Prime Minister Naftali Bennett released an open letter to the Israeli public on Friday calling for support to keep the coalition afloat for political stability and a well-functioning government.
The unusual letter, sent on the one-year anniversary of the establishment of the government, comes as it has been advancing from one crisis to another since it lost its parliamentary majority in early April, and it seems that is about to collapse.
The letter pointed to Bennett’s fears of a break-up, as the specter of more elections and a challenge from opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu looks bigger on the horizon.
Bennett said his coalition had brought political stability to Israel when it came to power last June after an unprecedented series of inconclusive elections. The Prime Minister called on the people to help maintain this stability and denounced Israel’s bitter policy and opposition attacks.
“About a year ago, the state of Israel reached one of the most difficult times it has ever known,” Bennett wrote.
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“Chaos, endless turnaround, government paralysis, the cities of Lod and Acre burning in the face of a humiliated and conflicted government,” he said, referring to riots in Jewish Arab cities during last year’s war. with Gaza terrorist groups.
Israel showed “a terrible weakness in the face of a murderous enemy that launched rockets into Jerusalem,” he said, and was caught up in the “worship of a man and the enslavement of state energy in the their legal needs, “referring to opposition leader and then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his trial on graft charges.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz attend a plenary session of the Knesset on May 23, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Bennett said he had assembled his coalition last year – from a disparate amalgam of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties, as well as the Islamist faction Ra’am – to save the country, despite having to to face harsh criticism from others on the right. .
“We were a few days away from a fifth election cycle that would have separated the country, and then I made one of the most difficult and Zionist decisions of my life: to establish a government to save Israel from chaos and make it work. “Connecting with people with different opinions than mine to save the country,” he wrote.
Bennett said he knew at the time that a powerful “poison machine” would be directed at him, but he partnered with various parties to “defend the state of Israel.”
Netanyahu and the ruling opposition have consistently criticized the Bennett government for working with Ra’am, claiming that the Islamist party supports terrorism, although it is widely reported that Netanyahu himself sought an alliance with Ra’am himself. ‘am before the formation of the present government.
“Together with my government colleagues, we returned Israel to functionality and growth,” Bennett said, adding that Israel was once again at a “historic crossroads.”
Opposition leader Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the Knesset summer session in Jerusalem on May 9, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
“To move forward with a functioning state, or to go back to chaos, internal hatred, external weakness, and enslavement of the state to the needs of a single man,” Bennett said, referring to new to Netanyahu.
Bennet lamented that “currently there is only one side in the field: the strong and deadly poison machine” of opposition lawmakers such as Netanyahu, Itamar Ben Gvir, Ayman Odeh and Bezalel Smotrich. “They are provoking violence, extortion and ‘fake news’, while the silent majority is happy with a calm and functional government.
“If we do not want to fall behind, we must all take action. This letter is a call to action, “Bennett said.
In response to the prime minister’s letter, Netanyahu’s Likud party said: “Bennett’s lies cannot cover up the fact that he ceded control of the country to [Ra’am’s] Mansour Abbas, [the opposition Joint List’s] Ahmad Tibi and his friends who endure terror.
“Gas, food and housing prices are breaking records while Bennett and [Foreign Minister Yair] Lapid does nothing, “he said.
The party promised to “do everything possible to bring down this government of weakness and failure.”
The Prime Minister released a video montage of opposition lawmakers launching scathing attacks on the government, fighting with police, right-wing activists burning images of coalition leaders and calling leftists “worthwhile” traitors of death, and news of death threats.
He also published a pamphlet with his name on the “silent Zionist majority” comparing the state of Israel to the former kingdoms of Israel that were destroyed in the midst of internal conflict.
The booklet defended its establishment of the government and its continuity, highlighting its achievements, including the approval of the budget and economic growth.
The booklet ended with an appeal to the public not to “leave us alone in the arena. Make your voice heard.
“Spread our message: that decent people, with different opinions, who love the country can sit together and act for the good of the country,” he wrote. He said government supporters should share the letter, organize protests, make calls and volunteer.
“We have no other country, so we will never give up,” he said.
Bennett’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority when Idit Silman, a member of his Yamina party, left the government in early April. Since then, the coalition has been on the ropes, with its latest crisis this week revolving around its ongoing struggle to gather enough support to pass a key law to renew the extension of Israeli law to Israelis. living in the West Bank.
A poll last week showed that Netanyahu’s opposition is gaining ground among voters and is nearing a majority in the Knesset.
The Channel 12 poll found that Netanyahu’s bloc would win 59 seats if elections were held today, coming close to a 120-seat majority in the Knesset, but suggesting a new political stalemate if the government collapses. . Israel has gone through four grueling elections since 2019, while opposing blocs are fighting to form a solid majority in the Knesset.
The poll also found that most Israelis believe the current government will collapse in six months and that more Israelis support Netanyahu as prime minister than any other candidate.