If all goes according to plan — and it still might not, for Benjamin Netanyahu is a tenacious and seemingly indestructible politician — the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, will cast a vote of confidence in a new coalition government Sunday. And Naftali Bennett will become prime minister after 12 years of Mr. Netanyahu in power.
Mr. Netanyahu has been so wily and enduring that some still doubt it will really happen. Others fear that there will be violence.
And almost everyone deemed an expert, or self-appointed as one, seems to think the coalition will not be able to hold.
Consisting of some eight parties, the coalition is not only diverse but also deeply contradictory in goals and ideals — from ultranationalist to Islamist. And the only hope that it will last even a year or two is that its members can hold on to their one working and uniting concept. Set ideology aside for now and concentrate on two goals: getting rid of Mr. Netanyahu and rebuilding the nation’s economy, which is suffering from almost every economic malady possible — from high unemployment, to extreme wealth disparity, to a deep shadow economy, to heavy debt, both private and public.
Meanwhile, Mr. Netanyahu has long been under investigation for corruption and may not be able to escape ultimate humiliation, shame, or worse, if he cannot retain or return to power.
But, most important, for Israel and its friends and allies, Mr. Netanyahu has been utterly incapable of coming to grips with these economic problems, or with the Palestinian question. He has made no progress on either front.
He still has his fans in the United States, but this is what has united left and right in Israel, though policy toward the Palestinians is unlikely to change: Until Israel’s right to exist is acknowledged, there can be no peace.
This remains the core of U.S. policy as well.
Still, a change in tone and personality may open a few doors, if only just a little.
The coalition tests the proposition that love of country, and concern for the general welfare, can trump party and ideology — if only for a short period of recovery. In time of war or pandemic or any other crisis that rises to this level — like the Great Depression in the United States that began in 1929 and lasted, really, until World War II — this should be possible.
It must be possible for a democracy to endure.
Israel is exhausted. As of March, it has held four inconclusive national elections in two years. But this is the test for all democracies: In an ultimate crisis, can we put away faction?
This is how the American revolution happened and how Israel was founded. People of very different values and visions came together for the larger cause — founding, existence itself, survival itself.
Much has been made of the similarities of Mr. Netanyahu and Donald Trump and of their friendship and alliance. The real comparison is in the test of democracy: Can we rise above political tribalism, ideology and party when the nation itself is at risk?
And one subtest that applies to the greater question is: willingness to admit the legitimacy of your foes when they are in power.
Many liberals and Democrats refused to recognize that Donald Trump was the legitimate president of the United states after the 2016 election, and through his term.
Today, many Republicans and Trump backers, as well as Mr. Trump himself, refuse to recognize that Joe Biden is the legitimate president of the United States.
This could be called the anti-democratic delusion. It is a cancer on democracy.
If Mr. Netanyahu refuses to recognize the new government, assuming the coalition holds until Sunday, Israeli democracy will be greatly harmed, and a damaged Israeli state will be further wounded. It will have failed the democracy test of our time.
And what about us?
First Published: June 11, 2021, 4:00 a.m.
