A.
David's choice
As many know, Naftali Bennett has a special interest in the character of King David.
He mentions him in his speeches and refers to his character in private conversations, and he even gave his children the names of the clients from his story.
For Bennett, King David is not only a symbol, but an exemplary figure, a role model who will be inspired and tested for his own leadership.
There is nothing wrong with a head of state looking up to a great historical leader - but the impression is growing that Bennett not only adores King David, but also wants to follow in his footsteps.
And here things may go beyond another lovable trivia detail about the man with the six seats.
The "collapse of the concept" of Bennett and Shaked I described here some time ago - in which the hope crumbles with the PR photos from political meetings and the happy selfies of coalition members, combined with the slogan "We came to work" - was supposed to increase right-wing support and widespread public legitimacy. This dream recedes, and Bennett begins to realize that he is about to remain transition prime minister, a temporary stop on the way to the transfer of power to Yair Lapid and the left, without leaving a mark.
The current and alternate Prime Minister, Bennett and Lapid, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
This is perhaps the understanding that led him, and his political adviser Shimrit Meir, to the thought that the "base" should be opened up and addressed to more audiences, from the center and the left, even if it means giving up the right-wing electorate.
And if that means cracking down on vigorous political activism with the side of the Oslo wind - on the contrary.
Maybe he will finally lose the right, but maybe he will have a Nobel Prize on the shelf - and even the sympathy of the left, the media, Europe, the State Department and former senior members of the defense establishment.
But even that does not show signs of success: Bennett is difficult to rise, neither politically nor in the media.
And worst of all: his hourglass is running out.
Even if he initiates a political process, it will be completed during the Lapid period - and it will be registered in his name.
Will another Arab state enter into the Abrahamic Accords?
The credit to Netanyahu, and possibly to Lapid.
A new and daring political move?
It will be completed during the Lapid period and will be registered in his name and legacy.
Bennett is about to step into Shimon Peres' shoes: he will be remembered for a stinking exercise, and he too, at most, will be number 2.
The political option has come off the table - and is now being seriously considered the security option, which can be called the "choice of David".
This is a kind of multifaceted strategic move that will put Bennett in the pantheon of great leaders.
Something bolder and more grandiose than the attack on the nuclear reactor in Iraq.
Bennett wants to lead a strategic-security move that changes the game, just as King David did in his wars.
The only trouble is that he does it without public legitimacy, and it does not matter how much backing he will get from the defense establishment (and he does not).
With six actual seats and polls - no prime minister has a moral mandate to embark on a security move that could put Israeli citizens in existential danger.
Netanyahu and Bennett.
"Netanyahu had and still has entrants that Bennett does not have and will not have," Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
It now sounds imaginary, the kind of thing they liked to say about Netanyahu, but if they had and still have assets that Bennett does not have and will not have: mass support, a solid base, broad public legitimacy and especially a proven political-strategic vision, whose benefits Bennett and Lapid now enjoy themselves.
To internalize how acute this red warning light is, it is worth remembering that Bennett proved that he is enveloped in the sense that he and his government are a "miracle" to the people of Israel, that he believes he "saved the country."
Remember the obsession with King David, and remember how desperate he is to leave a mark and not get off the stage of history when he is tucked away in the Interior Ministry and sees on TV how Prime Minister Lapid, the most popular of him, makes history.
Bennett is pushed into a corner, and his hourglass runs out: the recklessness, the mystical mindset and the understanding that he is about to evaporate in a year and a half without leaving a significant legacy - are the raw materials from which intelligence reports are written.
B.
Avichai's choice
And there is another character who sees today how her conception is crashing: Avichai Mandelblit.
What happens in a case in which he has invested all his prestige, resources and hopes, casts a huge stain on the professionalism and ethics of his system.
His hourglass is also running out, and every day that passes justifies the sweeping public distrust of his function.
And just like Bennett, he too is enveloped in a messianic complex.
Netanyahu, as stated by the ombudsman in a conversation whose program was read by Guy Peleg in News 12, is a danger to democracy, and we took advantage of it in "Grace of Heaven." In amateurish negligence and out of a personal and vengeful obsession with governmental migraine.
Avichai Mandelblit // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
It should be said simply: the citizens of Israel have been deprived of their democratic freedom.
The weight of the voters in the ballot box is neutralized.
It's not just a blatant politicization of the judiciary, it's an election robbery - and it's another preaching of 'danger to democracy'.
Just like Bennett, he is now with his back to the wall, knowing that he may go down in history as a professional fiasco and knowingly responsible for the crime against Israeli democracy.
Mandelblit cannot afford to acquit Netanyahu of the bribe, because acquittal means an immediate public and professional indictment against the ombudsman. And that's what's dangerous: rest assured that you have not yet heard the last word.
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