Netanyahu
Netanyahu announces deal finalised to bring Gaza hostages home
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that an agreement had been finalized to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.
This followed a statement from his office the previous day citing last-minute obstacles in negotiations to exchange hostages for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu plans to convene his security Cabinet later on Friday, followed by the government, to approve the ceasefire arrangement.
On Thursday, his office indicated that the Cabinet would not approve the ceasefire deal until Hamas addressed concerns over alleged violations of the agreement, which Israel claimed were attempts to extract additional concessions.
'Last-minute crisis' delays Gaza truce, hostage deal: Netanyahu
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes across Gaza have reportedly killed at least 72 people since the ceasefire deal was announced, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Residents in Gaza reported heavy bombing overnight as celebrations of the agreement were underway. Historically, both sides have intensified military actions shortly before ceasefires begin, often as a show of strength.
The deal, set to take effect on Sunday, outlines the release of 33 hostages over six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. A second phase involving the release of male soldiers and other hostages will be negotiated during the initial phase. Hamas has stated it will not free the remaining captives without a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has resulted in over 46,000 deaths, predominantly women and children, though it does not specify how many were combatants. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters but has not provided evidence.
2 weeks ago
'Last-minute crisis' delays Gaza truce, hostage deal: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a "last-minute crisis" with Hamas is delaying Israeli approval of a proposed Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in the Gaza Strip, reports AP.
Netanyahu's remarks came shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal as finalised, creating conflicting signals: while Palestinians, hostages' families, and global leaders welcomed the agreement, Netanyahu indicated it was not yet resolved.
Jordan, Denmark voice support for ending Gaza conflict, boosting humanitarian aid
The Israeli Cabinet was set to vote on the deal Thursday but delayed the meeting, with Netanyahu's office accusing Hamas of reneging on certain parts of the agreement without specifying details. Hamas, through senior official Izzat al-Rishq, insisted it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators.
The deal proposes a phased release of hostages held in Gaza and a temporary halt to fighting, aiming to eventually end a 15-month conflict. The war began with Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken. Israel’s response has led to over 46,000 deaths in Gaza, according to local officials, with widespread displacement and humanitarian crises.
Hamas accepts draft agreement for Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages
Netanyahu faces intense internal pressure from his far-right coalition partners, who have threatened his government over perceived concessions. Ministers like Itamar Ben Gvir oppose the deal, while Bezalel Smotrich demanded assurances of resumed military operations if necessary. These tensions risk destabilising the government and could lead to early elections.
Heavy Israeli strikes continued overnight, reportedly killing dozens despite the ceasefire announcement. The agreement envisions a staged withdrawal of Israeli forces, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and facilitating increased humanitarian aid. Future phases of the deal involve further hostage releases and negotiations for a lasting truce, though these remain fraught with challenges.
Israeli strikes kill 18 in Gaza, including women and children
The ceasefire raises unresolved questions about Gaza’s governance and reconstruction post-conflict, with mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S. meeting in Cairo to discuss implementation. International criticism of civilian casualties in Gaza persists, as Israel blames Hamas for using civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
Despite Hamas suffering significant losses in leadership and territory, the potential for prolonged insurgency looms if the conflict continues.
3 weeks ago
Israel's Netanyahu says Gaza ceasefire deal still incomplete
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday that a ceasefire agreement with Hamas is still not complete and the final details are being worked out.
Netanyahu's statement comes hours after the United States and Qatar announced the deal, which would pause the devastating 15-month war in Gaza and clear the way for dozens of hostages to go home. The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
However, he said that Hamas has backtracked on an earlier understanding of the ceasefire agreement. His statement could indicate that obstacles remain to implementing the deal.
Under the three-phased deal, Hamas would release dozens of hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It would also allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.
Israel, Hamas agree to ceasefire and hostage release: Mediators
Netanyahu said that Hamas was objecting to a part of the agreement that gave Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners. Hamas was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners would be released, Netanyahu said.
He said he told Israeli negotiators to stand firm on the earlier agreement. Hamas did not immediately respond to Netanyahu’s statement.
The statement came soon after President Joe Biden wrapped up a final farewell address to the nation after earlier touting the role of American diplomacy in negotiating the ceasefire.
