Two days before the deadline for the formation of a government in Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday that there are still “many obstacles” to the establishment of a coalition that can remove Prime Minister Benjamin from power. Netanyahu.
The teams of the centrist Lapid and the radical right Naftali Bennett continue to negotiate the terms of an alliance to establish what they call a “government of change” that ends Netanyahu’s term, it is the longest in Israel’s history.
Israel’s political commentators already hoped that achieving an alliance between secular centrists and ultranationalists would require a bitter struggle.
Lapid was tasked by President Reuven Rivlin in early May with seeking to form a coalition to lift Israel out of two years of political crisis, the longest in the country’s history.
The fate of Netanyahu, in power since 2009 and who was also prime minister from 1996 to 1999, must be defined no later than Wednesday at 11:59 pm local time (3:59 pm, Mexico City time), deadline given by law to Lapid to announce whether or not he succeeded in forming a government.
After resuming talks in a meeting that lasted until dawn, Lapid and Benet’s negotiating teams resumed their contacts this morning to reach a final agreement.
According to the media, they would be negotiating a coalition with rotation in the head of government: Benet would hold the position of prime minister for the first two years and Lapid would replace him for the next two.
“There are still many obstacles, this may be our first test … we will see if in the coming days we can find intelligent compromises for our important goal,” Lapid said cautiously on Monday.
“In a week, the state of Israel can enter a new era,” he added before members of his party and journalists in parliament in Jerusalem.
The centrist leader again appealed to form “an Executive of unity” between “right, left and center” that “takes charge of all the citizens of Israel” and ends the era of “division” and “incitement” that, according to he, Netanyahu generated in the country after twelve consecutive years in the position of prime minister.
It was Lapid’s first public appearance after Bennett, a key player in the balance that heads the ultra-nationalist religious Yamina formation, announced last night his decision to try to create a government coalition with the centrist, who heads a wide amalgam of organizations with great ideological diversity whose only element in common is their opposition to Netanyahu.
Beny Gantz, Israeli Defense Minister and a necessary part of the “government of change” that is trying to shape the opposition, showed his support for Bennett on Monday.
“Bennett is qualified to be the next prime minister of Israel,” Gantz said today during a meeting with foreign journalists in Jerusalem, in which he highlighted the political experience of the ultra-nationalist leader, who in the last eight years held multiple ministerial portfolios, including Defense and Economy.
“I will do everything I can to help him and to try to build a partnership with him on the many issues we agree on, mainly regarding the internal challenges of Israeli society,” added Gantz, whose center party -right, Blue and White, would contribute 8 parliamentarians to the new Executive.
However, Gantz also acknowledged that he has some differences with Benet – who leads the Yamina formation with 7 seats -, especially regarding how to deal with the conflict with the Palestinians, about which the ultra-nationalist leader has a harder line, while Gantz is a supporter of the two-state solution.
Asked about the strength of an opposition government made up of parties from such a broad political spectrum -some with a difficult ideological fit-, the Defense Minister pointed out that the “survival” of such an Executive is based on the “combined interests” of its members, mainly the will to end the 12 consecutive years of mandate of the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I believe that we should be able to cooperate with everyone in Parliament to exclude radical extremists on both sides,” he added, urging seeking common ground among Israeli citizens rather than pulling each one to their side.
Saving the stumbling block for Bennett, who until last night had not been so blunt in his intention to integrate the anti-Netanyahu coalition, the opposition leader – who won 17 seats with Yesh Atid – is approaching the minimum majority of 61 seats in a Parliament of 120, but has not yet reached this figure.
This will depend on whether the seven Yamina deputies support an anti-Netanyahu government – at least one of them opposes – and whether the opposition bloc also seeks external support from the United List (6 deputies) or from the Islamist Raam (4) , two formations representing the Arab population of Palestinian origin in Israel.
Netanyahu still has options
“Nothing is done until it is done, although they (Lapid and Bennett) are in a better position, Bibi (Netanyahu’s nickname) is always one step ahead, he has not left yet,” warned Jonathan Rynhold, professor of political science at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
After the announcement of Bennett’s support for Lapid, Netanyahu warned that this “government will be a danger to the security of the State of Israel.” “This is the scam of the century,” he added.
For the right-wing daily Maariv , the latest events marked a break, and a Netanyahu is seen more cornered than ever.
“Naftali Bennett suddenly appeared as a prime minister and Benjamin Netanyahu became head of the opposition,” underlined editorialist Ben Caspit.
On Sunday night, several dozen Netanyahu supporters demonstrated in front of the residences of Yamina party leaders, shouting “leftists and” traitors “at them.
The security of the main leaders of the party, among them Bennett, was reinforced, according to an official.
Lapid’s response was contained: “Within a week, the State of Israel may be in a new era. Suddenly it will be calmer. Ministers will go to work without inciting, without lying, without trying to instill fear all the time. “he stated on a televised program.
The Israelis were divided over everything except over the folly of ruling out Netanyahu yet.
“An event took place yesterday the importance of which cannot be overstated. It created a real possibility … of an alternative government in every sense of the word,” wrote Sima Kadmon in Israel’s best-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth.
However, he added that “it is not over yet. Long days are ahead in which Netanyahu will do absolutely everything possible to change the momentum.”
Half and half
If the establishment of this “government of change” is confirmed, after two years in office Bennettt would be replaced by the secular centrist Yair Lapid, current leader of the opposition and whose Yesh Atid party was the second most voted in the last elections last March. – fourth in two years – with a total of 17 seats compared to 30 for Netanyahu’s Likud.
The new government that would unseat Netanyahu would also include the far-right Israel Nuestro Hogar, the right-wing Nueva Esperanza, the center-left Labor Party and the left-wing Meretz.
“The left makes compromises far from easy, when it grants me … the role of prime minister,” Bennett, close to Israeli settlers, said on Sunday.
This coalition would, however, require the support of the Islamist formation Raam, which would offer its external support and which would not have ministerial posts in its charge but would have important positions on committees related to the welfare of Arab citizens of Palestinian origin in Israel.
This opposition bloc has time until midnight on Wednesday to form a coalition, before the expiration of Lapid’s term to form a government, after which any member of Parliament could try to obtain the minimum majority of 61 supports to govern.
This scenario would mark the end of a political era, which began 25 years ago with the election of Netanyahu against Shimon Peres, the architect of the Oslo Accords on Palestinian autonomy. Netanyahu returned to power in 2009 and has not left it since.
Tried for “corruption” in three cases, he is the first Israeli head of government to face criminal proceedings during his tenure. And these lawsuits could affect him if he lost the immunity that he has by law in his capacity as prime minister.
If by Wednesday the anti-Netanyahu camp fails to form a government, 61 deputies will be able to ask the president to commission a new parliamentarian to form a government.
If this option also fails, the Israelis, already called to vote four times in less than two years, will have to go back to the polls.
With information from AFP, EFE and Reuters
