Israel President Isaac Herzog has officially tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government.
Eisenkot, the head of the centrist Yashar party, will have 28 days to secure a coalition to replace current Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu‘s religious-nationalist government, with Herzog having the authority to prolong Eisenkot’s mandate by 14 days.
“The conversations with the different parties were open and transparent, while also resurfacing the many voices in Israeli society. They reminded us the fact that all Israeli citizens have an equal voice, from all parts of society,” Herzog said.
He stressed that Eisenkot received the clearest support from the majority of Knesset members when it comes to the question of forming the next government.
“The challenges we face are giant. Iran is not waiting a second in its threats. We have to start building a future in the region and proceed with Trump’s 20-point plan in Gaza, as well as negotiating the future with Lebanon and other neighbors,” the Israeli president said, adding that “Israel needs a stable government that faces these challenges.”
Herzog said that he expected Eisenkot to do his best to form a government that would serve all parts of the Israeli people.
In turn, Eisenkot stressed that he is committed to establishing a national emergency government.
“We do not have the privilege of endless rounds of elections. I will send an official approach to all of the Knesset’s members, as parties and individuals, for talks,” he added.
What do we know about coalition forming
Yashar was Israel’s second biggest party in Israel’s October elections with 21 parliament seats, behind Netanyahu’s Likud with 27. However, more members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, recommended Eisenkot as the man who should be given the first right to try and secure a government.
In comparison to Eisenkot’s 67 recommendations, Netanyahu received the backing of 46 members, with the ultraorthodox Ashkenazi party United Torah Judaism (UTJ) deciding not to make any recommendations despite having joined Netanyahu’s governments of the past 17 years.
Should Eisenkot fail to form a coalition, President Isaac Herzog will have the authority to pass the task on to a different Knesset member, with the second person in line expected to be Netanyahu.
If the Likud leader, too, will not manage to form a government, and if no other parliament member will claim to have enough support to head a government, Israel will likely head to another round of elections.
Coalition forming is a difficult task
Dividing Israel’s Zionist parties into blocs results in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist allies receiving 53 seats, with the Eisenkot-led anti-Netanyahu bloc having 48 seats.
Israel’s two Arab parties, which with 19 seats received historic support due to the high turnout in Arab and Palestinian communities, already voiced their willingness to support the Zionist opposition in ousting Netanyahu and his government. Mostly the religious Muslim party Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, said it is willing to join a coalition once again in a bid to improve Israel’s Arab and Palestinian communities’ lives.
In 2021, Ra’am made history in becoming the first-ever Arab party to join an Israeli coalition, signing an agreement with right-wing candidate Naftali Bennet and liberal politician Yair Lapid.
The other Arab party, the Joint List, is a union of several smaller parties. While its members have never joined an Israeli coalition, its politicians did provide political support for an Israeli government from the opposition during Yitzhak Rabin’s second term as prime minister as his government pushed through the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, a term which was cut short by Rabin’s murder in November 1995.
Campaign promises at risk
Both sides of Israel’s Zionist political divide promised not to rely on votes by Arab parties to form a coalition, meaning Eisenkot’s bloc will have to track back on one of its election promises to form a government with them.
However, a poll by the Accord Center of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem carried out two days after the elections found that 59 percent of Israel’s Zionist opposition voters would rather have a government with Ra’am, and with the Joint List’s abstention, than any other alternative.
Another option touted by Israeli media in the past week was the country’s two ultraorthodox parties potentially joining an Eisenkot-led coalition. UTJ and Sepharadi party Shas have seven seats each, but a coalition with any of them would require Eisenkot to backtrack on another campaign promise: to pass through a legislation to secure the army conscription of young ultraorthodox men, which the two parties strictly object, citing fears over the future of religious studies in Israel.
Moreover, Shas supporters are known to hold right-wing views favorable to Netanyahu, with party head Arye Deri being considered as one of the politicians closest to Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
Effects on Palestinians
The government formed is bound to have wide-ranging implications on the lives of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Netanyahu-led current coalition also includes far-right parties Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism, which received 13 seats in the October election. The two parties support annexing the West Bank — a territory considered illegally occupied by Israel according to international law — as well as re-establishing Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and carrying out the so-called “wilful migration,” the plan to move Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians to other countries. Large parts of Netanyahu’s Likud, too, support the plan.
The two parties often provide political backing to the violent settlers carrying out attacks against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank.
Eisenkot himself promised to secure a Gaza Strip without Hamas rule within 18 months of becoming prime minister. This stands in contrast to the Netanyahu government’s current policy of allowing Hamas to control certain parts of the enclave, despite the US-brokered ceasefire agreement saying a board of technocrats should take over Gaza from Hamas.
While Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc includes several right-wing parties, their positions differ from those of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. Naphtali Bennettthe head of the opposition’s second biggest party Beyachad, labels himself as a right-winger and a supporter of settlements.
However, he has repeatedly used strong terms to condemn settler attacks on Palestinians. Eisenkot himself, too, condemned settler violence towards Palestinians, saying they are the result of the Netanyahu government’s policies.
Source: www.dw.com
