Opinion: If he is the kingmaker he claims, the Yisrael Beytenu leader needs to make a decision about the future of the country and save us all from this interminable political odyssey
It’s very hard to say, so hard its almost breathtaking, but it needs to be said: Avigdor Liberman must make a decision. If not for our sakes, then for his own.
The past week has been particularly grueling and stressful. The healthcare system is collapsing, as images show people, young and old, being treated in hospital corridors. This is no longer a drill, this is a five-alarm situation.
It’s an emergency that demands speedy action and a solution that will rescue us from the brink of collapse.
The slowly growing tension on the borders needs a real solution, not down the barrel of a gun, as do problems in day-to-day life.
It was just this week that Israel narrowly avoided a strike that would shutter the kindergartens and see garbage piles grow on the streets until the stench of stagnation choked us all.
And let us not forget the cumulative national debt and the looming across-the-board budget cuts about to fall on us.
In short, this was the week that showed our officials need to take action. There has been enough talk.
So yes, it is not very easy for the head of Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman to make a decision, as he ponders the question of whether someone who was clearly a winner in the last election can suddenly discover that they are the biggest loser.
If Liberman joins with Likud to form a coalition, he will find himself in a narrow right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox, who really, really, really do not like him.
Not to mention this would be a breach of promise to his constituents and to the fact that he could have this already in the first round of voting in this election odyssey.
If he joins the center-left bloc, he will find himself – to put it mildly – depending on the votes of Arabs who only yesterday he thought best to leave in their place, let’s call it Umm al-Fahm, and then gently shove it into the hands of the Palestinian Authority. This would be another violation of the trust his voters placed in him.
If only a miracle could happen and Likud and White and Blue form a unity government, as he demanded. This would be wonderful.
But, with all due respect, who exactly would need him in a unity government of 65 MKs with the paltry seven friends he can bring to the table along with a pile of demands.
At most, he will be invited to oversee the wedding canopy (and perhaps read a line or two from a modern poem instead of a traditional Jewish prayer).
Ironically, Liberman is so convinced that Israel needs this marriage of convenience that he would even throw confetti should he not be invited to join the wedding party.
But what if we end up with a third round of elections in a year? I confess that I am having trouble seeing who exactly would vote for the man who has made such a great contribution to this never-ending exercise in democracy.
The situation is indeed difficult, but this is precisely why it needs a decision from Liberman to put an end to this drawn-out political farce.
He just needs to pick a side.
As reported by Ynetnews