Oh I see, thanks.
The Americans can (or should) relate. Realizing a strong plurality of your countrymen are OK with criminality in office is depressing.
But really, FWIW after Serbia and Brazil I was seeing a bit too much premature “OMG finally” from the left commenters that get fed to me. Every country works differently.
It’s hard for me to wrap my ahead around it with Netanyahu because Israel in particular has so many other conservative zionist parties to choose from. You would think with Netanyahus corruption and the fact that he appears to have displayed the height of incompetence prior to October 7 there should be at least one other party that aligns with most of your ideology without all that. It’s not like if you’re a conservative over there the choices are him or some lefty.
Does the Knesset typically go for formal coalitions or do they use a Confidence and Supply Agreement which Canada has used numerous times, including the last Trudeau parliament?
We’ll, that’s depressing. But thanks for the update.
It’s hard for me too. I’ve been trying to figure it out for years. I have a few theories:
First of all, the longer a person is in power, the harder it is to dislodge them. Inertia in politics is a very real thing. People have a hard time imagining a world where Bibi’s not in charge. If ever a country needed term limits, it’s us.
Second of all, he and the Likud are as much a cult as MAGA, and with equally loyal cultists. In fact, Netanyahu has learned a lot from Trump about how to motivate his base and more important, how to get his base to see the world exactly and only the way he wants them to. So long as he lives, there are people who will simply belong to him, body and soul.
Third of all, there is this public perception of him as the smartest man in any room, and Israeli voters respect intelligence more than they respect anything else. And the thing is… they’re not entirely wrong. Netanyahu is no Trump. He’s smart and he’s savvy and he’s charismatic. IHMHO, he is what he is because he chose to be that way, through his hunger for power at all costs. It’s what I hate the most about him.
There has never been a minority government right after an election in Israel. There have been minority governments that lasted after a coallition broke apart. But I don’t think that there’s a rule against it.
Mostly the former, but sometimes the latter.
Likud continues to be the calming voice of reason this morning:
“The elections in the state of Israel have been stolen by Arab parties who support terrorism and the annihilation of the Jewish state through serious criminal acts of corruption, threats, violence, falsehoods and the use of prohibited software to encourage voters to vote,” the party said in a statement, adding that it was submitting testimonies and evidence to the authorities.
In other completely unsurprising news, many people are reportedly saying that Likud’s overachieving at the polls was entirely due to his endorsement by a particular extremely popular and beloved American politician, who thanks you for your attention to this matter.
No word on whether they are saying this after approaching said American politician with tears in their eyes?
I saw a tweet this morning that pointed out that Bibi did what no Arab leader ever could: mobilize the Arab vote.
I’ll also note that while Bibi is in a stronger position than many of us had hoped for, myself definitely included, we should remember that his alliance lost 17 or 18 seats in this election.
If as now seems likely Bibi gets the first shot at forming government, might this actually be to his detriment because no one at this point is choosing between Bibi and another election, but between Bibi and giving Eisenkot a chance? I know nothing about Israeli politics, just drawing an inference from this suggested sequence of events. Would be curious how those who have greater knowledge would see it.
What would it take in terms of concessions for Eisenkot to agree to a unity government with Bibi as prime minister? Or impossible no matter what is offered?
My understanding is that Bibi has forever war mainly to keep himself in power, avoid prosecution, and avoid dealing with other issues. If he forms a new government any chance that he is secure enough that he backs down from that approach? Or too deep now?
A practical question: Suppose that, this weekend, the vote tally is completed, and it shows that Netanyahu’s coalition no longer has enough seats to remain as government, and the President spends a couple of months trying to find some other government. Who’s actually running the country during those couple of months? A lot of things can just keep on coasting on autopilot for that amount of time, but some things refuse to happen on a convenient schedule. For instance, if some other country (maybe Iran again, maybe someone else) launches an attack on Israel, who decides on the response? Or if someone tries to broker a peace deal, whom are they brokering with?
The Prime Minister and his current cabinet remain in a caretaker role but the new Knesset is sworn in and can begin to act independently. Which is why they would be able to do something like pass a law banning indicted individuals for running before a second election if things do go that way.
To clarify, AIUI it is entirely up to the President who gets first shot at forming a government. The fact that Netanyahu’s party won the largest number of seats doesn’t mean the President has to pick him.
Also note two things: first, a new Speaker of the Knesset will be elected; and second, unlike the U.S. President, the Prime Minister has no power to veto bills.
In a situation like we have now, being chosen first is not always best. The opposition might want Netanyahu to try first, and fail, which will give them more bargaining power when it’s their turn. Naturally, it’s a big risk.
Does the president ceremonially sign bills like the King granting Royal Assent, or is a law promulgated immediately after the Knesset passes it?
On the other hand, if the Opposition can (or thinks they can) put a coalition together, then the sooner they get their turn, the sooner they can get rid of Netanyahu.
Oh, absolutely. If either side thinks that they can form a coalition, they’ll want to try first. If neither side thinks they can, they’ll both want the other side to try first.