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Rosner’s Domain— Another Take on Two Alarming Ministers

We should start with a note of caution: It is early to assume that Haredi Shas leader Aryeh Deri is going to be Israel’s finance Minister.
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November 16, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Aryeh Deri on November 20, 2019 (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

We should start with a note of caution: It is early to assume that Haredi Shas leader Aryeh Deri is going to be Israel’s finance Minister. It is early to assume that the quite-radical leader of Religious Zionism, Bezalel Smotrich, is going to be the Minister of Defense. These are currently rumors, spins of negotiations, intended leaks of shrewd bargainers. 

And here is another note of caution: This article is not intended to convince you that Deri at Finance and Smotrich at Defense is a good idea. It is not, for many obvious reasons. Deri is a leader of a specific community. He takes care of his own tribe (Haredi, Sephardic). Smotrich is a leader of many principles, and little tendency to compromise or willingness to be pragmatic. Letting Deri hold the national purse is problematic. Letting Smotrich lead the Ministry of Defense can be dangerous.

Even for those who in the final analysis oppose them, it is better to see the whole picture, and not just part of it.

But having said all that—having stated the obvious—here is the case for letting these two, the staunch right-winger and the ultra-Orthodox have what they wish for, the Ministries of Finance and Defense. As said, this is not meant to convince you that this is the right move; it’s meant to offer an alternative way of thinking about the potential of these appointments to do good. Yes, they have the potential to do good. And even for those who in the final analysis oppose them, it is better to see the whole picture, and not just part of it.

Let’s start with this: There are many more cases where ministries have changed the views and attitudes of their holders, than the opposite cases, where position holders have changed the ministries. The reason for this is simple, almost trivial. A minister must grapple with reality, and this forces adjustments and changes on him. Reality punishes a minister who insists on clashing with it. Netanyahu learned such a lesson when, in his first term as Prime Minister, he opened the Western Wall Tunnel without proper preparation. The result was an outbreak of violence, bloodshed. The opening of the tunnel was necessary, but not done wisely. Netanyahu, a wise leader, learned the lesson of caution.

This is what happens to many ministers in many positions and especially so to those who hold the most senior and influential portfolios, such as Finance and Defense. Making a rush mistake in one of these two ministries could prompt quick, harsh, sometimes fatal outcome. If Deri takes Finance, and after two months Israel’s credit rating drops because of his actions, the price could be heavy. If Smotrich takes Defense, allows construction in problematic areas in Samaria, and the result is a flare-up, the price could be heavy. These are cases where ideology meets reality. These are cases where smart leaders learn a new and important lesson, of modesty and responsibly.

That’s it—that’s the case for Deri and Smotrich as the most senior ministers. It is built on three layers. First, both are smart. Both want to succeed. Second, to succeed, both will have to moderate their objectives, promises and principles, and face a complex reality that requires compromises. Third, and this is the most important layer: If Defense and Finance end up teaching Deri and Smotrich a lesson in modesty and responsibility that would be to Israel’s benefit. Both are leaders of a large public, but both have history of focusing mostly on fighting for their own specific communities—sectoral budgets, sectoral projects, sectoral principles, sectoral ambitions. Major portfolios would enforce on them the need to expand their scope of considerations, to be leaders of the country, not a community.

There is little margin for error in Finance and Defense. There is little margin for tricks and sectoral favoritisms. Deri and Smotrich could understand this in advance, and act accordingly, or be exposed to the cold shower of reality. Naturally, for Israel, the first option is preferable. It would be better for Israel if its ministers understood in advance that statements and actions aren’t the same thing, that principles and reality aren’t always compatible. 

If two sectoral leaders decided to shoulder the responsibility for a national portfolio, the risk is self-evident and clear. But there’s an opportunity not to be dismissed: the opportunity for the ministries to change the ministers, to make Deri and Smotrich true leaders of the State of Israel, rather than leaders of sectorial interests.

Something I wrote in Hebrew

For the new right-religious government, I advised to be cautious with changes to crucial laws: 

Discussion on the Law of Return should be done quietly, patiently, seriously. A new design of the law, if proposed, should be based on broad consensus that will include centrist parties. You might say: This is impossible! True, at the moment it is probably impossible, because the elections have just ended, and any discussion about coalition and opposition cooperation is too early. But maybe in the future it will be possible. That is, if the government will act cautiously when it comes to state-religion affairs. In such case, maybe it’d be possible to find a formula that better balances the purpose of the Law of Return, bringing Jews to Israel, and its actual current implementation: bringing mostly non-Jews to Israel.

A week’s numbers

When the Jewish stream with more children is also the more politically conservative, the trend looks like this (source: J Street post-election survey). 

A reader’s response:

Deborah Krauss writes: “So Bibi doesn’t get to play the Senate against Biden after all”. My response: There’s always the House…


Shmuel Rosner is senior political editor. For more analysis of Israeli and international politics, visit Rosner’s Domain at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain.

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