Hamas War

Monday, May 23, 2016

Was Bibi Conned by Lieberman? Has The Coalition Crumbled?

Just a day ago, it seemed like Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had pulled another of his brilliant chess political moves, enlarging the schisms in Labor aka Zionist Movement, getting the problematic Bogie Ya'alon to resign and shoring up his barebones coalition with the addition of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel's Our Home.)

And then came today, and when I got home and turned on the news, it didn't look all that rosy for Bibi.
Honeymoon over before it begins as Israeli coalition talks hit impasse
Likud says that it will not reopen coalition negotiations with any party as Bennett, Liberman and Kahlon demands complicate entry of Yisrael Beytenu into coalition.
There's some serious rivalry between the two "home" parties. Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) wants some improvements before letting in Lieberman's israel Beiteinu (Israel's Our Home.)
Bennett demands Netanyahu fix Security Cabinet flaws
Jewish Home chairman and Minister of Education Naftali Bennett has demanded Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fix security cabinet deficiencies as a coalition condition, ahead of Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman’s appointment as Defense Minister.
And to top it all off, the media gave lots of coverage to  Herzog's angry speech. Though Herzog's Zionist Movement has almost as many new cracks as Bibi's coalition.

But don't count on this being a knockout against Netanyahu or even a TKO. He's the wiliest Israeli politician around, and he wants to leave office with honor. The chances are that he'll manage to cement the cracks and even expand his coalition. Politics is never dull.

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