The operation in Gaza connects Lapid and Gantz, for better or for worse

Less than 3 months to the elections, Prime Minister Lapid faces his first leadership test and an opportunity to prove that he knows how to initiate a military campaign and return in peace. The Minister of Defense provides him with a sort of iron dome of experience and in the meantime strengthens his image. But as the operation drags on, both will be in danger, and so will the harmony Between them you will play

His dew

06/08/2022

Saturday, August 6, 2022, 8:42 p.m. Updated: 10:43 p.m.

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The old naive cliché that holds that when the guns roar, the political muses are silent, is less relevant during an election period.

Thus, with less than three months to the elections, even the Dawn operation inevitably has a political connection.

This is the first security crisis of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who has only completed a month in office, and the first round in Gaza in 13 years that is not managed by the former Prime Minister and current leader of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu.

And this is happening in the midst of a difficult political struggle between them, which has lasted for three and a half years, and now, for the fifth time, again revolves around one question: yes or no Bibi.

This is the most serious leadership test that Lapid has faced since his days, and it is extremely fateful for his future.

In general, Lapid's main interest is silence, and as much of it as possible until November 1, election day.

But as someone who has been attacked for years for his inexperience and superficiality is now holding the wheel, he got a chance to prove that he knows how to manage a military, political, and civil campaign and return home safely.

The IDF's sharp and precise opening strike yesterday in the Gaza Strip silenced the criticism that had been building up on the networks over the course of the week following the blockade in which the residents of the Gaza Strip were placed; but every day that the operation is prolonged increases the risk of a security deterioration that will get out of control and put it in danger.

"Whatever it takes," Lapid said in a special statement to the media that he gave on Friday evening.

He was immediately followed by the Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, who threatened that "those who threaten - will not be fulfilled."

The front in Gaza is always a joint project of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense, and the operation puts them both in the same boat, for better or for worse.

Despite the political tensions and the difficult personal charges between the two, they broadcast that they work in coordination and cooperation, and were even caught on camera embracing in spontaneous friendship.

The message suits both of them, that they put Israel first, like the slogan they once ran together with.

Escalation - a test of leadership.

Help, yesterday (Photo: Reuters)

The former Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot, suggested in recent weeks that both of them unite and revive Blue and White, journalist Sepi Ovadia reported yesterday, but he received a negative answer and it is not worth building on a comeback. At the moment, they simply have a common interest: Gantz provides Lapid with a kind of iron dome of seniority and experience against the skeptics and those who mock his skills and abilities, and in the meantime he strengthens his image as "Mr. Security" and a responsible adult. But here, too, time plays a role; as the operation escalates or deteriorates, tensions and exchanges of blame may surface. As the elections approach, it will be more difficult for them to maintain on harmony. In the end, they compete for the same role.

Lapid also makes sure to involve the alternate prime minister, Naftali Bennett, in consultations and assessments of the situation, despite the strained relations between the two since they changed positions.

As with Gantz, both on a personal and political level it is better for him to adopt a model of cooperative responsibility.

He is the head of a transitional government, parts of which are not interested in his success, and anonymous criticisms that would harm his public legitimacy should be avoided as much as possible.

Tonight he will assemble the political-security cabinet and tomorrow he is expected to meet the head of the opposition, Binyamin Netanyahu, and give him a security update.

This will be the first time since Netanyahu left power that he will come to the Prime Minister's Office for the update meeting required by law;

Until now, he boycotted Prime Ministers Bennett and Lapid and only asked/agreed to receive updates from the military secretary.

Even today, around the invitation to the meeting, a battle of versions broke out, between the Prime Minister's office and the head of the opposition, about who was the inviter.

Lapid and Gantz after a joint statement, yesterday (photo: official website, no)

Despite the political smell that wafts from proactive action in Gaza in the middle of an election campaign, Netanyahu and the Likudniks in the studios meanwhile maintain patriotic and state backing for the IDF. But before the planes attacked Gaza yesterday, the Babists harshly criticized Lapid for the four days of the blockade to which the residents of Gaza were subjected, and their hand was still light on The keyboard Due to the security situation, Likud is considering postponing the primaries, which are supposed to be held on Wednesday, and this will leave dozens of MKs and primaries hungry for attention.

As the operation drags on and a reality of non-stop shooting emerges, the opposition's generosity will also erode.

If the terror, God forbid, spills over from Gaza to other arenas, and especially into Israel and the cities involved, Itamar Ben Gabir is also expected to race in the campaign, and he wants to go up to the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av tomorrow.

And Likud will use any escalation to strengthen the campaign against the formation of a government with Ra'am and the joint list.

More in Walla!

Following the situation: Lapid and Netanyahu are expected to hold an update meeting

To the full article

The hands of his supporters are pressed on the bow.

Netanyahu, last week (Photo: Reuven Castro)

This is not the first time that there is an operation in Gaza, and not the first time that the members of the joint condemn Israel and demonstrate in the streets with harsh and intolerable words for the Jewish ear.

But in the midst of an election campaign, they are producing propaganda material for the return campaign of Netanyahu and the right-wing bloc to power, which warns of the possibility that Lapid will form a government with them.

Bis Atid denies at every opportunity that there is such an intention, but in the map of the latest polls, in which Netanyahu is approaching 61, the numbers do not converge otherwise.

With almost three months until the elections, there is still time for events of two dynamics.

Like the operation in Gaza, where success or failure can also shake the map.

Meanwhile, the Arab partner who is already in Lapid's government, Prime Minister Mansour Abbas, utters a completely opposite voice from the extreme condemnations of Ayman Odeh and Ahmed Tibi, and refutes the previous right-wing campaign that the Bennet-Lapid government is security limited because of the partnership with Prime Minister. Abbas issued a statement in Arabic in which he said, "We are opposed to any war in which victims and innocents fall, but we have no influence on military operations.

We are in the Knesset to work for the Arab society and not to influence the foreign and security policy of the State of Israel." As in last year's Operation Wall Guard, when he went to visit the burned synagogue in Lod, even now Abbas is sounding a moderate and brave voice and working to lower the flames. But as much as the operation in Gaza will continue and nationalistic and nationalist flames will escalate even within the country's borders, the model he promotes may become less popular in Arab society.

• 2022 election

Tags

• Yair Lapid

• 2022 election

• Benny Gantz