The Israel Hamas-war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities there. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, but says women and children make up more than half the fatalities.
3 weeks ago
Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, his office said Saturday, in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.
It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Qatar’s capital, Doha, for the latest round of indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group, but there is U.S. pressure for a deal before the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Barnea's presence means high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved.
Just one brief ceasefire has been achieved in 15 months of war, and that was in the earliest weeks of fighting. The talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly stalled since then.
Under discussion is a phased ceasefire, with Netanyahu signaling he is committed only to the first phase, a partial hostage release in exchange for a weekslong halt in fighting.
Hamas has insisted on a full Israeli troop withdrawal from the largely devastated territory, but Netanyahu has insisted on destroying Hamas’ ability to fight in Gaza. On Thursday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, the majority women and children, though it doesn't say how many were fighters or civilians.
Also being sent to Qatar are the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency and military and political advisers. Netanyahu’s office said the decision followed a meeting with his defense minister, security chiefs and negotiators “on behalf of the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations.”
The office also released a photo showing Netanyahu with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who was in Qatar this week.
Read: Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 5, including 2 infants
Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza after being seized in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war are pressing Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home. Israelis rallied again on Saturday night in the city of Tel Aviv, with photos of hostages on display.
“We join together in the hope that the talks in Doha succeed,” outgoing U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew said at the rally. “We’re encouraged by the news today, but we know we can’t stop.”
The recovery of two hostages’ bodies in the past week renewed fears that time is running out. Hamas has said that after months of heavy fighting, it isn’t sure who is alive or dead.
Read more: Gaza death toll surpasses 46,000
“Return with an agreement that ensures the return of all hostages, down to the last one — the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial in their homeland,” said a statement by a group representing some hostages' families.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week a deal is “very close” and he hoped to complete it before handing over diplomacy to the incoming Trump administration. But U.S. officials have expressed similar optimism on several occasions over the past year.
Issues in the talks have included which hostages would be released in the first part of a phased ceasefire deal, which Palestinian prisoners would be released and the extent of any Israeli troop withdrawal from population centers in Gaza.
The toll
Hamas and other groups killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages into Gaza in the attack that started the war. A truce in November 2023 freed more than 100 hostages, while others have been rescued or their remains have been recovered over the past year.
Israel's military announced the deaths of four soldiers in northern Gaza on Saturday, without details. At least 400 soldiers have been killed in the war. Six others were killed this week in largely isolated northern Gaza, where Israel has been pressing an offensive against regrouping Hamas militants.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants during the war, without providing evidence.
Inside Gaza
On Saturday, an airstrike killed a 5-year-old girl and two male relatives in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where an AP team saw them.
Read more: Lebanese elects army commander Joseph Aoun as president
The girl’s body, in a pink sweater, was wrapped in foil and placed on the floor of the morgue. Her father knelt and pressed his face to hers. “God!” he cried.
Another Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians — including two children and two women — in a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza, according to the Civil Defense, first responders affiliated with the Hamas-run government. It said the strike on the Halawa school that shelters displaced people in the Jabaliya area also wounded 30 others, including 19 children.
Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas command center at a former school in Jabaliya, without giving evidence.
And a strike killed four people on a street in Gaza City, said Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal. Overall, Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 32 bodies had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours.
“I ask the world, do you hear us? Do we exist?” said Hamza Saleh, one of the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents who have been displaced. He spoke on Friday in the southern city of Khan Younis as children and others jostled for food aid, while hunger grows.
3 weeks ago
Hungary's Orbán vows to disregard international arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday denounced the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would defy it by inviting him to Hungary.
In comments to state radio, Orbán accused the ICC, the world’s top war crimes court based in The Hague, of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes,” saying the decision to issue the warrant for Netanyahu over his conduct of the war in Gaza undermined international law and escalated tensions.
Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that.
The ICC issued the arrest warrant on Thursday for Netanyahu as well as for his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza.
The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.
In his comments Friday, Orbán, a close Netanyahu ally, called the arrest warrant “outrageously impudent” and “cynical.” He said he would invite Netanyahu to Hungary later Friday and vowed to disregard the warrant if the invitation is accepted.
