WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ‎pressed on with efforts to prevent early ‎elections in the wake of Yisrael Beytenu leader ‎Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation as defense minister ‎and his consequent decision to pull his party out of the ‎coalition.‎

Kulanu leader Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Shas ‎leader Interior Minister Aryeh Deri have also voiced ‎their support for early election.‎

Following Lieberman’s announcement, Habayit Hayehudi ‎leader Naftali Bennett demanded to be named defense ‎minister in his place, threatening to bolt the coalition unless his demand his met. The coalition cannot survive without Bennett’s party, meaning that his withdrawal would spell certain elections.  ‎

A senior source in the Prime Minister’s Office said ‎Thursday that while Netanyahu was considering ‎Bennett’s demand, “other alternatives” were being ‎explored as well. ‎

Coalition insiders said Thursday that given the ‎personal rivalry between Netanyahu and Bennett, ‎Netanyahu will likely opt for early ‎elections, which would probably be set for April. ‎

Kahlon and Netanyahu met Thursday, as part of the ‎prime minister’s consultations with the heads of the ‎coalition partners. ‎

The finance minister later said he told Netanyahu ‎that “for the good of the economy, we have to call ‎early elections as soon as possible.”‎

He noted that “the stability it [the economy] ‎requires at this time cannot be achieved in the ‎current [political] climate, therefore, the most ‎responsible thing to do is agree on a date for early ‎elections.” ‎

‎”For the good of the country, we need to ‎establish a new, strong and stable ‎government,” he said.‎

Deri was quoted as saying that “early elections must ‎be called without delay. The good of the country ‎demands it.”‎

Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with Bennett on ‎Friday morning. ‎

Bennett said ‎Thursday that he wanted to be named defense minister ‎‎”with one aim in mind – to make sure Israel is ‎victorious again. Defense isn’t just another ‎portfolio for me, it’s an existential mission.”‎

Speaking at an Education Ministry event, Bennett ‎said, “Almost four years ago, I was entrusted with ‎the education portfolio and with an excellent team ‎of over 2 million Israeli students. ‎This is an exceptional privilege and a very fun ‎job, too. I wouldn’t leave it [the Education ‎Ministry] for any other position if Israel was not ‎currently plagued by a deep security crisis. ‎

‎”Israel is facing one of its most complex and ‎dangerous times, and the most dangerous thing for ‎Israel is that we have come to think that there is ‎no solution for terrorism, terrorists and missiles; ‎that there’s nothing we can do; that we can’t win. ‎But there is something we can do and there is a ‎solution: when Israel wants to win, we will win,” he ‎declared. ‎

Bennett noted that multiple advisers have warned him ‎that becoming defense minister was “a political ‎mistake,” adding, “They may be right, but what they don’t ‎understand is that for me, Israel’s security is the ‎goal and politics is the means to that end, not the ‎other way around. As defense minister, I intend to ‎introduce innovation, creativity and a fighting ‎spirit, breaking decades of mental fixation.”‎

The residents of the Israeli communities near the Gaza border, he continued, “keep telling us [the ‎government], ‘You have our support to do what needs ‎to be done to win.’ Without assuming responsibility ‎for security, without a dramatic change, Israeli ‎deterrence will continue eroding and Hamas will not ‎fear us. So I’m standing here and I’m telling you – ‎I’m willing to assume this responsibility.”‎

Also on Thursday, the prime minister’s son, Yair ‎Netanyahu, took to Facebook and urged the heads of ‎the right-wing parties not to call for early ‎elections. ‎

‎”My father warned that the Gaza Strip would become a ‎Hamas state and that the few missiles fired at the ‎Gush Katif settlements [before the 2005 ‎disengagement from Gaza] would turn into salvos on ‎Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba.‎

‎”The Left mocked him and call him the national ‎fearmonger. Now, my right-wing brothers, they are ‎trying to harness your (justified) frustration to ‎crown a left-wing government. Giving the Left ‎another chance to continue what they did in Oslo [in ‎‎1993], in the withdrawal from Lebanon [in 2000] and ‎during the disengagement, will pose an existential ‎threat to Israel.” ‎