The winner of the parliamentary elections on November 1 had requested an extension of the deadline for the formation of a government
Minutes before his deadline passed, Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late Wednesday that he had reached an agreement to form a new coalition government under his Likud party with its partners, ultra-Orthodox parties. Jews and the extreme right.
The winner of the November 1 parliamentary elections, which had a deadline of 23:59 (local and Greek time), informed President Isaac Herzog that he “succeeded” in forming the next government. He will succeed Yair Lapid.
“I have it,” Mr Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew minutes before the deadline. The Israeli presidency, for its part, confirmed that Mr. Netanyahu “called” Mr. Herzog to “inform” him, within a deadline.
thanks to the huge public support we got in the last elections, we were able to form a government that would work for the benefit of all citizens of Israel 🇮🇱❤️ pic.twitter.com/ijtDppkaSm
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 21, 2022
“Dear President, thanks to the huge support of the people that we secured in the last elections, I am informing you that I was able to form a government that will act in the interest of all the citizens of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said, according to a statement he released.
After the election, Mr Netanyahu was initially given until November 11 to form his government. But he requested an extension of 14 days, the maximum under Israeli law. The president, however, only gave him ten more days, and the Israeli press expected announcements yesterday, although the exact composition of the government has not crystallized.
Acting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s partners are known and will form, according to analysts, the most right-wing government in Israel’s history: these are the ultra-Orthodox parties Sas and United Torah Judaism, as well as three far-right factions, Bezalel’s Religious Zionism Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power and Avi Maoz’s Noam.
In recent weeks, Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party has signed deals with far-right parties that include sharing portfolios such as that of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, responsibility for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in Bezalel Smotrich, and a ministry for Arieh Deri, the leader of Sas.
However, members of the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — still have to pass second and third reading draft laws that would allow Mr. Deri to occupy a ministerial position (he has been convicted of tax fraud) and Mr. Ben-Gvir to take over hands control of the Israeli police.
State of justice
Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, warned last week that the incoming government’s draft laws threaten to turn Israel into a “democracy in name, but not in substance.”
“The politicization of the security forces will deal a serious blow to the most fundamental principles of the rule of law, namely equality, the absence of arbitrariness and impartiality,” he said, estimating that the flurry of bills (s.s. used the German word blitz, implying the blitzkrieg) the current interval will lead to “profound” changes and “more discussion” is required about them.
The politician who has remained in the office of prime minister of Israel longer than anyone else, with a total term of 15 years in office (1996-1999, 2009-2021), accustomed to forming alliances, now turns his attention to the distribution of ministerial portfolios in his own his faction.
Before the new government is sworn in, to be announced “as soon as possible” by Mr. Netanyahu, meaning either next week or early January, according to analysts, the acting prime minister is expected to pass bills and hand out key positions to Likud politicians. , which is not a “small matter” given the agreements he made with his partners, the center-right Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv commented yesterday.
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