Netanyahu completes formation of government
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completed the formation of a new coalition late Wednesday, putting him at the helm of a hard-line government that appears to be set on a collision course with the U.S. and other key allies.
Netanyahu reached a deal with the nationalist Jewish Home party shortly before a midnight deadline, clinching a slim parliamentary majority and averting an embarrassing scenario that would have forced him from office. But with a government dominated by hard-liners who support increased West Bank settlement construction and oppose peace moves with the Palestinians, he could have a hard time rallying international support. Controlling just 61 of 120 parliamentary seats, the narrow coalition could also struggle to press forward with a domestic agenda.
After Netanyahu’s Likud Party won March 17 elections with 30 seats, it seemed he would have a relatively easy time forming a coalition and serving a fourth term as prime minister. But the six-week negotiating process, which expired at midnight, turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated as rival coalition partners and members of the Likud jockeyed for influential Cabinet ministries.
“I am sure that nobody is surprised that the negotiations continued with all the factions and nobody is surprised it ended at the time it did,” Netanyahu said late Wednesday.
The coalition talks stalled this week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a longtime partner of Netanyahu’s, unexpectedly stepped down and announced his secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party was joining the opposition.
That left Netanyahu dependent on Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, a former aide who has a rocky relationship with Netanyahu. With Bennett driving a hard bargain, the talks stretched throughout the day and well into the night before Netanyahu called President Reuven Rivlin, as required by law, to announce the deal.
Analysts do not expect the new government to last long or accomplish much.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the centrist Zionist Union, called the coalition “a national failure government.” He said it was “an embarrassing farce” and “the narrowest in Israel’s history.”
During the campaign, Netanyahu angered the White House when he said that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on his watch.
Although he has tried to backtrack, the White House has reacted with skepticism. Netanyahu’s Likud Party is dominated by hard-liners opposed to Palestinian independence, a position that is shared by the Jewish Home. The odds of peace talks restarting – much less making any progress – appear slim.
The Jewish Home’s close ties with the settler movement mean that there will likely be great pressure on the new government to expand construction on occupied lands.
The international community overwhelmingly opposes settlement construction, and the Palestinians are trying to push forward with a war crimes case against the settlements at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. U.S. officials have said they could have a hard time defending Israeli policies if the government isn’t committed to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.