Naftali Bennett is the first kippah-clad prime minister in Israel's history but he got there by betraying principle for position, which is why he is the most hated politician in Israel among his spurned former allies in the religious bloc.

Naftali Bennett is the first kippah-clad prime minister in Israel's history. For the past generation, religious Zionists have dreamed loudly of the day the prime minister would hail from their community. So for some members of the community, Bennett seems like a dream come true.

But democracy is a tough game. Under normal circumstances, you can only get what you want by growing your numbers. As a small minority, religious Zionists have no chance of becoming the largest political force in the country.

So the game of democracy required them to be part of the right-religious bloc. True, they agreed with Likud and the ultra-Orthodox parties on 90% of the issues and received 90% of what they wanted. But Likud – the largest faction – was in charge of national policy. And the ultra-Orthodox, who also outnumber the religious Zionists, received control over the Rabbinate.

Unwilling to accept this compromise, Bennett made a different, anti-democratic one. He abandoned his allies. He took his six Knesset-seat faction to the other side and formed a new partnership with the left-Arab bloc. True, his voters and their voters only agree on 10% of the issues. But conceding nearly everything of importance for a title was worth the sacrifice.

Bennett's betrayal of principle for position made him the most hated politician in Israel among his spurned former allies in the right-religious bloc. But until this week, it was assumed that he acted without the backing of his voters. The religious Zionist leadership's willingness to stand with him on Evyatar signaled that he wasn't acting entirely alone.

He did have a constituency for his betrayal. The settler leaders who opposed the Likud's sovereignty plan support an evacuation deal that secures Bennett's hold on power while endangering the entire settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.

The cleavage isn't just between Bennett and Netanyahu. It is between the religious Zionist elite and the nationalist camp as a whole.

And this is the real story of the week. The strategic direction that Lapid and Abbas's are taking the country will soon place everything the religious Zionists have been working towards in Judea and Samaria since the Six Day War in jeopardy.

Their decision to avoid a showdown in Evyatar guarantees that the next showdown will far worse. And when they are called to fight, having cut themselves off from their partners and allies to follow their opportunistic leader, they will find that they are alone.

Caroline Glick is an Israeli-American Journalist and an Israel-U.S. Relations Expert.

 AFP

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