties.
