Two weeks after Israel’s fourth consecutive election, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate to form a new government.
Why it matters: Netanyahu’s path to coalition formation is very, very narrow. Although he received the mandate from the president, Netanyahu currently does not have a majority in the Israeli Knesset that will allow him to form a new government.
Driving the newsRivlin announced his decision after consulting members of all different parties on Monday.
- During the consultations, 52 members of the Knesset recommended Netanyahu to form the government, while 45 members of the opposition leader Yair Lapid recommended.
- Seven members of the Knesset have recommended the leader of the right-wing Yemina party, Naftali Bennett, and 16 members have not recommended any candidate.
Between the lines: Under Israeli law, the president must give the mandate to a member of the Knesset most likely to form a government.
- Rivlin said in a statement that his deliberate conclusion was that neither Netanyahu nor Lapid have a majority to form a government, but Netanyahu’s chances of success are “slightly higher.”
The big picture: Israel has been engulfed in a political and legal crisis over the past two years as a result of Netanyahu’s charges and the ongoing corruption lawsuit.
- The fact that Netanyahu remained Prime Minister despite his trial has created a series of unprecedented situations that have resulted in total dysfunction of the government.
- Rivlin was under public pressure not to give the mandate to Netanyahu because of his ongoing trial.
- Rivlin said he faced a moral difficulty in his decision to sue Netanyahu, but stressed that the law does not prohibit a member of the Knesset on trial from being mandated to form a government.
What’s next: Netanyahu now has 28 days to try to form a government.
- His only way to form such a government is if he succeeds in convincing the radical right-wing party ‘Religious Zionism’, made up of Jewish supremacists and Islamophobes, to sit in the same coalition with the Islamic party – which is an offshoot. of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement.
- If Netanyahu fails to form a government, the Knesset has 21 days to attempt to form an alternative coalition. If this also fails, Israel will run for the fifth election in September.