On Wednesday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin received the official election results of the 24th Knesset from Central Elections Committee (CEC) chairman Uzi Fogelman. The elections, which were held last week, failed to produce a clear winner for the fourth consecutive time since 2019, continuing the political deadlock in the country. Rivlin said that the crisis facing Israeli society is “harming and weakening our democracy” and hoped that officials “are able to hear the Israeli people and their call for out-of-the-ordinary coalitions” to resolve the stalemate.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party managed to win 30 seats, making it the single largest party in the Knesset. However, Netanyahu and his allies fell short of the 61-seat majority required to form a government coalition, by securing a total of only 52 seats. The pro-Netanyahu bloc of parties includes Shas, United Torah Jerusalem and Religious Zionism, who respectively won nine, seven and six seats. On the other hand, the opposition, represented by Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Kahol Lavan, Yisrael Beitenu, Labour, and three other parties, including the Arab Joint List, managed to secure a total of 57 seats, four short of the number needed to form a stable government.
Given these developments, two parties, Naftali Bennett’s Yamina and the Mansour Abbas-led United Arab List (UAL), are said to hold the keys towards the formation of a stable coalition. The Yamina party, which won seven seats, has not expressed any desire to join either of the blocs. Bennett, who has been critical of Netanyahu, has refused to merge with the anti-Netanyahu camp and even if he tips in favour of the PM, Netanyahu would still have only 59 seats. This is where the United Arab List, popularly known as Ra’am, comes in. Having won four seats, Ra’am could make all the difference by joining the coalition of parties opposed to Netanyahu. While UAL’s leader Mansour Abbas is yet to make a decision on whether to make such a move, he has stated that he will not be aligning with far-right parties like Religious Zionism.
Meanwhile, Likud party lawmakers have accused President Rivlin of favouring the opposition after he called for the formation of unusual coalitions to break the deadlock. Rivlin said on Wednesday that “Israeli society needs a government that will pass a budget, that will lead a process where the symptoms and the citizens who have been harmed are made better,” and emphasised that his decision to choose a candidate to form the government will be based on their ability to deliver on these goals.
According to the Times of Israel, Likud Member of Knesset (MK) Miri Regev said that “the president has a duty to respect the will of the electorate, to act as a statesman and to refrain from other considerations.” Others, like Ministers Amir Ohana and Yuval Steinitz, complained that the president did not get to decide the results of the vote and that a candidate, like always, should be picked from the largest party.
President Rivlin will be holding consultations with representatives from all parties that made it to the Knesset next Monday, the same day as Netanyahu’s corruption trial is set to start. After hearing party preferences, Rivlin is expected to assign the duty of forming a coalition to one of the candidates, typically the one leading the party with the most seats. If the designated member still fails to form a stable coalition, however, the President can invite another candidate to form the government. If no candidate is able to put together a proper partnership, Israel will head to the polls for the fifth time in less than three years.
Israel’s Political Stalemate Continues as Netanyahu Fails to Win Majority in Election
The elections, held last week, failed to produce a clear winner for the fourth consecutive time since 2019, continuing the political deadlock.
April 1, 2021
President Reuven Rivlin receives the official election results from Central Elections Committee chairman Uzi Fogelman SOURCE: AMOS BEN GERSHOM/GPO