scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeWorldIsrael is staring at fourth election since Dec 2018 as power-sharing talks...

Israel is staring at fourth election since Dec 2018 as power-sharing talks fail

If no one can build a coalition then a new national poll will be set to try to break the political paralysis that’s gripped Israel.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz failed to reach a power-sharing deal by a midnight Wednesday deadline, making a fourth round of back-to-back elections this summer increasingly likely.

Gantz, whose political bloc splintered over the negotiations, didn’t ask President Reuven Rivlin for more time to try to seal a deal. Rivlin has said if negotiations didn’t yield an agreement, then he’d give parliament three weeks to find any candidate within its ranks to form a government. Among other things, that could allow for the troubled power-sharing talks to continue on another footing.

If no one can build a coalition, then a new national poll will be set to try to break the political paralysis that’s gripped the country since Netanyahu first called early elections in December 2018, setting in motion three inconclusive votes.

The negotiations impasse didn’t come as a shock. The talks began with a declared urgency to close ranks to tackle the coronavirus crisis and the damage it’s wrought on the economy. But as the weeks went by, the outlook for their success darkened despite occasional declarations of optimism by both sides.

Israeli media reported that negotiations faltered over last-minute demands by Netanyahu related to his legal woes.

Some observers say Netanyahu engineered the negotiations with the ulterior motive of tearing apart Gantz’s Blue and White bloc and destroying the most formidable rival he’s faced in more than a decade.


Also read: Netanyahu wants Israelis to greet with ‘Indian Namaste’ as coronavirus scare spreads


Israel Set for Unity Government as Anti-Netanyahu Bloc Splits

From Netanyahu’s point of view, a revote might be the preferred option, said Jonathan Spyer, researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

“Although cynical and Machiavellian, this might not be a dreadful possibility for Netanyahu,” Spyer said before the talks foundered. “He has splintered and destroyed Gantz’s Blue and White list, and polls are indicating a good situation for right-wing coalition allies due to public satisfaction with the handling of the coronavirus.”

The latest poll showed the nationalist-religious camp led by Netanyahu capturing 64 of parliament’s 120 seats if elections were to be held today.

Gantz lost a big chunk of his political base after he reneged on his central campaign promise: never to sit in government with the prime minister while he’s under indictment. A reunion with the 18 lawmakers who left his bloc now that power-sharing negotiations are off seems a stretch. Blue and White currently has 15 legislators.

Netanyahu is accused of illicitly accepting gifts and scheming with media moguls to influence legislation to their benefit in exchange for sympathetic coverage. His trial is due to begin in late May, and retaining power would give him an opportunity to try to push through legislation shielding a sitting leader from prosecution.

The urgency to form a governing coalition and avert a fourth round of elections has grown as the toll from the virus mounts. The number of confirmed cases has topped 12,000, with more than 130 dead. A near-lockdown has crippled the economy, which is forecast to shrink by 5.3% this year, according to the Bank of Israel. Unemployment has surged to 26% and the Finance Ministry sees it still hovering around 10% at the end of the year.

Gantz swung toward a power-sharing deal even though he received first crack at building a coalition. His only hope for forming a government without Netanyahu meant cooperating with the non-Zionist Joint List of Arab parties, but he faced resistance within his own camp.

The general, who’s speaker of the Knesset, could try to disqualify Netanyahu from running in a fourth election by advancing legislation barring an indicted politician from serving as premier.

“What Gantz needs to do is to pass a set of anti-corruption laws that will create a new situation and prevent Netanyahu from running in the next election,” Eran Etzion, a former deputy national security adviser, said on Twitter. “That would reshuffle the deck.”

But the constitutionality of such legislation would likely be challenged in Israel’s High Court of Justice, especially because of its timing in the middle of an election cycle, according to constitutional law expert Suzie Navot.-Bloomberg


Also read: Netanyahu edges close to victory in Israel elections at the end of a tumultuous year


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular