Netanyahu’s End, Lapid-Bennet Coalition: Where Is Israeli Politics Going?

Alwaght- The Israeli regime held four parliamentary elections within two years, that none of them gave any party a majority mandate to independently form a government. Now with Tel Aviv at its wits' end about what to do next, the 12-year uninterrupted premiership of Benjamin Netanyahu nears its end as he fails to form coalition with the opposition parties. 

On May 5, when Netanyahu's deadline ended without a government formation, Yash Atid leader Yair Lapid was tasked to form a cabinet by the figurehead President Reuven Rivlin. Having less than a month to the job he is tasked with, Lapid seems to have agreed for a coalition government with Neftali Bennet, the leader of Yamina party. 

This situation is while with the announcement of the results of the Israeli parliamentary elections on March 23, the Netanyahu-led Likud party and its traditional right-wing allies, despite winning 52 seats, failed to gain the necessary majority to form a government. The opposition parties that formed a "Change Coalition" comprising 13 parties of Yash Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, Labor, New Hope Yisrael Beiteinu, Meretz, and others gained 58 seats together and can increase them to 61 if they coalesce with the United Arab List. Now they are a few steps from a coalition cabinet. But this coalition is never firm and lasting, and ending the Israeli political crisis. 

Big unity of Likud opposition 

As political observers have predicted over the past two months, Likud opposition eventually reached a major agreement. Israeli media reported that an agreement has been reached between Bennett and Lapid to form a "rotation government." The new government, whose main slogan is "change" is expected to form within 10 days. 

According to the rotation deal, first introduced to the Israeli politics last year by Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, Bennet will hold the post by September 2023 and then up to November 2025 Lapid will take the post. Informed sources said that new PM will be sworn in within 10 days. A statement on the new government is expected by Bennet. 

According to initial estimates, the formation of a "government of change" seems possible only by relying on the representatives of at least one of the parties that are Palestinian citizens of Israeli descent. Yash Atid announced last Friday that it had reached a final agreement with the Labor Party to form a coalition government. Labor leader Merav Michaeli is expected to be given transportation minister post and her aide Omar Bar-Lev will possibly take the public security minister post— a position his father once held. 

Shaky coalition seeking to end Netanyahu power 

Despite the news of the finalization of the agreement between Lapid and Bennett for new government, a new government is not certain to form yet. Even if the coalition is finalized and a new government is formed—main result of which will be the removal of Netanyahu from power— the foundations of this coalition will be shaky. The formation of a coalition government on April 21, 2020, between Netanyahu and Gantz, was based on an earlier deal to manage the complex situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak but did not last for a full year. 

In the new conditions, the Lapid-Bennett coalition, made by two moderate forces, is more based on a will to remove Netanyahu than a realistic and strong ground for partnership. So, it can be said that this coalition can only succeed if it presents a cohesive roadmap meant to settle the crisis hitting the occupied territories. 

Actually, given the gaps among the Likud opposition, fall of the arrangements for new government is not unlikely. Agreement terms for the "government of change" included strengthenimg of police forces, fighting crimes in agriculture sector, and tackling traffic offenses. But none of these terms can provide a firm justification for anti-Netanyahu coalition to endure. 

Netanyahu's farewell to power 

Over the past months, the core point of the Israeli politics has been the end of Netanyahu era. Netanyahu's struggles to form a consensus in the election to gain majority were a failure story. Pushing him close to ultimate collapse was the recent war against Gaza that ended in Tel Aviv defeat. In other words, despite efforts to provide vaccination to the citizens and signing normalization deals with four Arab countries, and trying to persuade the Israelis that the economy was immune to crisis under him, Netanyahu failed to keep his post. The chain of recent developments seems to have stuck the final nail in the coffin of his political life. Hamas management to possess new technologies to upgrade its arms while under sanctions and siege and also Israeli army decline to counter Gaza rocket attacks discredited the Israeli political body in general and Netanyahu in particular.