“We will defy this decision, and it will have no consequences for him,” Orbán said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó earlier criticized the ICC’s warrant as “absurd.”
Israel and its top ally, the United States, are not members of the court. But other Israeli allies, including some of its close European friends, are put in an awkward position by the warrants. Several, including France, welcomed the court’s decision and signaled they might arrest Netanyahu if he visited.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden’s administration was “deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”
Netanyahu on Friday praised Hungary for its stance on the warrant, saying in a statement: "Against the shameful weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the State of Israel to defend itself, Hungary — like our friends in the United States — is displaying moral clarity and standing by justice and truth.”
The action by the ICC came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children. Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
2 months ago
Victory' in Gaza only 'a few weeks away', Netanyahu tells US Congress members
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of US Congress members that "victory" in Gaza and "getting" Hamas' senior leadership in the enclave are only "a few weeks away."On Wednesday, Netanyahu told a bipartisan group from the US Congress, “We’ve killed many senior leaders [of Hamas], including number four in Hamas, number three in Hamas. We’ll get number two and number one. That’s victory. Victory is within reach. It’s a few weeks away," reports CNN.
Hosting the congressional delegation in Jerusalem, which the Prime Minister's Office claimed was organised by the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Netanyahu said it was "very important to maintain bipartisan support" but "especially in these trying times."
Netanyahu stated that Israel "had no choice" but to enter Rafah because its "very existence is on the line."
Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace: US Senate Majority Leader Chuck SchumerThe prime minister stated that Israel has had a "remarkable alignment" with the Biden administration since the October 7 Hamas attack, but they have fundamentally opposing views on an Israeli incursion into Rafah, the report said.Israel has received international condemnation before of its planned onslaught on the southern Gaza city, where over one million Palestinians are currently taking shelter. Netanyahu had previously stated to the delegation that displaced Palestinians in Gaza could "just move" out of Rafah and "move with their tents."
Biden: Netanyahu 'hurting Israel' by not preventing more civilian deaths in Gaza"There is all of the Gaza Strip north of Rafah," Netanyahu remarked. "People can move up or down," he continued.Disagreements regarding the possible invasion of Rafah and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza have strained relations between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.Earlier this week, Netanyahu postponed a scheduled government trip to Washington in protest over the United States' abstention from a UN Security Council vote that allowed a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to pass, the report also said.The resolution, proposed by the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, demanded an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza.
Netanyahu snaps back against growing US criticism after being accused of losing his way on Gaza
10 months ago
Netanyahu: Remarks to erase Palestinian town ‘inappropriate’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the remarks by a key Cabinet ally calling for a Palestinian town to be erased were inappropriate, after the United States demanded that he reject the statement.
In a Twitter thread posted in English shortly after midnight, Netanyahu did not appear to condemn the remarks outright and implied that the ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, misspoke.
Netanyahu thanked Smotrich for later walking the comments back and “making clear that his choice of words” was “inappropriate.” The bulk of the thread urged the international community to seek condemnations from the Palestinians over attacks against Israelis.
It appeared to be his first public response to Smotrich’s remarks since they were made on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s Twitter thread underlines how the Israeli leader has had to balance the ideologies of the far-right members of his government with the expectations of Israel’s chief ally, the United States. Smotrich is the head of one of several ultranationalist parties that help make up Netanyahu’s government, Israel’s most right-wing ever. Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank last week rampaged through the Palestinian town of Hawara, where earlier in the day two Israeli brothers were killed in a Palestinian shooting attack. Later in the week, Smotrich said the town should be erased — by Israeli forces and not by private citizens.
Also Read: Israelis step up protests over government’s legal overhaul
Smotrich later backtracked, saying he didn’t mean for the Hawara to be erased but for Israel to operate surgically within it against Palestinian militants. Still, his earlier comments sparked an international outcry. The U.S. called them repugnant and urged Netanyahu to “publicly and clearly reject and disavow them.” The United Nations and Middle East powerhouses Egypt and Saudi Arabia also condemned Smotrich’s remarks.
