If you follow my Telegram channel, you know that the actions in and around the Israeli Knesset continue to be interesting. Following the collapse of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government last week, the struggle to fill the power vacuum has reached epic proportions.
So much of the discussion centers around who the various parties will not back, instead of who they would. Chief among those vilified is former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So many of the actions of Bennett’s government were to prove that they weren’t Netanyahu. They hate the man passionately and want the world to know that they are doing all they can to change Israel into a non-Netanyahu state.
The problem is that by reversing so many of the previous prime minister’s policies, they have left the nation much weaker – focused more on social justice than on military strength. That may be fine if you are sitting in western Europe where everyone thinks the same as you do. It doesn’t work if you are surrounded by enemies who want to push your whole nation into the Mediterranean.
Whether Netanyahu has enough sway to get back into the Prime Minister’s seat remains to be seen. His enemies are so concerned that he might sweep in even before the November 1 elections and steal the government away, that they even put forward a controversial bill that blocks any politician under criminal indictment from forming a government.
Netanyahu remains under indictment for some politically motivated corruption charges. The only bill that could have been more transparently directed at the former Prime Minister is if they put one forward that banned anyone with the initials “B. N.” from holding the office.
Not surprisingly, the legal counsel of the Knesset shot the bill down immediately. It’s too important of a precedent just to rush it through during an election period, particularly since it is so blatantly not against something but someone
Still, in their efforts to ensure that Netanyahu doesn’t get near the office any time soon, they have rushed in about as unqualified an interim prime minister as one can find, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. This is a man who has no true military background and never even received his high school diploma. He has more skills in the application of hair gel than he does the making of public policy.
For a government that for the past year has put the priority on form over function and feelings over strength, the liberal, progressive Lapid fits right in.
It will be interesting to watch as the “government of change” is changed. Through it all, however, we don’t fear or worry. God is in control in this, as He is in all governments in all parts of the world. Sometimes He intercedes; sometimes He leaves nations to their own devices. But no matter what, we know that it is all under the great umbrella of His plan for His creation as He leads us forward to the time when we will be with Him forever in the new heavens and the new earth.
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