Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he saw no option to form a government backed by Islamist Ra’am, after the Israeli Arab party voted against its bloc on Monday in a key Knesset vote.
Rather, Netanyahu said the only options to prevent his opponents from taking power or in the fifth election are Gideon Sa’ar, who is giving up his New Hope party’s central promise not to join forces with leader Likud or to hold special single direct elections for prime minister, an idea floating – and criticized by many – in recent days.
“We do not need Ra’am,” the prime minister told a news conference. “We need direct elections so that we can form a government.”
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“I want to get to the point where we form a right-wing government, and the way to do that without relying on one faction or another is by direct election,” Netanyahu said.
However, the direct election proposal seems doomed, after Ra’am party officials said on Tuesday that they were unlikely to support the idea.
Amid the ongoing deadlock after the election, a Likud proposal to represent the party on the key committee for transitional arrangements was rejected by the Knesset on Monday, when Ra’am voted against the opposition. The Israeli Arab party then backed an opposition counter-proposal that was adopted, giving the anti-Netanyahu bloc a majority on the committee.
Ra’am’s co-operation with anti-Netanyahu parties came after he was in the court of both Knesset blocs during negotiations to form a government. Netanyahu hoped to build a right-wing government based on external support from Ra’am, but the idea was directly rejected by the far-right religious Zionism party, which has repeatedly said it will not remain in a coalition based on in cooperation with the Israeli Arab parties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the meeting of the Likud faction in the Knesset in Jerusalem on April 19, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
To form a majority in the Knesset, Netanyahu should have on board religious Zionism and the right-wing Yamina party, as well as external support from Ra’am. Following Ra’am’s vote to stop the Likud proposal, religious Zionism lawmakers noted that it further strengthened their view that a government could not be dependent on Ra’am in any way, not even for external support.
Netanyahu is facing the “bloc of change” of the right, left and center parties, led by Lapid. That bloc will also not be able to form a government without Yamina and Ra’am. Neither party has engaged in either party.
His chances of forming a coalition appear to be fading, Netanyahu is now backing an effort – which would block Yesh Atid president Yair Lapid’s path to the prime minister and prevent the fifth consecutive Knesset election – to reintroduce direct elections for prime minister. .
“There is a stalemate and it is a direct choice for the prime minister to let the public decide who will lead the country. It is currently impossible to form a right-wing government because of personal problems, “Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party tabled a bill to hold special elections next month to choose the prime minister as a way to resolve a political stalemate that saw four inconclusive elections in two years, the last of which took place in March.
If the Shas bill goes into the law, it would prevent Lapid from having a chance to form a government even if Netanyahu fails to do so, and it would also end President Yamina Naftali Bennett’s request to to be prime minister as part of a rotation agreement. In addition, it would prevent blue and white leader Benny Gantz from taking over as prime minister in November, as is the current arrangement under the unity government agreement with Likud, if no coalition is formed by then.
Lapid immediately rejected Netanyahu’s call for direct elections only for the prime minister, writing on Twitter: “Netanyahu, the state of Israel does not need other elections. This is not a direct choice, it is a bypass designed to save time at the expense of the public. ”
“It is time to form an Israeli unity government. It is possible, ”Lapid added, referring to a potential government that does not include Likud, which would face significant obstacles, as it should include both right-wing and Arab parties, or both ultra-Orthodox and secular parties.
Yesh Atid’s leader, Yair Lapid, during a press conference, April 18, 2021. (Kindness)
While direct elections to the prime minister would automatically determine who would form the government, it would not change the arithmetic of the coalition, and the winner would still have to form a coalition of the same parties elected in March.
However, Netanyahu called on Bennett to declare “today” support for the direct election initiative, to “allow the formation of a right-wing government.”
In early December 2019, following the second inconclusive vote of the year, Netanyahu said he would support a direct election proposal for prime minister, in a bid aimed at avoiding a third round of national elections in full.
At the time, Yamina supported the proposal, which ultimately did not attract enough support. The Knesset dissolved on December 11, 2019, and new elections took place in March 2020.
Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Ra’am party, makes a press statement after meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the President’s residence in Jerusalem on April 5, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
While Netanyahu said on Tuesday that with Bennett’s support, the bill will be passed, the parties that support him, plus Yamina, will only add 59 seats and would probably need Ra’am’s support in the future. a Knesset vote.
Ra’am President Mansour Abbas said on Monday he would consider supporting a bill for the special election for prime minister, but Channel 12 news quoted party sources on Tuesday as saying it was unlikely to support it. motion.
Following Monday’s vote for the Arrangements Committee, Abbas said he was ousted by Likud because of attacks by his far-right allies in the religious Zionist party, which accuses Ra’am lawmakers of being anti-Zionists and supporting Palestinian terrorism.
Asked on Tuesday why he did not criticize his religious Zionist partners for their attacks on Ra’am, Netanyahu said: “I do not interfere with what they said … I am against incitement and in favor of the Arab public. ”
If Netanyahu fails to form a government by May 4, Rivlin will either have to nominate a second candidate or send the mandate back to the Knesset to directly elect a parliamentarian to do the job.
The tombstone of the opposition also faces significant challenges in forming the majority, as the anti-Netanyahu bloc includes parties that are diametrically opposed in their views on major issues.
According to a Channel 13 report on Tuesday, there are significant gaps between Lapid and Bennett in terms of forming a government, the two being at odds over the allocation of ministries and who should be tasked with forming a government if Netanyahu fails.
Party leaders Naftali Bennett (left) and Yair Lapid during the 24th Knesset swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset building in Jerusalem, April 6, 2021. (Marc Israel Sellem / Pool)
The report said that while Lapid was pushing for each party to get one minister for every three MPs, Bennett called for right-wing factions to be given additional ministries. Chief Yamina also insisted that politically sensitive ministries such as justice, interior and culture go to right-wing parties, while Lapid wants them evenly distributed between the parties.
Although Lapid has publicly pledged to let Bennett serve as prime minister first in a power-sharing deal, the network has said it is asking to be tasked with forming a government if Netanyahu fails. Sa’ar, whose right-wing party is part of the anti-Netanyhau bloc, wants Bennett to run for office, according to the report.
If none of the blocs establishes a government, Israel will move to what would be the fifth election within three years.
Times of Israel staff contributed to the report.