Israel: Yair Lapid's race against time to form a new anti-Netanyahu coalition
The two leaders of this anti-Netanyahu bloc, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett (our illustration photo), will have to ensure that there is no defection in their ranks.
REUTERS - Baz Ratner
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
He is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel's history.
But after fifteen years in power, Benjamin Netanyahu could be on the verge of being overthrown.
A coalition that claims to be “for change” is being created.
This coalition is in the process of obtaining a parliamentary majority and forming a new government.
But before that, there are still several obstacles to overcome.
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First of all, there is the calendar, explains
our regional correspondent,
Guilhem Delteil
: Yaïr Lapid is in a race against time.
The mandate he received from the president to form a government expires Wednesday evening.
And by then it must sign coalition agreements with all of its partners.
For this coalition to become the majority, it needs seven and for the moment, only three agreements have been formalized.
Very small majority
The two leaders of this anti-Netanyahu bloc, Yaïr Lapid and Naftali Bennett, will also have to ensure that there is no defection in their ranks. In the contours it takes, this coalition will have 61 deputies out of 120. A defection and it is the absolute majority that would disappear. Benyamin Netanyahu's Likud and its supporters will certainly increase their pressure on the right-wing elected representatives of this bloc to convince them not to support this government.
Finally, there is a legal question which arises: it is Yaïr Lapid who was charged with forming a government but he agreed to leave the post of Prime Minister to Naftali Bennett for the first two years.
Can someone who does not formally have the mandate to form a government become prime minister?
This is an unprecedented case and Benjamin Netanyahu will not fail to raise the issue before the Supreme Court.
Point of no return crossed?
After the announcement of the leader of the right-wing party Yemina Naftali Bennett that he was seeking to form a coalition of national unity with centrist parties and left-wing formations, the reactions are numerous, says
our correspondent in Jerusalem
,
Michel Paul
. The point of no return has been crossed, believe several commentators this morning.
In the space of an instant Naftali Bennett appeared as a Prime Minister and Benyamin Netanyahu, panicked, saw power slipping away from him with all the personal consequences that this could entail for him, especially with regard to his trial for corruption and breach of trust. The media in Israel proclaim it: for the first time since 2009 a change in the head of the Israeli government is possible and even perhaps probable.
But a columnist for
Yediot Aharonot
points out: Netanyahu "
does not know how to lose
". His secret is to keep fighting until the last moment and often even after. And his despair can be dangerous. For
Haaretz
, Netanyahu is the one who introduced the notion of "
scam
"
into the Israeli political dictionary
. All he has left in his arsenal to intimidate the Israelis is the Iranian threat. The opposition newspaper underlines it: Naftali Bennett, the champion of the nationalist right has a major asset: it is quite simply "
normal
". As for
Israel Hayom
the daily close to power in Israel, he takes up one by one the arguments against the new candidate: "
In the service of the left
, headlines the newspaper,
Naftali Bennett has broken all his electoral promises
".
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To read also: Israel: the centrist Yair Lapid is on the verge of forming an anti-Netanyahu majority
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