Israel, Regime Change Possible... Opposition Claims "Priority to Form Coalition Government"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Benny Gantz, leader of Israel's centrist opposition party Blue and White, has secured the mandate to form a coalition government. Attention is focused on whether the anti-Netanyahu coalition, encompassing parties from Israel's far-right to Arab parties, will come to fruition. If successful, Israel will see a change of government for the first time in 11 years.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 15th (local time), Israeli President Reuven Rivlin decided to grant Gantz the mandate to form a coalition government first. Accordingly, if Gantz completes the coalition formation within a maximum of 42 days, he will become prime minister. After meeting with representatives of each party, President Rivlin introduced that 61 out of 120 members of the Israeli Knesset supported Gantz. Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received support from 58 members.

The Blue and White party, led by candidate Gantz, secured 33 seats, ranking second after Netanyahu's Likud party with 36 seats. Although Blue and White is second, it was granted the right to form the government first because it gained support from all factions except the Likud coalition forces.

Although Gantz was granted the mandate to form the government, skepticism remains strong about the possibility of the coalition's success. Beyond the common cause of opposing Netanyahu's re-election, there are significant disagreements among the factions participating in the Blue and White-led coalition. There is also deep-rooted doubt about whether far-right parties hostile to Arab parties and Arab parties themselves can cooperate under the shared goal of opposing Netanyahu.

Professor Gideon Rahat of Hebrew University of Israel stated, "Gantz has secured a majority of seats (needed to form a government) but only with conditional support, whereas Netanyahu's coalition has the strong backing of the Likud party." This means the coalition led by Gantz carries the risk of collapsing at any time.

With the start of negotiations to form a government led by Gantz, the possibility of a grand coalition proposed by Netanyahu has diminished. Previously, Netanyahu proposed a grand coalition to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was because both sides had conflicts over who would serve as prime minister first.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.