By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM –The intricacies of the latest dispute around Israel’s railways may be of little interest to those not directly affected, but the political ramifications are extremely relevant to us all.
Ostensibly, in an effort not to disrupt railway traffic during the working week, Israel Katz, Israel’s minister of transport, authorized essential maintenance work during Shabbat. As expected, the ultra-Orthodox members of the Netanyahu coalition were enraged and threatened to quit the government. One of their ministers told the media that their Hasidic guru who seems to manage cabinet business from the outside told them to quit if Katz gets his way.
The prime minister appears to have sided with the ultra-Orthodox, not because he follows their ways but (a) because he wants to remain in office at all cost and, therefore, needs them: (b) in order to put Katz, his challenger, in his place. The latter, a respected member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and once a close ally, is said to believe that the prime minister’s far too long tenure is bad for the country and for the party. Presumably Katz would like to take his place.
The result of the work not being allowed to be carried out on Shabbat has led to severe rail disruptions. People couldn’t get to work on time and, perhaps even more important, soldiers on weekend leave weren’t able to return to their bases.
Was the disruption inevitable or was it Katz’s way of retaliating? Judging by pronouncements from the prime minister’s office, he seems to assume that the disruption was deliberate. He’s now threatening to fire Katz. So far, the senior members of Likud have remained silent, which some assume is evidence of their support for Katz. One minister openly urged Netanyahu not to dismiss Katz.
None of this may have been worth my writing about it had it not been a symptom of the feeling that the prime minister ought to step down. Realizing that (a) the main opposition party led by Isaac Herzog won’t be able to topple him (Herzog is said to be more interested in joining the current government than defeating it) and (b) that Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, may not muster enough strength to succeed Netanyahu’s, some Likud members seem to want to do it from the inside to stay in power.
I surmise that even Likud politicians who don’t dislike Netanyahu fear that if he stays too long, his coalition partner Naftali Bennett, the leader of the more radical, nationalistic settler party (Habayit Hayehudi) will become prime minister after the next general election. They hope to prevent it by having someone like Katz at the helm.
The point of these reflections is to alert readers to the dichotomy between a seemingly flourishing state that Israel is today – not only economically but also culturally and even diplomatically – and the growing distrust of the man who leads it, manifest in the wish to derail him. The argument so far has been that there’s no alternative to Netanyahu. Katz and the railway fracas is a hint that there might be or at least should be.
But it’s only a hint. All this may blow over and Netanyahu will secure his position as he has done in the past, for example when he removed another member of his own party – and a former chief of staff! – Moshe Ya’alon as defense minister, without being punished for it, despite Ya’alon’s few moments of fame. Israel Katz may end up the same way.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Now living in Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com. To comment in the space below, please include with your message your full name and your city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)