Netanyahu's Unity Coalition: Does Anyone Win?

Seems like everyone loses something. Is that politics, or an outright mistake?

P. David Hornik writes at Pajamas Media:

One loser is undoubtedly Netanyahu’s Likud Party itself. Likud members are outraged at the number of cabinet posts Labor has received, along with those posts allocated to Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, and a non-party professional as justice minister. This leaves very few positions for those within Likud, even though Likud’s 27 mandates make it by far the largest party. As a result, talented and popular Likudniks like former Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and former Minister Benny Begin have been left out of the top posts. In his zeal to include Labor, Netanyahu has in fact handed his own colleagues a raw deal.

Beyond the Likud Party, though, the Israeli electorate isn’t exactly getting what it voted for. Although polls show a large majority of the public in favor of a national-unity government of some kind, Labor, with its lowly 13 seats — and, moreover, as part of the center-left bloc roundly defeated by the center-right bloc — is getting far more than its electoral due. This stems from Israel’s difficult parliamentary system, where people vote solely for parties of widely varying descriptions and sizes, and never for individual leaders or geographic representatives.

Of course, Labor too loses something as well--even with the power it now has within the coalition, within Labor itself there is a potential split with those who oppose joining the coalition and might even split off to form a new party. 

Would they join Kadimah in the opposition?

Of the three party's it would seem that only Kadimah could brag of having stuck by their principles--even if it does leave them on the outside and isolated.

If Netanyahu cannot stand up to the coming US pressure on creating a second Palestinian state, the point will be moot.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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