(Corrected)
Unlike many parliamentary governments where the government is composed of a coalition of parties, in Israel rather than distributing all the key ministerial positions to different parties, many prime ministers have held several key cabinet portfolios themselves concentrating all the power in the prime minister while only giving lip-service to other coalition members. In governments which were headed by David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, and Ariel Sharon, for example, the prime minister held several of the key positions such as Defense, Foreign Affairs, or Finance himself. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu perhaps was the worst abuser of this practice.
The day-to-day operational functioning of these ministries was placed by the prime minister in the hands of the deputies, but most of these diplomats, bureaucrats, and civil service appointees had little real decision-making power. For Netanyahu, for example, this practice created a serious morale problem which drove many life-time, dedicated civil servants to leave government service. Power was so concentrated at the very top that much of their diligent work was frequently disregarded.
In a number of instances, one has already seen Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett reverting back to a more traditional decision-making model. The IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, met last week in Washington with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The public pronouncements from the meeting were very collegial and mutually complementary. They focused on the re-supplying of Israel for Iron Dome defensive missiles which were used during the recent Gaza confrontation.
There is every reason to assume that there were serious strategic discussions—including over Iran’s nuclear development. What was important was there were none of the aggressive rhetoric or bombastic outcries which typically emerged when Bibi met with U.S. officials, especially during the Obama years.
Similarly, when Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Rome, the press pronouncements were all very positive and constructive. Not only were the on-going Iran negotiations in Vienna certainly discussed, but Lapid also made it clear that he as well as the Prime Minister would express any of reservations that they might have with the U.S.’s position in private. In fact, Lapid underscored this point in public when he addressed Israel’s desire to reestablish a better bi-partisan relationship with the U.S. He made it absolutely clear to Blinken that the Bennett-Lapid Government would not undermine bi-partisanship support by circumventing the Biden Administration or Congressional Democrats as had become Bibi’s practice. (President Biden’s warm greeting for Israel’s appointed—not elected—out-going President Reuven Rivlin last week, was also a signal from Washington reflecting its own pleasure with the new atmospherics in the bi-lateral relationship.)
On a domestic but equally demonstrative event, Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced last week the decision to dismantle an illegal West Bank outpost at Evyatar. While the specific details are complicated the instructions were given with minimal fanfare and dispatched expeditiously. Once again Prime Minister Bennett appears prepared to delegate authority to his ministers and is not insisting on being the critical focus of all decisions.
While Bennett had announced the reprisal attacks against the Gaza balloons and drones, it appears that this decision passed without much response and matters quickly quieted down at the border. Meanwhile, also without much fanfare, Israel gradually resumed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, permitted agricultural produce to be processed across the border, and expanded Gaza’s fishing zone.
Major decisions will need to be reached in the forthcoming weeks as the new Israeli Government unveils its budget to the Knesset; the first budget in over two years. One of the most important issues to watch will be the extent to which the Government delivers to its Arab Party coalition member a significant increase in resources for basic services in the Arab towns and villages. This will include roads, schools, housing, health, etc. There will also be a reckoning in the budget as to the extent of continued extensive support for the ultra-Orthodox, charedi, community. Just as the right-wing members opposed funding for the Arabs, the left-wing had demanded greater religious pluralism to be extended to the non-Orthodox.
No one can judge how effective any of these efforts or changes will be. What is clear is that there is that the new government appears determined to change the atmosphere that pervaded during the Netanyahu years. This already is reflected in the fact that so far there has been no dramatic outcry to any of Bennett’s moves. He will certainly be tested as he addresses the recent uptick in COVID in Israel, but here too he appears prepared to delegate authority and make appropriate decisions to eliminate any greater health dangers. Making this Government work will not be easy, but the longer the Government continues the more stability it appears to be gaining.
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