In a Hebrew tweet posted around the same time as his English thread, Netanyahu said even foreign diplomats make mistakes, an apparent reference to a report by Israeli Channel 12 that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides made disparaging remarks about Smotrich ahead of his visit to Washington this week, saying he would “throw him off the plane,” if he could. The U.S. Embassy denied the ambassador had made the remarks.
The White House said Smotrich would not be meeting any U.S. government officials during the upcoming trip.
Smotrich, in a tweet Saturday, said he was “convinced that he didn’t mean to incite to kill me when he said I must be thrown from the plane just as I didn’t mean to harm innocents when I said Hawara must be erased.”
In his tweets, Netanyahu wrote that “it is important for all of us to work to tone down the rhetoric” amid a spiraling wave of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
“That includes speaking out forcefully against inappropriate statements and even correcting our own statements when we misspeak or when our words are taken out of context,” he posted.
Netanyahu then slammed the Palestinian Authority for not condemning Palestinian attacks against Israelis, and the international community for not demanding condemnations from the Palestinians. Israel has long claimed the international community has a double standard in its expectations from Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians seek for their future state. Israel maintains a 55-year, open-ended occupation over Palestinians in the West Bank and a blockade, along with Egypt, of the Gaza Strip.
1 year ago
Netanyahu government: West Bank settlements top priority
Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming hard-line government put West Bank settlement expansion at the top of its list of priorities on Wednesday, a day before it’s set to be sworn into office.
Netanyahu’s Likud party released the new government’s policy guidelines, the first of which is that it will “advance and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel — in the Galilee, Negev, Golan Heights, and Judea and Samaria” — the Biblical names for the West Bank.
The commitment could put the new government on a collision course with its closest allies, including the United States, which opposes settlement construction on occupied territories.
Israel captured the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state. In the decades since, Israel has constructed dozens of Jewish settlements there that are now home to around 500,000 Israelis living alongside around 2.5 million Palestinians.
Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s new government — the most religious and hard-line in Israel’s history — is made up of ultra-Orthodox parties, an ultranationalist religious faction and his Likud party. It is to be sworn in on Thursday.
Several of Netanyahu’s key allies, including most of the Religious Zionism party, are ultranationalist West Bank settlers.
Also Read: Israel says it deported Palestinian activist to France
On Wednesday, incoming finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal that there would be no “changing the political or legal status” of the West Bank, running contrary to years of advocating annexation of the entire territory.
He leveled criticism at the “feckless military government” that manages civilian affairs for Israeli settlers, including himself. Smotrich is set to assume control over the military government in the occupied West Bank under his second role — a newly created position as a minister in the Defense Ministry.
Netanyahu is returning to power after he was ousted from office last year after serving as prime minister from 2009 to 2021. He will take office while on trial for allegedly accepting bribes, breach of trust and fraud, charges he denies.
Netanyahu’s partners are seeking widespread policy reforms that could alienate large swaths of the Israeli public, raise tensions with the Palestinians, and put the country on a collision course with the United States and American Jewry.
The Biden administration has said it strongly opposes settlement expansion and has rebuked the Israeli government for it in the past.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s figurehead president expressed “deep concern” about the incoming government and its positions on LGBTQ rights, racism and the country’s Arab minority in a rare meeting called with Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the coalition’s most radical members.
President Isaac Herzog met with Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power faction and heir to the outlawed politician Meir Kahane, after members of his party called for the legalization of discrimination against LGBTQ people based on religious belief.
Herzog’s office said the president urged Ben-Gvir to “calm the stormy winds and to be attentive to and internalize the criticism” about the incoming government’s stance on LGBTQ issues, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and a bill to remove a ban on politicians supporting racism and terrorism from serving in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The government platform also mentioned that the loosely defined rules governing holy sites, including Jerusalem’s flashpoint shrine known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, would remain the same.
Ben-Gvir and other Religious Zionism politicians had called for the “status quo” to be changed to allow Jewish prayer at the site, a move that risked inflaming tensions with the Palestinians. The status of the site is the emotional epicenter of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
2 years ago
Israel to swear in government, ending Netanyahu’s long rule
Israel is set to swear in a new government on Sunday that will send Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the opposition after a record 12 years in office and a political crisis that sparked four elections in two years.
