The Knesset in Jerusalem
Jerusalem: Israel is getting prepared to what appears a fragile 8-party coalition government that is set to replace the present disposition under Likud party of the country’s longest serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
After hectic parleys and hard bargaining, the Opposition parties could arrive at a consensus only at the very last and just about half and hour before the expiry of the midnight deadline on Wednesday June 2, 2021 that was set by President Reuven Rivlin for the Opposition coalition to stake its claim, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid informed the President that the coalition could form a government in which he and Yamina party chief Naftali Bennett will switch off as prime minister.
A consensus emerged within the coalition that Bennet would be the Prime Minister until September 2023, and thereafter Lapid will take over from him and continue at the helm until the end of the Knesset (Israel’s unicameral parliament) term in November 2025.
The consensus could emerge only after Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas backed the would-be government late on Wednesday night, while ensuring that his Islamist party becomes the first majority Arab party in decades to be part of a ruling coalition.
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However, only once Knesset votes in up to 12 days that the coalition would be finalised. Political observers say the right-wing members of Knesset (MK) could oppose it, possibly dooming the prospects of the new government since the Opposition which, with 61 of the 120 MKs, enjoys the narrowest possible majority and already finds a few MKs within its ranks who could pull the rug from under its feet. According to media reports, already an MK from Bennett’s Yamina party, Nir Orbach, had announced earlier on Wednesday night that he might vote against the new coalition.
– global bihari bureau
