2021 Israeli Elections IV: Now Without Netanyahu

[Adab]

Glad to see Bibi out. It'll be interesting to see how this coalition governs, or if it's even capable of governing for an appreciable amount of time. I'm not sure it's going to last long enough for Lapid to have his turn as PM lol.

[Tsarus]

I hope good things come out of this

[The Reformed American Republic]

Bibi claims fraud

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday a newly formed Israeli coalition that is poised to unseat him was the result of "the greatest election fraud" in the history of democracy.

Hours after Netanyahu's comments, Naftali Bennett, a nationalist set to replace him as prime minister, called on Israel's longest-serving leader not to leave "scorched earth" behind and accept that "people are allowed to establish a government - even if you don't head it".

Netanyahu made his sweeping accusation at a time when Israel's domestic security chief has warned publicly about the prospect of political violence.

"We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion in the history of any democracy," Netanyahu said in comments to legislators from his right-wing Likud party.

He focused his allegations on a broken campaign promise from Bennett, who had pledged not to partner with left-wing, centrist and Arab parties.

On Wednesday, Bennett announced with opposition leader Yair Lapid that they had formed a governing coalition with factions from across the political spectrum following an inconclusive March 23 election, Israel's fourth in two years.

Under a rotation deal, Bennett will serve first as prime minister, followed by Lapid.

No date has been set for a vote in parliament to approve the new government. In a televised speech, Bennett called on Yariv Levin, parliament's speaker and a Netanyahu loyalist, not to try to buy time to encourage members of the new coalition to defect, and said he should hold the vote on Wednesday. There was no immediate comment from Levin. "Let go. Let the country move forward," Bennett said, addressing his remarks to Netanyahu, who has been in office since 2009. "Mr Netanyahu, don't leave scorched earth behind you. All of us, the entire nation, want to remember the good you did during your service."[...] The prospective new government caps political jockeying since the election. People angry at the planned alliance have held protests outside the homes of opposition politicians, whose security has been beefed up after threats on social media.

"We, my friends and I in Likud, we will vehemently oppose the establishment of this dangerous government of fraud and surrender," Netanyahu said. "And if, God forbid, it is established, we will bring it down very quickly."

In a rare public warning, the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency said on Saturday that increasingly extreme online discourse could lead to violence. read more

While condemning violence and incitement, Netanyahu, 71, repeated his designation of the Lapid-Bennett coalition as a leftist alliance that would put Israel at risk.

He said the diverse partnership would be unable to stand up to Washington over Iran's nuclear programme or confront Gaza's Hamas militant group that fought with Israel for 11 days last month before a fragile ceasefire went into effect.

Bennett, who heads the far-right Yamina party and advocates annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, said Netanyahu's description of the coalition as being "extreme-leftist" was "another lie".

I’m more convinced that Bibi started the recent mess with Gaza in an attempt to stay in power. The guy wants to be a dictator in all but name

Reminds me of Donald Trump. If you don't win, claim fraud.

[Saiwania]

Netanyahu was great for Israel. I'm not sure why he was pushed out over this. I don't know enough about the replacement to know if they're a good fit or not in comparison.

[Kowani]

Netanyahu will not attend a handover ceremony tomorrow morning at the prime minister’s office with Bennett

[Shrillland]

Glad to see Bibi out. It'll be interesting to see how this coalition governs, or if it's even capable of governing for an appreciable amount of time. I'm not sure it's going to last long enough for Lapid to have his turn as PM lol.

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

[Ethel mermania]

Glad to see Bibi out. It'll be interesting to see how this coalition governs, or if it's even capable of governing for an appreciable amount of time. I'm not sure it's going to last long enough for Lapid to have his turn as PM lol.

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

Like they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

[Thermodolia]

Glad to see Bibi out. It'll be interesting to see how this coalition governs, or if it's even capable of governing for an appreciable amount of time. I'm not sure it's going to last long enough for Lapid to have his turn as PM lol.

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

So basically it will last until roughly next year then round 5 elections and hopefully a better more solid government

[Shrillland]

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

So basically it will last until roughly next year then round 5 elections and hopefully a better more solid government

That's the expectiation yes. Without Bibi around to muck up the alliances, there will be a lot less opposition to working with Likud. I wouldn't be surprised if Sa'ar and New Hope went back into the fold, for example.

[The Infamous Glare]

Looking at Wikipedia on Israel's new Prime Minister:

In spite of his expressed right-wing views against a Palestinian state, while engaged in coalition negotiations for a unity government with Yair Lapid and other party leaders following the 2021 Israeli legislative election, during which he was offered the Prime Ministership, Bennett agreed to a policy of not annexing any territory in the West Bank and to not build any new settlements while serving as Prime Minister in a potential unity government.

This does some-what seem promising in not annexing any territory in the West Bank, but what will he do with Gaza City, where Hamas has the hold over there?

[Major-Tom]

Looking at Wikipedia on Israel's new Prime Minister:

In spite of his expressed right-wing views against a Palestinian state, while engaged in coalition negotiations for a unity government with Yair Lapid and other party leaders following the 2021 Israeli legislative election, during which he was offered the Prime Ministership, Bennett agreed to a policy of not annexing any territory in the West Bank and to not build any new settlements while serving as Prime Minister in a potential unity government.

This does some-what seem promising in not annexing any territory in the West Bank, but what will he do with Gaza City, where Hamas has the hold over there?

I reckon they're broken promises. This new coalition is great in that it allows the judiciary to really dogpile on Netanyahu, not great in the sense that his replacement is even more dogmatic and more likely to cause internal strife domestically.

