The otherwise impossible national unity government came into being because of the coronavirus crisis. Unity, reasoned Netanyahu and Gantz, would allow for more effective dealing with the ongoing pandemic.
It is beyond denial now that the national unity government is miserably failing to deal with the crisis. If accepting that Netanyahu handled successfully the first wave of COVID-19 infections, the only explanation I can come up with for his failure to handle the second wave is his needs to obtain Gantz’s consent for every major decision he makes, which in essence gives Gantz the power of veto. The latest back-and-forth over Netanyahu’s proposed stimulus payment demonstrates this failure.
Five days ago, Netanyahu announced his plan to give every Israeli citizen an equal one-time grant to help boost the economy. On his part, Gantz pushed for a differential grant, which means that “rich” people will not get it and the not-so-rich will get less. In light of Gantz’s objection, the decision of both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for an equal one-time grant has gone back to...
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