The truth is, it doesn’t make any difference what his motive is. And there’s no need to support him, much less vote for him, to be filled with optimism.
After all, if the wall of the delegitimizing of Arab votes is cracked, that would be enough. If, following Netanyahu, other parties begin wooing Arabs and reserving spots for them on their tickets (see Meretz), that would be enough.
It’s important for me to be precise, because I know the mechanisms of thought enforcement in my political camp, which will want to turn my words into support for Netanyahu. I firmly oppose the lockdown, but the fact that Israel is enforcing it by using the army doesn’t make the paratroopers’ presence at checkpoints proof that “the dictatorship is already here.” Certainly no more than the curfew in Spain and the soldiers patrolling the streets there were proof of Franco’s return.