Israel
Netanyahu didn’t win Israel’s election. So why is he getting the chance to form a government?
By JOSEFIN DOLSTEN (JTA) – As votes were counted following last week’s election in Israel, many saw the results as a loss for longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After all, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party won fewer seats than the Blue and White party of his main competitor Benny Gantz.
So it came as a surprise for many on Wednesday when Israeli President Reuven Rivlin decided to give Netanyahu, rather than Gantz, the first shot at forming a ruling government.
The Sept. 17 election wasn’t just a battle between Netanyahu and Gantz, or Likud and Blue and White. The two men represent the country’s two largest parties, but Israel’s electoral process isn’t that simple. In the current system, whichever party wins the most votes still has to create a coalition of parties that together makes up a majority of seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
In other words, to lead the country, the parties need to work with smaller parties and convince them to join their coalitions to reach the magic majority number of seats: 61.
At the moment, neither Netanyahu or Gantz has an easy path to a coalition of 61 seats – but Rivlin decided that Netanyahu has a slightly better chance.
Even with that opportunity, Netanyahu might not emerge victorious when all is said and done.
Still confused? Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works, and what could happen next.
How does Israel’s electoral system work?
There are 120 seats in the Knesset. The number of parties fluctuates as they disintegrate and give way to new ones – and most don’t get enough votes to pass the threshold needed to make it to the Knesset. For a breakdown of the country’s major parties, check out this guide.
Israeli citizens do not vote for specific politicians but rather for parties, whose members then vote for their leaders. No party has ever been able to get a majority of seats in the Knesset on its own, so parties have had to form coalitions with each other throughout Israel’s history.
Netanyahu’s last coalition included a number of religious and nationalist right-wing parties. Gantz partnered with a number of centrist and left-wing parties, and this time around he has also earned the support of the Arab Joint List – a group of Arab parties that have never before been included in a governing bloc (the List’s leader Ayman Odeh said it would not officially join his government but support him from outside the ruling coalition).
How did we get here?
In his most recent coalition, in addition to the nationalist and religious parties, Netanyahu also teamed up with the secular-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Liberman.
But that fell apart at the end of last year, when Liberman got angry over a cease-fire agreement brokered with Gaza and Netanyahu’s refusal to pass a bill to extend the military draft to involve more haredi Orthodox men. Afraid that his coalition would crumble, Netanyahu called for new elections, which took place in April.
Though it seemed he was poised to form a right-ring coalition following those elections, he didn’t garner quite enough votes and support to do so. Gantz and his team of seasoned politicians – including Yair Lapid and former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon – made a formidable debut on the national stage. That gridlock triggered a second election.
Why does the president get to choose, and why did he choose Netanyahu?
Though the Israeli president is mainly a ceremonial figurehead, the office does have one important role in forming the post-election government: deciding who has the best chance at forming a ruling coalition and giving that leader the chance to do so.
Initially, it seemed that Netanyahu and Gantz might work together to form what is called a unity government, in which they each hold prominent positions and possibly even trade off the prime minister role. But that possibility fell apart after days of negotiations, and Rivlin – who has clashed publicly with Netanyahu in the past – decided to grant the sitting prime minister 28 days to try to form a ruling coalition.
Rivlin ultimately sees an easier path to 61 seats for Netanyahu and his allies, because there are simply more elected right-wing lawmakers than there are centrist and left-wing ones. Rivlin also take the recommendations of the elected Knesset members into account. In the end, it still came down to numbers: parties with a total of 55 seats recommended Netanyahu to form the next government, while 54 recommended Gantz.
Even so, the eight seats that Liberman won loom large and would tip either side over 61 – but Liberman has insisted on the idea of a unity government, and won’t pledge his help to either Netanyahu or Gantz on their own. So plenty of negotiating remains to be done.
What happens next?
To say the picture is unclear might be an understatement.
“My inability to form a government is slightly less than that of Gantz,” Netanyahu said Wednesday.
Some analysts say that Netanyahu is unlikely to get his allies together, again, and that could seriously damage his reputation – or even lead to a third election. Others say that whether he forms a ruling coalition or not, being the first one to try to do so boosts his public image as a leader.
Gantz might actually be happy about the way things have worked out so far. Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Arab Joint List Party, said that Gantz’s party strategically asked him to have only 10 out of his 13 Knesset members recommend Gantz as leader of the country, essentially handing the first shot at the coalition-building to Netanyahu. Perhaps Gantz feels that if Netanyahu fails first, the country will rally around the Blue and White leader to avoid that dreaded third election.
Either way, there is a lot to watch for in the coming weeks.
Israel
Join the Masa Canadian Professionals Volunteers Program!
You are invited on a 4-week volunteer program in Israel from October 14th to November 10th. Help rebuild Israeli society post-October 7th over Canadian Thanksgiving, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Spend three weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
weeks based in Tel Aviv and one week based in Eilat!