Naftali Bennett, the head of a small ultranationalist party, will take over as prime minister. But if he wants to keep the job, he will have to maintain an unwieldy coalition of parties from the political right, left and center.
The eight parties, including a small Arab faction that is making history by sitting in the ruling coalition, are united in their opposition to Netanyahu and new elections but agree on little else. They are likely to pursue a modest agenda that seeks to reduce tensions with the Palestinians and maintain good relations with the U.S. without launching any major initiatives.
Also read: Israel’s Netanyahu lashes out as end of his era draws near
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, remains the head of the largest party in parliament and is expected to vigorously oppose the new government. If just one faction bolts, it could lose its majority and would be at risk of collapse, giving him an opening to return to power.
The new government is promising a return to normalcy after a tumultuous two years that saw four elections, an 11-day Gaza war last month and a coronavirus outbreak that devastated the economy before it was largely brought under control by a successful vaccination campaign.
The driving force behind the coalition is Yair Lapid, a political centrist who will become prime minister in two years, if the government lasts that long.
Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, will convene to vote on the new government at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT). It is expected to win a narrow majority of at least 61 votes in the 120-member assembly, after which it will be sworn in. The government plans to hold its first official meeting later this evening.
It’s unclear if Netanyahu will attend the ceremony or when he will move out of the official residence. He has lashed out at the new government in apocalyptic terms and accused Bennett of defrauding voters by running as a right-wing stalwart and then partnering with the left.
Netanyahu’s supporters have held angry protests outside the homes of rival lawmakers, who say they have received death threats naming their family members. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service issued a rare public warning about the incitement earlier this month, saying it could lead to violence.
Netanyahu has condemned the incitement while noting that he has also been a target.
His place in Israeli history is secure, having served as prime minister for a total of 15 years — more than any other, including the country’s founder, David Ben-Gurion.
Also read: Netanyahu opponents reach coalition deal to oust Israeli PM
Netanyahu began his long rule by defying the Obama administration, refusing to freeze settlement construction as it tried unsuccessfully to revive the peace process. Relations with Israel’s closest ally grew even rockier when Netanyahu vigorously campaigned against President Barack Obama’s emerging nuclear deal with Iran, even denouncing it in an address to the U.S. Congress.
But he suffered few if any consequences from those clashes and was richly rewarded by the Trump administration, which recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, helped broker normalization agreements with four Arab states and withdrew the U.S. from the Iran deal.
Netanyahu has portrayed himself as a world-class statesman, boasting of his close ties with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also cultivated ties with Arab and African countries that long shunned Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians.
But he has gotten a far chillier reception from the Biden administration and is widely seen as having undermined the long tradition of bipartisan support for Israel in the United States.
His reputation as a political magician has also faded at home, where he has become a deeply polarizing figure. Critics say he has long pursued a divide-and-conquer strategy that aggravated rifts in Israeli society between Jews and Arabs and between his close ultra-Orthodox allies and secular Jews.
Also read: Netanyahu could lose PM job as rivals attempt to join forces
In November 2019, he was indicted for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. He refused calls to step down, instead lashing out at the media, judiciary and law enforcement, going so far as to accuse his political opponents of orchestrating an attempted coup. Last year, protesters began holding weekly rallies across the country calling on him to resign.
Netanyahu remains popular among the hard-line nationalists who dominate Israeli politics, but he could soon face a leadership challenge from within his own party. A less polarizing Likud leader would stand a good chance of assembling a coalition that is both farther to the right and more stable than the government that is set to be sworn in.
3 years ago
Netanyahu could lose PM job as rivals attempt to join forces
A former ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he would seek to form a coalition government with the Israeli leader’s opponents, taking a major step toward ending the rule of the longtime premier.
The dramatic announcement by Naftali Bennett, leader of the small hardline Yamina party, set the stage for a series of steps that could push Netanyahu and his dominant Likud party into the opposition in the coming week.
While Bennett and his new partners, headed by opposition leader Yair Lapid, still face some obstacles, the sides appeared to be serious about reaching a deal and ending the deadlock that has plunged the country into four elections in the past two years.
