With 64 seats out of 120 in parliament, Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc came out on top in the election, the fifth poll in three and a half years in a polarized country.
In power from 1996 to 1999 and then from 2009 to 2021, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history was mandated on Sunday to form the new government, despite his indictment for corruption in a series of cases.
His party, the Likud, won 32 seats in the legislative elections, his ultra-Orthodox allies 18 and the far-right alliance “Religious Zionism” 14, a record.
Opposite, the camp of his centrist rival Yair Lapid, who had ousted him from power in June 2021, won only 51 seats, while a non-aligned Arab party won five.
The investiture ceremony, which is due to begin at 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT), will thus be held in a Knesset with sparse leftist ranks. The Meretz party, which had six seats under the former mandate, did not reach the eligibility threshold and will be absent from the hemicycle for the first time. The Labor Party fell from seven to four seats.
– Haggling –
Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to be “the Prime Minister of all”, at the head of a “stable and efficient” government, but already concerns have arisen, locally and abroad.
Attention is focused on the “Religious Zionism” list of two tenors of the extreme right, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who are claiming important ministerial portfolios.
Known for his anti-Palestinian diatribes, Mr. Ben Gvir targets the Ministry of Internal Security while Mr. Smotrich wants Defense.
But according to the press, Mr. Netanyahu is reluctant to entrust this very sensitive portfolio, on the front line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to Mr. Smotrich, who would be ready to accept the Ministry of Finance.
Problem: The leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shass party, Arieh Dery, convicted of tax evasion in 2021 and previously jailed for corruption but invigorated by his 11 seats, is also eyeing Finance or the Interior, according to the press .
“Stalemate in the coalition negotiations,” headlines the Israeli newspapers Yediot Aharonot and Maariv on Tuesday.
“Smotrich has indicated to Likud that he has no intention of backing down from his party’s demands. At the same time, the negotiations have not advanced and the parties are beginning to talk about an impasse in the talks” , writes Anna Barsky in Maariv.
– Violence –
Negotiations for a new government are taking place against a backdrop of violence in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
On Tuesday, two Israelis were killed in an attack near a settlement in the north and the assailant was shot dead.
The Israeli army has stepped up raids in the West Bank in recent months, in the wake of deadly anti-Israeli attacks. These operations, and the clashes that are sometimes associated with them, have killed more than 120 Palestinians, the heaviest toll in seven years, according to the UN.
MM. Smotrich and Ben Gvir argue that Israeli forces should have more powers to fight “terrorism”.
On Tuesday, current Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Kan public radio that “friends in Washington” had informed him that the Americans would not cooperate with Messrs. Smotrich and Ben Gvir if they entered the government.
Immediately after the election results, several Western countries including the United States called for “tolerance” and to respect “minority groups”.
Mr. Netanyahu has 28 days to form his ministerial team, with an additional 14 days if necessary.
He returns to business despite being charged with corruption and while his trial is underway. In Israel, the Prime Minister does not have any judicial immunity but does not have to resign or step down during his trial.