It seems that the fourth time is not the charm. After four elections in two years , Israel is stuck in the political deadlock and the endless electoral cycle . The definitive scrutiny does not give Netanyahu the majority to form a government, with 52 seats, nor the opposition bloc, which remains at 57. The far-right Yamina, with seven deputies, and the Islamist Raam, with four others, become the keys to form a new Executive. A fifth election is already on the horizon.
“The political equivalent of the ship blocking the Suez Canal .” This is how journalist Amos Harel describes Netanyahu in ‘Haaretz’. After four elections, the Israeli political system is still installed in the blockade due to the permanence in office of the longest serving prime minister in the country’s history.
The composition of the Knesset , the Israeli parliament, has not changed much after these elections. The comparison with the last elections, where the same actors participated, although some grouped in coalitions in a futile offensive to unseat Bibi, shows that the results have hardly changed in numerical terms.
Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, vote in the elections.
Now, the political parties face, once again, an extreme situation . On the one hand, the pro-Netanyahu formations, made up of religious, ultra-Orthodox and nationalist parties , do not reach the majority of 61 seats .
Not even with the support of the far-right Yamina , a former cabinet member of the prime minister, who has not yet confirmed his intentions to side with his former colleague. The key to a government led by Netanyahu is held by the four deputies of the Islamist Raam party .
” There will be no right-wing government based on Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party, period,” Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich posted on Facebook. “The irresponsible voices of some right-wing elements in recent days that support such dependence reflect a dangerous confusion,” he added. The clear anti- Zionist stance and in line with the Muslim Brotherhood of the party drives away the anti-Arab formations.
Extreme alliances
On the other hand, the anti-Netanyahu bloc lives in a dilemma. Is your opposition to the prime minister strong enough to sacrifice ideological differences between the formations? With 57 seats , they need the support of Naftali Bennett de Yamina or the Islamist Abbas.
“It is not my life’s dream to sit with Bennett in the coalition,” Labor leader Merav Michaeli has confessed , “but with the understanding that a great need to rebuild the State of Israel is to replace Netanyahu as Prime Minister, one it must be very creative ”.
With the prospect of a fifth election in the summer, the Yisrael Beytenu (Israel Our Home) party begins to move to pass a law that prevents Netanyahu from running again . His inability to form a stable and functional government and his refusal to resign have led the country into this perennial electoral cycle .
For this reason, many politicians argue that a prime minister on trial for alleged corruption should not be able to continue running in the next elections.
Fifth elections?
“After the elections, the Israelis wonder if there is any way to a viable and stable government “, relates Haviv Rettig Gur in ‘The Times of Israel’. “The answer, for now at least, appears to be no, because none of the relevant leaders trust each other enough to risk compromising,” he concludes.
The projection of a new election prevents politicians from exceeding the red lines that they established in the electoral campaign to avoid harming themselves in the next electoral appointment.
Thirteen parties will form the fragmented Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, with less than 25% women in its seats.
Thirteen parties will form the fragmented Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, with less than 25% women in its seats . The Electoral Committee will officially present the results next Wednesday to the Israeli President, Reuvén Rivlin , who will call the formations for consultations and, after these, will give a candidate the mandate to form an Executive .
This will have 28 days to achieve it with an additional 14 authorized by the president. If not established, Rivlin will be able to choose a second candidate who will have similar terms.
“And indeed, if the extraordinary changes last year failed to move the needle, why should we assume that a fifth election will suffice ?” Asks Rettig Gur. Many advocate preventing the self-prophecy of a fifth election to make way for Benny Gantz as prime minister .
If no government has taken office by November, the leader of the dismembered Blue and White coalition would replace Netanyahu, according to the agreement signed last year . Another extreme and unlikely scenario, like all the others in an Israel worn out by the endless electoral loop.
RESULTS OF THE MARCH 23 ELECTIONS
Likud : 30 seats
Yesh Atid (There is a Future) : 17
SHAS (Sephardic Ultra-Orthodox) : 9
Blue and White : 8
Israel Our Home : 7
United Torah Judaism (Ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi) : 7
Yamina : 7
Labor Party : 7
Joint Arab List : 6
New Hope : 6
Religious Zionist Party : 6
Meretz : 6
Raam (United Arab List) : 4.
