Raphael Levy

Eisenkot was still hoping to swear in a 48-seat government this week. Lieberman pretty much torpedoed that over the weekend. So where does he go from here? First, to the familiar pace of Israeli coalition talks: the 90th minute, then extra time, then penalties. Eisenkot told Lieberman that this is the moment for a national emergency government. Lieberman’s answer, in my words: no, it’s a binational emergency government. A government resting on 19 votes from parties that reject Israel’s definition as a Jewish state and refuse to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. That’s why the most interesting part of Eisenkot’s statement, to me, is where he says (my paraphrase) that all of us will have to break some of our election promises. Lieberman doesn’t need that message. He has already backed down on the Haredim, his raison d’être for the past seven years. Bennett is silent. What I want to know is what Eisenkot is backing down from. Remember, for eight months Eisenkot has been preparing us for exactly this scenario: a minority government with outside support from the Arab parties. That wouldn’t be a broken promise. It’s exactly what he said. So there are two promises left for him to break. He can go along with a draft-evasion law for the Haredim, which means sticking with Lieberman (and by the way, the Haredim’s price has gone up sharply). Or he can break his pledge not to sit with Netanyahu. Either would be very interesting. But when Eisenkot says he’s going to break a commitment, it isn’t about a minority government with the Arabs.