Israel Government Crisis Averted – or Delayed – at Last Minute

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blinked first in his stand-off with Education Minister Naftali Bennett who was threatening to withhold the votes of his party and thereby assure the rejection of Netanyahu’s controversial appointment of right-wing firebrand Avigdor Lieberman. Bennett had charged Netanyahu with excluding his security cabinet from its proper role in the decision-making process and demanded specific promises from the PM to correct the situation in order for his party to support the Lieberman nomination. Bennett insisted he would allow the government to fall and new elections called rather than give in before the vote, scheduled for Monday. In the end, it was Netanyahu who gave in late Sunday night. Bennett, meanwhile, had accumulated an impressive array of public shows of support from military and security figures and even from the head of the nation’s most liberal party at the opposite end of the political spectrum. Meanwhile, many Israelis, while pleased with the resolution of the stand-off as it pertains to the role of the security cabinet, remain concerned over the appointment of Lieberman as defense minister. They argue that he not only lacks military expertise, but is a lightning rod for international criticism and isolation.