It happened two weeks ago, when the clock showed midnight. Benny Gantz came to the Or Hayyim yeshiva to say Selichot. Half an hour before entering the beit midrash, he entered the office of the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Elbaz, whose residence has recently served as a kind of substitute for talks at the president's residence, after both Rothman and Herzog visited him as part of their efforts and striving for compromise.
Four people were in the room. Rogelach, burekas, grapes and cold watermelon were served on the table, accompanied by flavored water and soda. After the small talk, the conversation in the small room turned to political directions, and Gantz said the following: "We need to reach unity, but it cannot be done now. I hope that Israeli society will endure. I want to form a unity government. They tell me, 'Build it without the ultra-Orthodox.' I say that I want the ultra-Orthodox with me – not because of political power, but because of the need for unity. Even if there is a possibility of a government without Haredim, I will deal with the fact that everyone will be part of the partnership. That's what I'm striving for."
President Herzog and Rabbi Elbaz, Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO
Gantz went on to talk about extremists on both sides, crushing all the political chatter about a scenario in which Netanyahu takes Smotrich and Ben-Gvir out and puts him in the government in their place. "Netanyahu, unfortunately, is a prisoner of racist and extremist elements whose perception I cannot accept. I think they are causing great damage to the state and the people of Israel," he told the rabbi. "I can't sit with them, I can't tell Netanyahu, 'Get them out and let me in,' because a third of the Likud is moving in this extreme direction. Even Netanyahu has extremists. He's closer to me than to them, but they're within his party."
Rabbi Elbaz gave Gantz a hard time, telling him, "You also have extremists." Gantz agreed, but continued to blame the prime minister: "The one who created the problem is Netanyahu. He let these people do whatever they wanted. Levin came up with reform and transformed the country. Levin lit up the country, the world, the army. The key to calming the public lies not with us, but with those who fanned the fire," he said.
Netanyahu reacts to drama in Knesset: Gantz and Lapid looked for any way to blow up the talks // Photo: Likud Spokesperson's Office
The partnership has nowhere to go
Gantz is not the only one taking place in scenarios about changing the government. It should be said that as of now, this is an unrealistic scenario that lacks political feasibility, which does not prevent Likud members from chatting about it in private rooms, and from partners from threatening with it – Smotrich was "furious," as the party statement said, about the transfer of armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority, and claimed that this was preparation for Gantz's entry. Ben-Gvir announced that he was not committed to coalition discipline because of the issue of prisoners' conditions.
It is true that it is customary to say that words will lead to actions, but this may not be true in this case. None of the partners have anywhere to go. The real danger to the integrity of the government lurks around the corner, where the ultra-Orthodox are waiting for the draft law, and this time they are not willing to give up – even at the price of dissolving the government.
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