Netanyahu is to be officially invited to form Israel’s next government on Sunday

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Health & Fitness Journal —

Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced on Friday that he would invite Benjamin Netanyahu to form Israel’s next government, paving the way for him to take the country’s top post for the sixth time and extend his record as the longest-serving leader.

Herzog will officially grant Netanyahu the mandate on Sunday, he said. Herzog made the announcement after meeting all factions in parliament, the Knesset, to ask who they would support as prime minister.

In a statement released by his office, he said: “At the end of the round of consultations, 64 members of the Knesset recommended the leader of the Likud faction, MK Benjamin Netanyahu, to the President.” He added that 28 members of the Knesset recommended outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid . The same number chose not to recommend anyone.

Herzog is set to meet with Netanyahu at the President’s residence on Sunday to officially bestow the mandate on him. Under Israeli law, Netanyahu then has 28 days to form a new government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension if necessary.

During the negotiations, Netanyahu will have to split ministries among his coalition partners and haggle over policy.

This is where it gets interesting. With a majority of four seats in the Knesset, or 120-seat parliament, the five factions allied to Netanyahu’s Likud are all potential kingmakers: if they don’t give any of them what they want, they could topple the coalition.

As for the ultra-Orthodox parties, Netanyahu’s demands are unchallenged: more budgets for religious schools and the right not to teach their children secular subjects like math and English.

The real showdowns will likely come with his new far-right allies. Netanyahu rode to power on the back of an impressive performance by the Religious Zionism/Jewish Power List, now the third largest grouping in the Knesset with 14 seats. Their leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, who has a criminal record for inciting anti-Arab racism and supporting terrorism, has demanded to be appointed Minister of Public Security in charge of the Israel Police Force.

Ben Gvir’s partner is Bezalel Smotrich, who describes himself as a “proud homophobe”. He said that Israel should be run according to Jewish law. He has spoken of reducing the powers of the Supreme Court and scrapping the crime of breach of trust – which happens to be part of the charges against Netanyahu in his ongoing corruption trials. Netanyahu has long denied all allegations. If Smotrich wins the Justice Department he covets, maybe he can make these things happen and end Netanyahu’s legal woes.

But that might be the least of his concerns. After being forced to align with the far right, Netanyahu’s sixth reign could result in further alienating the half of Israel that did not vote for the bloc of parties supporting him.

Restrictions on settlements in the occupied West Bank could be eased, leading to international condemnation. Violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank could escalate; In 2022, more people have already been killed on both sides than at any time since 2015.

Then there is the potentially explosive subject of Jerusalem’s holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharīf, or Noble Sanctuary.

Under the status quo, only Muslims are allowed to pray on the premises. Ben Gvir advocates allowing Jews to pray in their holiest place.

Any change could be used by militant Palestinians as an excuse to launch attacks. It would almost certainly be condemned by Israel’s new friends in the Arab world like Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

President Herzog himself summed up the issue when a hot microphone caught him telling Netanyahu’s allies in the Shas party: “You’re going to have a problem with the Temple Mount. This is a critical issue. You’ve got a partner that the whole world is worried about,” an obvious reference to Ben Gvir.

Herzog told another of Netanyahu’s allies, Avi Maoz of the avowedly anti-LGBT Noam faction: “There was concern about things you said about the LGBT community. All human beings are created in God’s image and we must respect everyone. We have only one State of Israel. That also applies to your party.”

Could a Netanyahu-led government have disputes with the United States? Netanyahu may not have the same friendship with President Joe Biden that he has with Donald Trump, but the two men seem to get along.

“We are brothers,” Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call after the election. “My commitment to Israel is unquestionable. Congratulations my friend.”

Netanyahu replied: “We will bring more historic peace deals [with the Arab world], that’s within reach. My commitment to our alliance and relationship is stronger than ever.”

Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to the US rejoining the Iran nuclear deal, but that appears to be off the table for now. Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s reluctance to provide Kyiv with defensive weapons, Netanyahu promised President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “give serious consideration” to the matter.

Assuming Netanyahu can reach a coalition agreement by December 11, the Knesset speaker will call a confidence vote within seven days. If all goes according to plan, Bibi’s government will then take office, perhaps on December 18 — in time for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights (and miracles).