Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he sees no option to form an Islamic-backed government after the Arab-Israeli party voted against his bloc in a key vote in the Knesset on Monday.
On the contrary, Netanyahu said the only options to take his opponents to power or prevent a fifth election were that Gideon Sa’ar promised the new promise of his New Hope party not to join forces with the Likud leader. lacing, or holding special, one-off direct elections for prime minister, has driven an idea in recent days – and criticized by many.
“We do not need Frame,” the prime minister told a news conference. “We need direct elections so we can form a government.”
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“I want to get to the point where we are forming a right-wing government, and the way to do that without relying on any faction is direct elections,” Netanyahu said.
However, the direct election proposal seems doomed after Ra’am party officials said on Tuesday that it was unlikely to support the idea.
Amid the ongoing bottleneck after the election, a Likud proposal regarding party representation in the main transitional committee was voted on by the Knesset when Ra’am voted with the opposition. The Arab-Israeli party then supported a counter-proposal from the opposition that was accepted, giving the anti-Netanyahu bloc a majority in the committee.
Ra’am’s collaboration with the anti-Netanyahu parties came after he had both Knesset blocs in court during the negotiations to form a government. Netanyahu had hoped to build a right-wing government based on Ra’am’s support, but the idea was completely rejected by the far-right party of Religious Zionism, which had repeatedly said it would not stay in a coalition based on cooperation does not support. with Arab Israeli parties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrives for Likud party faction meeting at Knesset in Jerusalem on 19 April 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
To form a majority in the Knesset, Netanyahu would have to have Religious Zionism and the right-wing Yamina party on board, as well as support from Ra’am. In the wake of Ra’am’s vote to stop the Likud proposal, lawmakers on religious Zionism note that it reinforces their view that a government can in no way be dependent on Ra’am, not even for external support. not.
Netanyahu faces the Lapid-led ‘change bloc’ of parties from right, left and center. Nor will this bloc be able to form a government without Yamina and Ra’am. Neither party has committed to it.
Netanyahu is now backing an effort – which will prevent Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid from running for prime minister and prevent a fifth consecutive Knesset election – from re-running direct elections for prime minister.
“There is a solution to the deadlock and it is a direct election for the prime minister to let the public decide who will lead the country. “It is currently impossible to form a right-wing government due to personal issues,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party on Monday introduced a bill to hold a special election next month to elect the prime minister as a way to resolve a political stalemate that has had four undecided elections in two years, of which the last was held in March. .
If the Shas bill passes into law, it will prevent Lapid from getting a chance to form a government, even if Netanyahu does not, and will have Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett as prime minister as part of a rotation agreement is terminated. In addition, it would prevent the blue-and-white leader, Benny Gantz, from taking over as prime minister in November, as well as the current arrangement under the unity government agreement with Likud, if no coalition is formed.
Lapid immediately rejected Netanyahu’s call for a direct election only for prime minister and wrote on Twitter: ‘Netanyahu, the State of Israel does not need another election. It is not a direct election, it is a bypass aimed at buying 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 faces significant obstacles as it must include both right-wing and Arab parties, as well as ultra-Orthodox and secularist parties.
Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid, at a press conference on April 18, 2021. (Thanks to)
While a direct election for prime minister would automatically determine who would form the government, it would not change the coalition bill, and the winner would still have to form a coalition from the same parties elected in March.
Netanyahu nevertheless called on Bennett to declare “today” his support for the direct election initiative in order to “allow a right-wing government to be formed”.
In early December 2019, after the second unconvincing vote of the year, Netanyahu said he would support a proposal for direct elections for prime minister in an effort to prevent a third round of full-fledged national elections.
Yamina at the time supported the proposal, which ultimately did not attract sufficient support. The Knesset dissolved on 11 December 2019, and new elections were held in March 2020.
Mansour Abbas, head 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 the bill would pass with Bennett’s support, the parties supporting him, plus Yamina, would pick up only 59 seats, and he would likely still need Ra’am’s support in a vote in the Knesset.
Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas said on Monday that he would consider supporting a special prime ministerial bill, but Channel 12 News quoted party sources as saying on Tuesday that it was unlikely to do so. will not be.
After the vote for the organizing committee on Monday, Abbas said he was expelled from Likud because of attacks by his far-right allies in the Religious Zionism party, which accused Raam’s lawmakers of being anti-Zionist and supporting Palestinian terrorism.
Asked on Tuesday why he did not criticize his partners in Religious Zionism for their attacks on Ram, Netanyahu said: “I do not interfere in what they said … I am against incitement and in favor of the Arab public. ‘
If Netanyahu is unable to form a government on May 4, Rivlin will have to instruct a second candidate or return the mandate to the Knesset to elect a lawmaker directly to do the job.
The opposition’s Lapid also faces significant challenges to form a majority, as the anti-Netanyahu bloc includes parties that are diametrically opposed in their worldview on important issues.
According to a Channel 13 report on Tuesday, there are major gaps between Lapid and Bennett over the formation of a government, and the two are at odds over the allocation of ministries and who should have the task of forming a government if Netanyahu fails .
Party leaders Naftali Bennett (left) and Yair Lapid during the swearing-in ceremony of the 24th Knesset in the Knesset building in Jerusalem, April 6, 2021. (Marc Israel Sellem / Pool)
The report said that while Lapid is campaigning for each party to get one minister for every three MKs, Bennett is demanding that right-wing factions get additional ministries. The Yamina chief apparently also insisted that politically sensitive ministries such as justice, home affairs and culture go to right-wing parties, while Lapid wants them to be evenly distributed between the sides.
Although Lapid has committed to having Bennett serve as prime minister in a power-sharing agreement, the network has said he demands he be given the task of forming a government if Netanyahu fails. Sa’ar, whose right-wing party is part of the anti-Netanyhau bloc, wants the mandate, according to Bennett.
If no single bloc were to form a government, Israel would go to its fifth election within three years.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.