Netanyahu gets the first crack at forming a new government in Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was asked by the president Tuesday to try to form a new coalition government, offering a possible path for him to remain in office even as he stands trial on corruption charges.

>>Isabel KershnerThe New York Times
Published : 6 April 2021, 02:44 PM
Updated : 6 April 2021, 02:44 PM

He got the nod to form a new government one day after the opening of the evidentiary stage of his trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Netanyahu has spent the past 12 years in office. But after four inconclusive elections in two years, he and his allies have failed to win enough support to ensure a parliamentary majority that could decisively end the country’s political deadlock.

Netanyahu now has 28 days to try to cobble together a coalition that could command a majority of at least 61 in the 120-seat parliament, with the possibility of an additional 14-day extension. If he fails, President Reuven Rivlin could task another candidate or refer the choice of a candidate to parliament.

In last month’s election, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud emerged as the largest party, with 30 seats. Together with his allies in the right-wing and religious camps, he has 52 seats. That falls short of a majority but still gives him a better shot than any of his opponents to form a governing coalition.

Still, even Rivlin expressed doubts about Netanyahu’s chances of success, a day after he met with representatives of all 13 parties elected to parliament and received their recommendations for the premiership.

“The results of the consultations, which were open to all, lead me to believe that no candidate has a realistic chance of forming a government that will have the confidence of parliament,” Rivlin said in a televised address Tuesday. But, he added, “The law obliges me to entrust one of the candidates with forming a government.”

In order to form the kind of “full-on right-wing government” Netanyahu promised his voters, the prime minister would need the support of another small right-wing party that has been sitting on the fence. He would also need the far-right flank of his potential coalition to agree to rely on the support of a small Arab, Islamist party that has become a potential kingmaker.

So far, Netanyahu’s partners on the far right have rejected that proposition. The other option is for Netanyahu to woo defectors from the opposite camp.

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