Israeli Opposition Announces New Government, Netanyahu Will Be Overthrown

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Twitter @netanyahu)

JAKARTA - Israel's opposition leader moved closer to removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the opposition leader formally told the country's president that the opposition had reached an agreement with political allies to form a new government.

About 35 minutes before the Wednesday, June 2, midnight deadline, the centrist Yair Lapid told President Reuven Rivlin in an email: "I am honored to inform you that I have successfully formed a government".

According to his office, Rivlin, who was attending the Israeli football cup final at the time, congratulated Lapid over the phone.

Lapid's main partner is nationalist Naftali Bennett, who will serve as the first prime minister under a two-man rotation. Lapid, 57, a former TV presenter and finance minister, will take over after about two years.

Perdana Menteri Benjamin Netanyahu (Foto: Wikimedia Commons)

Their coalition government will consist of small and medium-sized parties from across the political spectrum, including the United Arab Group, which for the first time in Israel's history a party representing 21 percent of Israel's Arab minority has entered government.

It will also include Yamina (Right) Bennett, center-left Blue and White, led by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the left-wing Meretz and Labour parties, the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and New Hope, a far-right. the party led by former education minister Gideon Saar, which split from Netanyahu's Likud.

But the fragile new government, which will lead a slim majority in parliament, is only expected to be sworn in in about 10-12 days from now, leaving little room for Netanyahu's camp to try and overturn it by getting lawmakers to side with them and vote against. the new government.

Israeli political analysts widely expect Netanyahu to try every possible political maneuver, persuading disgruntled Yamina members to join Arab and left-wing lawmakers.

"Relax. Netanyahu is still prime minister for a few more days until a vote of no confidence and he will fight as hard as he can to reject a new government with a slim majority. This is far from over", Anshel Pfeffer, political analyst for liberal newspaper Haaretz, wrote on Twitter.

Netanyahu, who has not yet responded to Lapid's announcement, holds 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, nearly double that of Y Lapid's Yesh Atid party and he is aligned with at least three other religious and nationalist parties.

Great expectations

During his 12-year tenure at the top, Israel's longest-serving leader has been a polarizing figure at home and abroad.

Netanyahu, 71, has sought to discredit the Bennett-Lapid alliance, saying it would jeopardize Israel's security - a reference to efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program and manage the always tense Palestinian relationship.

Lapid, a centrist politician, was tasked with forming a governing coalition after right-wing Netanyahu failed to do so following the March 23 election.

He campaigned under a promise to "restore sanity" to Israel, focusing on Netanyahu's corruption trial on charges he denies.

"This government will work for all Israelis, those who voted for it and those who did not. The government will respect its opponents and do all it can to unite and connect all sections of Israeli society," Lapid said on Twitter.

The new government, if sworn in, will face considerable diplomatic, security and economic challenges: Iran, a near-dead peace process with the Palestinians, a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court and economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

A source involved in the coalition talks said the proposed new government would try to maintain consensus by avoiding heated ideological issues such as whether to annex or cede the occupied West Bank territories the Palestinians want for a state.

Bennett said that both sides would have to compromise on those ideological issues to get the country back on track, with government debt standing at 72.4 percent in 2020, up from 60 percent in 2019 and the deficit surging to 11.6 percent in 2020 from 3. 7 percent. percent in 2019.

"This is a night of great hope", Gantz, who will remain in office under the coalition agreement, said on Twitter as he embarked on a trip to Washington after 11 days of fierce fighting with militants in Gaza last month and as world powers pressured him to revive the nuclear deal with Iran.

The end of Netanyahu's term could bring a reprieve from unprecedented domestic political turmoil, Israel has held four elections in two years - but major changes in Israel's foreign policy seem less likely.

After Lapid's announcement, several dozen activists from the protest movement against Netanyahu cheered. "He's done, he's done, Auntie, get out of the way," they shouted outside a bar in Tel Aviv, referring to Netanyahu by the nickname "Auntie".

"We hope this change for a better future for this amazing country", said 27-year-old student Eran Margalit.