Israel's Netanyahu Receives Mandate to Form Next Government

On the 13th (local time) in Jerusalem, Israel, President Isaac Herzog (right) shakes hands with Benjamin Netanyahu after granting him the authority to form a cabinet. Photo by AP

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Benjamin Netanyahu has been officially granted the authority by the president to form Israel's new coalition government.

On the 13th (local time), according to The Times of Israel and the U.S. political media outlet Politico, Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, announced that he had nominated Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, as the prime minister candidate to form the next government.

President Herzog held meetings with the leaders of parties represented in the Knesset and listened to their opinions on forming the next government. A majority of the 120 Knesset members recommended Netanyahu as the prime minister candidate.

After a private meeting with Netanyahu, President Herzog stated in a speech, "The citizens of Israel need a stable and functioning government."

In response, Netanyahu said, "I will do everything without exception to ensure a stable, successful, responsible government dedicated to working for the benefit of all Israeli citizens."

Netanyahu's deadline to form the coalition is by the 11th of next month. If Netanyahu succeeds in forming a coalition with far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties within 28 days, he will officially assume office as Israel's prime minister after a confidence vote in the Knesset held within a week.

Currently, there are no major disagreements among coalition partners regarding cabinet formation, and it is expected that the new coalition government could be launched as early as next week.

Netanyahu, who holds the record as Israel's longest-serving prime minister with 15 years and 2 months in office, won the recent election on the 1st through an alliance with far-right forces.

Politico reported that Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician who has emerged as Netanyahu's coalition partner and the de facto key figure in this government, is expected to be the most concerning figure in the new administration.

Ben-Gvir and his political partner Bezalel Smotrich are expected to take key positions in the new government and significantly overhaul the progressive judicial system.

In particular, there are concerns that if Ben-Gvir, notorious for his anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian stance, takes a key post such as Minister of Public Security, the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict could become even more extreme.

Ben-Gvir, who labels all Arabs as terrorists, has advocated for granting the Israeli police greater legal authority to shoot 'terrorist' Arabs.

The Times of Israel warned, "The next camp represented by Ben-Gvir's intention to reform the judicial system means a weakening of democracy."

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