T. Belman. Kurtzer is begging the Left to come off their high horse and drop the charges against Netanyahu and agree to join his government, in order to keep Smotrich and Ben Gvir out. If either Lapid or Gantz go for it, then Netanyahu will join with the taker rather than with Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
The stakes are extremely high: Either keep Netanyahu on trial, or risk Israel’s democracy, its civil rights and its international standing and alliances.
By Amb Daniel Kurtzer, HAARETZ
The anti-Netanyahu parties need to assess carefully what is most important to them and to Israel. The stakes are extremely high
This is not a column detailing how awful the Religious Zionism Party and its leaders are. Yes, I agree that they are a dangerous group of racists, misogynists, and anti-democratic homophobes. And I agree that they should not be part of any coalition committed to the rule of law and the values on which the State of Israel is based. This possibility should concern all the good and decent people who comprise the vast majority of Israel’s citizens.
But the sky need not fall, even though an alarming number of Israelis voted for that party. Indeed, there is no reason to accept as a foregone conclusion that Itamar Ben-Gvir, Betzalel Smotrich and others of their ilk must be part of the next governing coalition. Benjamin Netanyahu will be the next prime minister, but he has a choice to make when composing his coalition. He does not need the Religious Zionism Party in a coalition in order to govern.
Netanyahu is in a strong position to dictate what kind of coalition he wants and what he is prepared to offer different parties to join a coalition. One of his key demands will be to gain support for an end to, or at least a deferral of, his corruption trial. Until now the anti-Netanyahu parties have made clear their opposition to any actions that would avoid holding Netanyahu accountable for actions that led to his indictment. It is worth testing, however, whether this remains the case.
The anti-Netanyahu parties need to assess carefully the hierarchy of issues that are most important to them and to the state. These include safeguarding the pillars of Israeli democracy, slowing down or stopping creeping annexation so as not to foreclose the possibility of a peace deal with the Palestinians, and achieving greater economic and legal equality and protection for all Israeli citizens.
If this hierarchy of issues is accurate, then holding Netanyahu legally accountable is a goal that can be shelved for the greater good of avoiding having the likes of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich holding some of the reins of power.
For Netanyahu the same kind of assessment could yield the same conclusion. It is thought that he worked to form the Religious Zionist Party for electoral purposes, and that surely helped him secure the number of mandates that he now has. But he does not necessarily need them to govern.
Were he to reach out to Yair Lapid or Benny Gantz, heads of two of the most prominent parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc — or were he open to an approach from them to compose a national unity coalition — he could ask for agreement to support deferring his trial while he is prime minister, and he could parcel out ministerial posts from a position of strength.
The bottom line for both Netanyahu and Lapid/Gantz would be a national unity coalition with limited but agreed goals. They would all get credit for avoiding the horror of the Religious Zionism Party in government, with all the likely consequences: worsening Israel’s international standing, jeopardizing hard-won normalization agreements with some Arab neighbors, and avoiding exacerbating internal Israeli divisions.
And they would govern as a fractious but possibly stable coalition whose primary purpose would be to calm the waters of Israeli politics and avoid exacerbating internal differences. A poll by Israel’s Channel 13 this week indicated 61 percent of voters for the Lapid/anti-Netanyahu bloc want a unity government.
In a world of rough and tumble politics — and there are few other places than Israel where rough and tumble best characterizes politics — it may seem hard to contemplate a statesmanlike outcome to a process that is normally defined by the pursuit of narrow, parochial interests. But the stakes here are extremely high.
Netanyahu and his rivals need to look beyond the past differences and think about saving Israel from the universal opprobrium that would inevitably accompany a governing coalition with racists and misogynists. Taking this path would ensure that the liberal, democratic values that Israelis claim as defining their country would continue.
Daniel Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel, is a professor of Middle East policy studies at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Twitter: @DanKurtzer
The anti-Bibi have been trying to crucify him, but in doing so, they created a big hole for themselves with the liberal Jews and the American left. Now they have to jump to save themselves!!! Funny!
Sneaky.
Kurtzer was appointed by Obama was he not?
I do not doubt that Kurzer has never spoken to any of the Religious Zionist leaders. He acts as a spokesman for the ususal leftist, intolerant, self-effacing, Golus Yidden who think that by defaming and denigrating and libelling other Jews they will find favor in the eyes of the Goyim.
VERY SAD. He lived in Israel long enough to know better.
I doubt former diplomat Daniel Kurzer really wrote this: “This is not a column detailing how awful the Religious Zionism Party and its leaders are. Yes, I agree that they are a dangerous group of racists, misogynists, and anti-democratic homophobes. And I agree that they should not be part of any coalition committed to the rule of law and the values on which the State of Israel is based.”, it is clear that his sources of information are J-Street, the New York Times and other Jew-Haters. Perhaps Mondoweiss. He should be declared “persona non grata”, and refused entry to the Orthodox community all over the world, until he publicly recants.
If Daniel Kurtser recommends something for Israel, it must be suicidal.