State of Stalemate - Independent Persian

With no clear path to forming a Coalition, The New Israeli Knesset is Bound for Political Purgatory

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The swearing-in of the 22nd Knesset epitomized the state of dysfunction Israeli politics has been engulfed by in the past six months. Tired after a second election cycle in six months, new and old Members of Knesset looked anything but excited to be surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of the event and listen to president Ruvi Rivlin speak about unity. They all know that this Knesset has was delivered stillborn, and with no coalition in sight, these MKs are just there to fill seats, not pass legislation.

With coalition talks broken down, Netanyahu is set to bring back his mandate to Rivlin Monday. From then, trying to form a coalition from this fractured political landscape be Benny Gantz’s problem.

What overshadowed this somber-festive day is Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal hearings that began yesterday and is going to last until Monday. MKs bodies were seated in the Knesset hall, but their ears were pointed to the Justice Department offices in Jerusalem.

However, A decision whether to go to trial isn’t going to happen soon. Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit isn’t known for his swiftness. This quality has garnered him criticism from left and right, with Communications Minister MK David Amsalem whose seen as Netanyahu’s attack dog going as far as blaming Mandelblit for “interfering in the elections.” Charges are set to be announced around December, and until then, Netanyahu is using every move he has.

Earlier that day, Netanyahu met Avigdor Liberman, the only person who can end this stalemate and deliver him from the legal perdition. Netanyahu didn’t want to go but was persuaded by his staff. Netanyahu knows that Liberman isn’t going to budge, that for the first time in his political career, the man whose campaign slogan was “with Liberman, a word is a word” is actually good for it.

Liberman isn’t interested in changing the current government, he is interested in changing the political system as a whole. In this cycle, he invented a right-wing anti-religious electorate which he sees as a base for the future Israeli right-wing.

The proof Netanyahu knows this is an announcement today saying is considering a snap leadership vote in the Likud party to "to shatter the illusion of a Likud rebellion" against him. Netanyahu wanted to achieve two things with this statement: First, he wanted to stymie any attempt of Likud MKs to defect and to block anyone trying to dethrone him, and second, to distract from the ongoing hearings.

Both backfired. Instead of falling in line, Gideon Sa’ar, a Likud MK who’s seen as Netanyahu’s biggest contender tweeted, https://twitter.com/gidonsaar/status/1179707437735186433“I’m ready.” For the first time in a while, someone inside the Likud publicly hit back at Netanyahu.

But Netanyahu’s bad news day wasn’t over. Straight after he announced the leadership vote, Yair Lapid of Blue and White, announced that he would give up his position in the rotational position as Prime Minister with Benny Ganz if Blue and White managed to form a government. Lapid, the neoliberal, anti-religious leader insistence on becoming Prime Minister in rotation with Benny Gantz has said to cost Blue and White 2-3 mandates. His announcement, late as it is, opened up a new opportunity for Gantz to form a coalition with the religious parties who up until now vetoed Blue and White because of Lapid.

This spin Netanyahu made spun out of control, setting him in a frenzy: he summoned his “55 Block”, the 55 right-wing Mks of the Knesset to vow they will not sit with anyone but him. Netanyahu is akin to a drowning man pulling down the person who’s trying to rescue him. It is up to the right-wing now to choose whether to go under with him to the bitter end or simply let him sink in his self-made legal vortex. Netanyahu on Friday reversed his threat of snap elections, showing he’s not infallible anymore.

But in direct contrast to the leaderless political house stood members of the Joint List who, instead of sitting in the Knesset as political props, shunned the swearing-in ceremony to organize the largest protest against violence in the Arab community. Besides pavlovian attacks from the right-wing, this move was embraced by many in the Israeli media, with one reporter tweeting, “I have a lot of ideological differences with Ayman Odeh, but all the party leaders should learn how to get out tens of thousands of people for social issues...maybe he should lead the fight for living wages and for clean air. The vast numbers and support members of the Joint List received shows that although there may not be a coalition any time soon, there is a real opposition.