[Stojam]

Glad to see Bibi out. It'll be interesting to see how this coalition governs, or if it's even capable of governing for an appreciable amount of time. I'm not sure it's going to last long enough for Lapid to have his turn as PM lol.

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

A lot of left-wing figures don't want to be caught dead working with Bennett too, not all of them are happy that Bennett is the PM, but they set aside their differences for now... This coalition needs to last long enough until Netanyahu's trial ends and hopefully he gets sent to jail ASAP.
Then we can talk about the fifth round of elections.

[Page]

I get that this is a broad coalition with a power sharing agreement but this Naftali Bennett seems... worse. I read his Wikipedia page and... yikes.

[Kubra]

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

A lot of left-wing figures don't want to be caught dead working with Bennett too, not all of them are happy that Bennett is the PM, but they set aside their differences for now... This coalition needs to last long enough until Netanyahu's trial ends and hopefully he gets sent to jail ASAP.
Then we can talk about the fifth round of elections.

yeah, this is less a coalition and more a ceasefire.

[Thermodolia]

Realistically, it'll last roughly 6-8 months before collapsing under the weight of its own ideological contradictions. The only thing keeping it going that long is that it needs to stay for as long as Bibi's trial lasts and to pass the necessary laws to keep such a situation from happening again. Otherwise, Bennett wouldn't be caught dead working with Horowitz much less Abbas.

A lot of left-wing figures don't want to be caught dead working with Bennett too, not all of them are happy that Bennett is the PM, but they set aside their differences for now... This coalition needs to last long enough until Netanyahu's trial ends and hopefully he gets sent to jail ASAP.
Then we can talk about the fifth round of elections.

Well that and pass the laws that restrict the PM to serving only 8 years and the one that says those under investigation or have been charged with corruption/bribery can’t be the PM.

Basically this coalition wants to ban Bibi without actually banning bibi

[Thermodolia]

I get that this is a broad coalition with a power sharing agreement but this Naftali Bennett seems... worse. I read his Wikipedia page and... yikes.

Yes but you do have to remember that the entire coalition could collapse at any point because one party doesn’t agree. Also Yamina, Bennett’s party, would end up losing over half its seats in another election.

Because of those two things Bennett isn’t going to be worse than Bibi because he’d be out of a job and lose over half his party.

[Fahran]

Yes but you do have to remember that the entire coalition could collapse at any point because one party doesn’t agree. Also Yamina, Bennett’s party, would end up losing over half its seats in another election.

Because of those two things Bennett isn’t going to be worse than Bibi because he’d be out of a job and lose over half his party.

I honestly don't imagine Bennett being a lot better than Bibi either. While his coalition does contain a variety of parties, a lot of the heavy-hitters aren't exactly dedicated to the peace process. I really don't see Yesh Atid making settlements the hill they die on.

[Shrillland]

Yes but you do have to remember that the entire coalition could collapse at any point because one party doesn’t agree. Also Yamina, Bennett’s party, would end up losing over half its seats in another election.

Because of those two things Bennett isn’t going to be worse than Bibi because he’d be out of a job and lose over half his party.

I honestly don't imagine Bennett being a lot better than Bibi either. While his coalition does contain a variety of parties, a lot of the heavy-hitters aren't exactly dedicated to the peace process. I really don't see Yesh Atid making settlements the hill they die on.

No, but Ra'am would gladly stand on it, and even Ra'am is needed for the time being.

[Fahran]

No, but Ra'am would gladly stand on it, and even Ra'am is needed for the time being.

It really depends on what Ra'am is willing to gamble on. They could take a hardline stance and risk the coalition fraying or they could simply serve to moderate Bennett alongside the centrist parties. I don't really see them getting all of what they want either way.

[Ethel mermania]

No, but Ra'am would gladly stand on it, and even Ra'am is needed for the time being.

It really depends on what Ra'am is willing to gamble on. They could take a hardline stance and risk the coalition fraying or they could simply serve to moderate Bennett alongside the centrist parties. I don't really see them getting all of what they want either way.

They are not after everything though. No new settlements, and improved funding. They should get that.

[Fahran]

They are not after everything though. No new settlements, and improved funding. They should get that.

That's a pretty reasonable stance. Yeah, I imagine they could get that.

[Kowani]

With Netanyahu refusing to leave the official residence, Bennett set him a deadline of 2 weeks. In addition, he plans to present a bill applicable to future transitions granting an outgoing PM 2 weeks to vacate the premises

[Shrillland]

With Netanyahu refusing to leave the official residence, Bennett set him a deadline of 2 weeks. In addition, he plans to present a bill applicable to future transitions granting an outgoing PM 2 weeks to vacate the premises

...Fuck. Are his supporters going to storm the Knesset next or just burn it down and abandon their already flawed democracy?

[Thermodolia]

With Netanyahu refusing to leave the official residence, Bennett set him a deadline of 2 weeks. In addition, he plans to present a bill applicable to future transitions granting an outgoing PM 2 weeks to vacate the premises

Man Netanyahu really wants to look like a dictator

[Thermodolia]

With Netanyahu refusing to leave the official residence, Bennett set him a deadline of 2 weeks. In addition, he plans to present a bill applicable to future transitions granting an outgoing PM 2 weeks to vacate the premises

...Fuck. Are his supporters going to storm the Knesset next or just burn it down and abandon their already flawed democracy?

Well if that happens at least we won’t hear about how we should support israel because it’s a democracy anymore