Hablo Ingles?
Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel was losing the PR war because he could find no one who could utter an entire sentence in English without bumbling it, as he feels their advocacy efforts could be hampered by such technical deficiency.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich famously said "Grandmeiser" instead of grandmother in an embarrassing speech in Paris and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said, "Dis is not Beseder". English proficiency is one major way through which Netanyahu used to examine the people he employed. For years English was the spoken language in the Prime Minister's Office.
The Israeli premier has no one to blame but himself. For him, in such a coalition, the main criterion is loyalty rather than excellence, which prompted many of the PMO's most enlightened minds to jump ship or become state witnesses in Netanyahu's legal cases. The place no longer functions properly, which is bound to erode Netanyahu's energy over time.
But this isn't just a problem for the Prime Minister's Office, but the public sector at large. Israel's upcoming techies prefer a high salary in a fancy high-rise to sitting in a cubicle or being shipped off to Honduras as some consul's deputy, fighting over traveling expenses.
Still, maybe now that the private sector is laying off people, the public sector would be able to entice some brilliant minds to their ranks, but with one basic requirement - You better know your English.
Gantz and Eizenkot at a crossroads
Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's presumptive successor for the premiership when elections do take place, joined the government and specifically the war cabinet, along with former chief Gadi Eizenkot and Gideon Saar who was not included in the, formerly a Netanyahu protégé - turned nemesis, soon after war broke out. But as time passes, Gantz is clearly having separation anxiety, radiating an "if it's not broken, don't fix it" approach, he has remained there to support the war effort and the possibility of another hostage release deal.
Now Saar having split from Gantz back to his own political faction, threatened to quit Netanyahu's coalition if he wasn't included in War Cabinet meetings. He made good on his word. He's out.
That may placate far-right coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, but the price Netanyahu is bound to pay for that is still high. Perhaps unbearably so. After all, staffing the War Cabinet with three ministers who are to the right of Netanyahu might just be the straw that would break Gantz and Eizenkot's back. They feel like glorified Christmas ornaments as it is.