Photos: Menachem Kalish

A rollercoaster few days has ended with relative stability in Israeli politics.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who earlier threatened to leave the coalition of Prime Minister Netanyahu if he was not appointed defense minister, is staying in the government. And in a surprise, Netanyahu appointed himself as defense chief, telling the nation Sunday night that Israel was facing “one of [the] most complex periods” in the nation’s history. Moshe Kahlon, the finance minister who had also threatened to bolt, will also remain in the coalition.

Netanyahu reportedly impressed Bennett with a personal appeal on Sunday, after which he delivered a televised speech to Israel’s citizens. In that speech, he said that the next few months would require “sacrifice” on behalf of all of Israel’s citizens and hinted that IDF soldiers may soon have to fight. Netanyahu further said he had a plan to deal with the rocket fire from Gaza, which was the original cause of the coalition crisis.

The incoming defense minister (Netanyahu will likely give his foreign minister post to a Likud member) listed his many accomplishments in the security realm, from the time he served as a combat soldier in the Sayeret Matkal commando unit to the many weighty decisions he has made as prime minister over 13 years. The implicit message was: What a huge difference between a seasoned leader like me and the person who only recently sat in this office, Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beitenu, who has no such military pedigree.

A talented politician, Netanyahu successfully shifted responsibility for the crisis to the coalition partners who had threatened to resign. Bennet apparently understood this well. At a press conference the Jewish Home leader convened on Monday, he acknowledged that he was likely to take political flak for his turnabout but said he will remain in the government because “the State of Israel is more important.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 718)