Netanyahu and Sa'ar
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, AP
Why is Netanyahu so nervous?
Opinion: Inexplicably asking to secure spots low on the Likud Party list for candidates of his choice and accusing his former friend Gideon Sa'ar of plotting to overthrow him are just two of the irrational moves the prime minister made in recent days. Why is he so worried?
Prime Minister and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be extremely concerned by the political map taking shape in front of his very eyes. Even though Netanyahu is justifiably considered the no. 1 politician in Israel, and he is confidently heading toward another term, he has been shooting in almost all directions in recent days to prevent a possibility or a plot (according to him) that he won't be the one to form the next government after the elections.
He asks to secure three spots in the Likud Party's Knesset list for his own personal candidates ("to prepare for the expected team-ups on the left"), calls on small parties to unite so as to not waste votes, and while he's at it he's trying to siphon votes from the Bennett-Shaked duo, Lieberman and Kahlon because (again) the "right-wing's rule is in danger."
A senior Likud minister said in a private conversation a few days ago that it is quite possible that Netanyahu would have a hard time forming a stable coalition. "Netanyahu can bring 35 seats in the elections, but he might find himself without natural partners," the minister said.
Gideon Sa'ar and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photos: Ynet, EPA)
And how does that happen? If parties like Jewish Home, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut, Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari's Otzma Yehudit, and perhaps even Shas and Yisrael Beytenu don't pass the election threshold of 3.25% of the vote, Netanyahu will have a hard time forming a new government. It's purely a question of math.
This concern was compounded by Gantz's successful campaign launch event, which not only helped him skyrocket in the polls but also positioned him as a worthy opponent for Netanyahu in the race for the premiership. Netanyahu is convinced that, at the last minute, the left will get over its ego battles and present one united Knesset list against him.
Netanyahu has the right to be paranoid. At times it even works for him. But there are a few moves that don't make sense: Netanyahu decided to secure three spots for his own candidates on the Likud Party's Knesset list, but senior officials in the party claim he is "trying to swindle Likud voters."
Voting in the 2015 Likud primary in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
If he wanted to bring the prominent right-wing parties into the fold, he would have had to give them spots in the top ten. So why is he also asking for the less attractive spots in the 20s and 30s? Does Netanyahu plan to bring "foreign elements" into the list, the kind even Likud voters would find hard to swallow? Even former coalition chairman, MK David Bitan, cracked up laughing when he heard Netanyahu's request to secure spots low on the list, saying: "It's a spin."
And one more irrational thing that Netanyahu did on Sunday: Politically eliminating his former friend Gideon Sa'ar just 48 hours before the primary elections. Netanyahu is working to stop Sa'ar from making his way to the top of the list, but he has been unable to present even an ounce of evidence for his claim that Sa'ar is planning a putsch against him. Even early on, Likud officials expressed doubts over the prime minister's accusations of an internal plot to overthrow him.
There are plenty of good reasons and bad reasons to support or not support Sa'ar in the primaries, but Netanyahu's plot theory is not one of them.
