Return of the alliance? Lapid backs Bennett
Lapid throws his weight behind erstwhile ally's ultimatum on military secretaries for Cabinet members.
Yesh Atid chairperson MK Yair Lapid backed Jewish Home chairperson Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday, over his demand to have military secretaries appointed to every member of the Security Cabinet as a condition for supporting an expansion of the coalition.
"Bennett is right. As a condition to expand the coalition he is demanding only one thing: a deep repair in the work of the Security Cabinet. As someone who sat with him in the Cabinet, I can testify that the current situation is not reasonable," wrote Lapid on Facebook.
The support may be a first sign of a resurgent alliance between the two; back in the 2013 elections Lapid and Bennett signed an agreementvowing only to enter the government together, and their parties pushed joint legislation such as the controversial haredi draft law before the two finally had a falling out.
In his backing of Bennett, the former Finance Minister wrote that Cabinet ministers do not receive in-depth information or go through any training process for their roles.
"For those who are interested in the topic, I recommend reading the chapters dealing with the work of the Cabinet in Ofer Shelah's book 'The Courage to Win.' As a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Ofer brings a clear and precise analysis there of the failings of the Cabinet (including in Protective Edge) and the required corrections in its work," wrote Lapid.
Lapid heaped praise on his erstwhile ally, writing, "Bennett is also worthy of appreciation for how in the cynical atmosphere in which everyone is busy only with the question of how comfortable their arm chair will be and how much money will go to those who are close to them, he placed a demand touching on the security of the state and the running of the government."
"But in this government those who make a list of cynical demands and only ask for portfolios and honor turn into someone who everyone wants to work with. On the other hand, those who don't ask anything for themselves but rather try to improve the workings of the political echelon are accused of opportunism and receive threats of being fired."
Lapid's comment refers to a report Thursday night in Channel 2 revealing how officials are trying to convince Bennett to support incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's entry to the coalition government, andthreatening Jewish Home ministers with being fired if the party does not support the widening of the coalition.
Bennett's demand for military secretaries and easier access to sensitive intelligence information comes after a report revealing faults in the Security Cabinet's functioning in Operation Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War.
The Security Cabinet (Hebrew: הקבינט המדיני-ביטחוני, HaKabinet HaMedini-Bithoni) or Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs[1] (Hebrew: ועדת השרים לענייני ביטחון, Va'adat HaSarim LeInyanei Bitahon) is a narrow forum of "Inner Cabinet" within the Israeli Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister of Israel, with the purpose of outlining a foreign and defense policy and implementing it. This smaller forum of the cabinet members, is designated to coordinate the diplomatic negotiations, and in times of crisis, especially war, it is designed to make quick and effective decisions.
Contents
[hide]- 1The history and the idea behind the establishment of a Security Cabinet
- 1.1The "War Cabinet"
- 2The structure of the Political-Security Cabinet
- 2.1Cabinet members
- 2.2Official authorization
- 3See also
- 4Notes
The history and the idea behind the establishment of a Security Cabinet[edit]
The idea of establishing a Security Cabinet was initially part of the Centre Party's platform of 1999 election, chaired by Yitzhak Mordechai. The party offered a new security plan, in which a Security Cabinet will be established for the purpose of implementing an effective peace and security plan. According to their platform, a new council for diplomatic planning and advising will be established, that will be headed by a person appointed by the Prime Minister, who will preside over small professional teams in the relevant fields. Furthermore, they suggested that the Prime Minister, Acting Prime Minister, Vice Prime Minister, the Director-Generals of the Defense, Foreign, and Treasury ministries, as well as the Chief of General Staff, chief of Shin Bet, and the Military Secretary to Prime Minister, will take part in the Security Cabinet meetings on regular basis, and that others presiding over the diplomatic negotiations or any other relevant officials will participate accordingly. The idea behind the Security Cabinet was to create a professional objective advising body to the Cabinet. The members would evaluate different situations, offer alternatives and oversight, and determine positions on the Cabinet and the army.
In practice, the forming of this body was based on section 6 of the "Government Law" of 2001[2] that stipulated the following:
Concerning the issues the minister's committee on national security will tackle, the law stipulated that:
The "War Cabinet"[edit]
For more details on this topic, see Kitchen Cabinet of Israel.
During Yom Kippur War, a group of ministers was formed arbitrarily, and had assumed responsibility for taking fundamental decisions during that war. This group became to be known as "The War Cabinet", and later was also nicknamed "Golda's kitchen". The "War Cabinet" had made independent decisions during those emergency times, and the Government had approved those decisions only in retrospect. Against that background, already during those times, the question of the necessity and role of such a cabinet arose. On the other hand, some suggested that the Cabinet members should run the war as they see fit—without the need of getting anybody's approval.
The structure of the Political-Security Cabinet[edit]
Cabinet members[edit]
- Permanent members:
Appointment by law:
- Prime Minister & Foreign Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu, Chairman
- Defense Minister: Avigdor Lieberman
- Internal Security Minister: Gilad Erdan
- Justice Minister: Ayelet Shaked
- Minister of Finance: Moshe Kahlon
Additional members:
- Minister of Interior: Aryeh Deri
- Minister of Transport and Road Safety & Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister of Israel: Yisrael Katz
- Minister of Education: Naftali Bennett
- Minister of Immigrant Absorption: Ze'ev Elkin
- Minister of Construction: Yoav Galant
Permanent invitees:
- Attorney General of Israel: Avichai Mandelblit
- National Security Council stand-in chief: Yaakov Nagel
Official authorization[edit]
- Israel's security agencies' objectives and its policies.
- Issues concerning the IDF, including the army's structure, deployment, alertness and its equipment, research and development in these fields, receiving the annual national intelligence estimate, and oversight on events evolving in these areas.
- Receiving information concerning intelligence matters, diplomatic issues, military and security operations.
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