“It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said.
READ: Israel, Egypt talk truce with Hamas, rebuilding Gaza Strip
The pair have until Wednesday to complete a deal in which each is expected to serve two years as prime minister in a rotation deal, with Bennett holding the job first. Lapid’s Yesh Atid party said negotiating teams were to meet later Sunday.
Bennett, a former top aide to Netanyahu who has held senior Cabinet posts, shares the prime minister’s hard-line ideology. He is a former leader of the West Bank settlement movement and heads a small party whose base includes religious and nationalist Jews. Yet he has had a strained and complicated relationship with his one-time mentor due to personal differences.
Bennett said there was no feasible way after the deadlocked March 23 election to form a right-wing government favored by Netanyahu. He said another election would yield the same results and said it was time to end the cycle.
“A government like this will succeed only if we work together as a group,” he said. He said everyone “will need to postpone fulfilling part of their dreams. We will focus on what can be done, instead of fighting all day on what’s impossible.”
If Bennett and Lapid and their other partners can wrap up a deal, it would end, at least for the time being, the record-setting tenure of Netanyahu, the most dominant figure in Israeli politics over the past three decades. Netanyahu has served as prime minister for the past 12 years and also held an earlier term in the late 1990s.
In his own televised statement, Netanyahu accused Bennett of betraying the Israeli right wing and urged nationalist politicians not to join what he called a “leftist government.”
“A government like this is a danger to the security of Israel, and is also a danger to the future of the state,” he said.
Despite his electoral dominance, Netanyahu has become a polarizing figure since he was indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in late 2019. Each of the past four elections was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule, and each ended in deadlock.
Netanyahu is desperate to stay in power while he is on trial. He has used his office as a stage to rally his base and lash out against police, prosecutors and the media.
In order to form a government, a party leader must secure the support of a 61-seat majority in parliament. Because no single party controls a majority on its own, coalitions are usually built with smaller partners. Thirteen parties of various sizes are in the current parliament.
As leader of the largest party, Netanyahu was given the first opportunity by the country’s figurehead president to form a coalition. But he was unable to secure a majority with his traditional religious and nationalist allies.
Netanyahu even attempted to court a small Islamist Arab party but was thwarted by a small ultranationalist party with a racist anti-Arab agenda. Although Arabs make up some 20% of Israel’s population, an Arab party has never before sat in an Israeli coalition government.
After Netanyahu’s failure to form a government, Lapid was then given four weeks to cobble together a coalition. He has until Wednesday to complete the task.
While Bennett’s Yamina party controls just seven seats in parliament, he has emerged as a kingmaker of sorts by providing the necessary support to secure a majority. If he is successful, he would represent the smallest party ever to lead an Israeli government.
Lapid already faced a difficult challenge, given the broad range of parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc that have little in common. They include dovish left-wing parties, a pair of right-wing nationalist parties, including Bennett’s Yamina, and most likely the Islamist United Arab List.
Lapid’s task was made even more difficult after war broke out with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on May 10. His coalition talks were put on hold during the 11 days of fighting.
But with Wednesday’s deadline looming, negotiations have kicked into high gear. Lapid has reached coalition deals with three other parties so far. If he finalizes a deal with Bennett, the remaining partners are expected to quickly fall into place.
They would then have roughly one week to present their coalition to parliament for a formal vote of confidence allowing it to take office.
Yohanan Plessner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said Netanyahu will try to undermine those efforts until the end.
READ: Bangladesh urges UN to take decisive action against Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights
Netanyahu’s main strategy, he said, would be to try to appeal to hard-liners in both Bennett’s party and New Hope, another hard-line party led by a former Netanyahu confidant, to withdraw their support for the new coalition. A defection of just one or two lawmakers could prevent Lapid from mustering a majority and force another election.
“Anything might happen,” Plessner said. “I would wait for the final vote to go through.”
Even if Lapid and Bennett manage to put together a government, Netanyahu is unlikely to disappear, Plessner said.
Netanyahu could remain as opposition leader, working to exploit the deep ideological differences among his opponents to cause the coalition to fracture.
“History teaches us it would be unwise to write him off,” he said.
3 years ago