Ben Packer's Week in Review

Yair Lapid has only one week left to put together a governing coalition. He spent this week inking deals with parties that everyone already knew were with him.

A few days into the conflict, it was announced that Naftali Bennett was no longer willing to join a coalition with the left-wing and Arab parties.

Israeli Arabs continue to riot and attack Jews and Jewish religious buildings throughout the country. The police refuse to deal with it in any meaningful way.

We have mentioned the overall incompetence of the Israeli police numerous times in the past, but this is a pretty egregious example.

Last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu suffered what seemed like a severe political setback. The parties seeking to replace him, with the support of the Arab Ra'am party, formed a majority on a strategic Knesset committee.

What we have here is a game of "Mexican chicken" to see who blinks first. There cannot really be a viable left-wing/Arab/fake right government – the numbers just aren't there.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, after receiving the mandate to form a coalition government from President Rivlin, continues to try to do just that.

Certainly the highlight of the process, at least for me, was Naftali Bennett's nominating himself.

Tourist and religious sites have been packed over the holiday. If infection numbers don't spike the week after Passover, expect whatever restrictions remain to be significantly eased or completely eliminated.

The good trend continues: All bad numbers are down. However, it does seem that all the folks willing to get the vaccine have received it already. Very few people are going to get it now.

Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed this week that Israel in on the verge of diplomatic agreements with at least four additional Muslim countries.

So far, Naftali Bennett continues to rise in the polls and his party is now polling in third place overall. This is quite impressive, but Netanyahu still has two weeks to take voters from Bennett, like he has consistently done in the past.

One of the least likely to be able to influence anything is Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party. Even more of his friends publicly encouraged him to drop out again this week.

The declared intent of the curfew is to prevent large drunken parties/festive gatherings in the evenings. The upcoming video footage of attempted enforcement will be incredible!

Things are definitely heating up in the Middle East, despite it being quite cold. Could anyone have predicted this? Everyone did.

The continued spread of the virus is mostly being attributed to the "British Mutation.” This strand of the virus has attacked much younger people and specifically late-term pregnant women.

Blame for the continued spread is mostly being attributed to new mutations of the virus. And anti-Semites are just blaming the charedim.

The enforcement of the lockdown regulations also continues to be quite contentious, particularly since it's only done in charedi areas.

Meanwhile, illegal construction by Arabs remained rampant. And there were no changes in the status of endangered Jewish religious sites or politically significant areas.

Betzalel Smotrich of the National Union party announced that he would be launching a new party to run in the upcoming elections and would not partner with Naphtali Bennett's "New Right" Party.

Israel is experiencing two dramatic trends – lots of vaccinations administered and lots of new cases of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Saar announced some of his party's platform, such as a term limit for being prime minister, regional representation in the Knesset and… who cares, none of this stuff is going to happen.

Naftali Bennett of the Yamina Party has declared his desire to be prime minister. Him being elected to that position in March is about as likely as me growing taller.

It’s still unclear when the country will be opened to foreign tourists, but the spring seems like a good bet, maybe even Pesach.

At this point, it seems the jack is out of the box and new elections are a done deal. Folks are already starting to maneuver.

For his part, Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to call for "unity" and the preservation of the current coalition government.

Quebec's attempt to use historical anti-Semitism to regain its former historical importance is similar in certain ways to the majority of the population of Quebec: ugly and stupid.

All of these conflicts between mostly Muslim countries further serve to fragment the Islamic world and could potentially push more countries to seek and benefit from the strength and relative stability of Israel.

Retail stores have reopened this week in Israel and active corona cases continue to decrease – there are now about 8,000 active cases.

One of the issues that has led to the political turbulence of the past few years is the draft. The Supreme Court previously ruled that the current law that exempts yeshiva students from military service is illegal.