This program is exclusively for Jewish professionals aged 22-50, working at Jewish organizations or remotely in any field.
The cost of the program is $150 USD to the organizer and $50 USD to Masa. Participants will receive a Masa grant of $2650 USD that is applied to participation and to cover additional costs. The cost of the program includes housing, meals while volunteering, transportation on travel days, health insurance, leadership training, and more. Volunteers are required to commit to the volunteer schedule, with the understanding that there will be the flexibility to work remotely for 8 specific days during the program. Flights are not included but you get a 15% discount from El Al.
Sign up here: https://www.masaisrael.org/go/canada-jp/ space is limited!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to make a difference and connect with fellow professionals. For more information, contact Mahla Finkleman, National Manager of Partnerships and Outreach, Masa Canada, atmfinkleman@ujafed.org and/or Sam Goodman, Senior Manager of Israel Engagement, sgoodman@ujafed.org.
Save the Dates for Info Sessions:
- Thursday, September 5th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
- Wednesday, September 11th, 12:00 – 12:30 EST
Join us in Israel for a meaningful and impactful experience with Masa!
Features
New website for Israelis interested in moving to Canada
By BERNIE BELLAN (May 21, 2024) A new website, titled “Orvrim to Canada” (https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/ovrim-en) has been receiving hundreds of thousands of visits, according to Michal Harel, operator of the website.
In an email sent to jewishpostandnews.ca Michal explained the reasons for her having started the website:
“In response to the October 7th events, a group of friends and I, all Israeli-Canadian immigrants, came together to launch a new website supporting Israelis relocating to Canada. “Our website, https://www.ovrimtocanada.com/, offers a comprehensive platform featuring:
- Step-by-step guides for starting the immigration process
- Settlement support and guidance
- Community connections and networking opportunities
- Business relocation assistance and expert advice
- Personal blog sharing immigrants’ experiences and insights
“With over 200,000 visitors and media coverage from prominent Israeli TV channels and newspapers, our website has already made a significant impact in many lives.”
A quick look at the website shows that it contains a wealth of information, almost all in Hebrew, but with an English version that gives an overview of what the website is all about.
The English version also contains a link to a Jerusalem Post story, published this past February, titled “Tired of war? Canada grants multi-year visas to Israelis” (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-787914#google_vignette) That story not only explains the requirements involved for anyone interested in moving to Canada from Israel, it gives a detailed breakdown of the costs one should expect to encounter.
(Updated May 28)
We contacted Ms. Harel to ask whether she’s aware whether there has been an increase in the number of Israelis deciding to emigrate from Israel since October 7. (We want to make clear that we’re not advocating for Israelis to emigrate; we’re simply wanting to learn more about emigration figures – and whether there has been a change in the number of Israelis wanting to leave the country.)
Ms. Harel referred us to a website titled “Globes”: https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001471862
The website is in Hebrew, but we were able to translate it into English. There is a graph on the website showing both numbers of immigrants to Israel and emigrants.
The graph shows a fairly steady rate of emigration from 2015-2022, hovering in the 40,000 range, then in 2023 there’s a sudden increase in the number of emigrants to 60,000.
According to the website, the increase in emigrants is due more to a change in the methodology that Israel has been using to count immigrants and emigrants than it is to any sudden upsurge in emigration. (Apparently individuals who had formerly been living in Israel but who may have returned to Israel just once a year were being counted as having immigrated back to Israel. Now that they are no longer being counted as immigrants and instead are being treated as emigrants, the numbers have shifted radically.)
Yet, the website adds this warning: “The figures do not take into account the effects of the war, since it is still not possible to identify those who chose to emigrate following it. It is also difficult to estimate what Yalad Yom will produce – on the one hand, anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews and Israelis around the world reminds everyone where the Jewish home is. On the other hand, the bitter truth we discovered in October is that it was precisely in Israel, the safe fortress of the Jewish people, that a massacre took place reminding us of the horrors of the Holocaust. And if that’s not enough, the explosive social atmosphere and the difference in the state budget deficit, which will inevitably lead to a heavy burden of taxes and a reduction in public services, may convince Zionist Israelis that they don’t belong here.”
Thus, as much as many of us would be disappointed to learn that there is now an upsurge in Israelis wanting to move out of the country, once reliable figures begin to be produced for 2024, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that is the case – which helps to explain the tremendous popularity of Ms. Harel’s website.
Features
Message from a Palestinian in Gaza to protesters: “You’re hurting the Palestinian cause”
A very brave Palestinian who was willing to put his name to paper and write an article for Newsweek Magazine has exposed the utter hypocrisy of all those students – and others, who have been setting up encampments across the U.S. – and now Canada, too.
You can read the article at https://www.newsweek.com/message-gazan-campus-protesters-youre-hurting-palestinian-cause-opinion-1894313
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