Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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The leader of Israel's right wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, told members of his party at a meeting Sunday he's moving forward with joining opposition leader Yair Lapid to form a power sharing government that would oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Why it matters: A new "change government" would make Bennett prime minister and bring an end to 12 years of Benjamin Netanyahu's rule. The development could end the political crisis that has led to four elections in two years.

What he's saying: Bennett told the members of the legislature from his party Sunday that Netanyahu has no ability to form a government, and that his claims that he can get members of the center-left bloc to defect and join the right-wing bloc are false.

Bennett added that the only alternative to a “change government” with the center-left would be a fifth election.

“Netanyahu will not be able to get a majority again and then we will go to a sixth election. The country can’t continue like that”, Bennet said according to press reports about the meeting.

A statement by the Yamina party said all members of the legislature who attended the meeting backed Bennett’s effort to form a government and avoid a fifth election.

Worth noting: Under a “change government”, Bennett would serve as prime minister for two years before Lapid rotates into the job. It would be the most wide-ranging coalition ever formed in Israel.

Between the lines: Such a government would be highly fragile, avoid controversial issues, take all decisions in consensus and focus on the economy, post-COVID-19 relief and stabilization of the Gaza ceasefire.

Even such an agenda would be very hard to implement, and the government could fall apart within months.

What’s next: The new government could be sworn in next Monday — giving Netanyahu a week to try and sabotage it to prevent Lapid and Bennett from acquiring a majority.

What to watch: Bennett will announce his intention to form a government with opposition leader Yair Lapid during a speech at 8 p.m. local time, or 1 p.m. ET.
https://www.axios.com/israel-netanyahu- ... 7fe82.html

Netanyahu is wily, I wouldn't count him out yet. Bennett's Yamina Party is pro-settled which might not go down well with other coalition members. Bennett and Lapid will have a balancing act to keep the coalition together or Bibi is back.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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Netanyahu Rival Seeks Unity Deal With His Opponents

JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of a small hard-line party on Sunday said he would try to form a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents, taking a major step toward ending the 12-year rule of the Israeli leader.

In a nationwide address, Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett said he had decided to join forces with the country’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid. The pair have until Wednesday to complete a deal in which they are expected to each serve two years as prime minister in a rotation deal.

“It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said.

A unity government would end the cycle of deadlock that has plunged the country into four inconclusive elections over the past two years. It also would end, at least for the time being, the record-setting tenure of Netanyahu, the most dominant figure in Israeli politics over the past three decades.

In his own televised statement, Netanyahu accused Bennett of betraying the Israeli right wing.

He urged nationalist politicians who have joined the coalition talks not to establish what he called a “leftist government.”

“A government like this is a danger to the security of Israel, and is also a danger to the future of the state,” he said.

Bennett, a former Netanyahu aide turned rival, said he was taking the dramatic step to prevent yet another election. While sharing Netanyahu’s nationalist ideology, Bennett said there was no feasible way for the hard-line right wing to form a governing majority in parliament.

“A government like this will succeed only if we work together as a group,” he said.

He said everyone “will need to postpone fulfilling all their dreams. We will focus on what can be done, instead of fighting all day on what’s impossible.”

Each of the past four elections was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu ― who has become a polarizing figure as he stands trial on corruption charges — with each ending in deadlock.

Netanyahu is desperate to stay in power while he is on trial. He has used his office as a stage to rally support and lash out against police, prosecutors and the media.

If his opponents fail to form a government and new elections are triggered, it would give him another chance at seeing the election of a parliament that is in favor of granting him immunity from prosecution. But if they succeed, he would find himself in the much weaker position of opposition leader and potentially find himself facing unrest in his Likud party.

Netanyahu, who has accused Bennett of betraying the Israeli right wing, planned a televised statement later Sunday.

In order to form a government, a party leader must secure the support of a 61-seat majority in parliament. Because no single party controls a majority on its own, coalitions are usually built with smaller partners.

As leader of the largest party, Netanyahu was given the first opportunity by the country’s figurehead president to form a coalition. But he was unable to secure a majority with his traditional religious and nationalist allies.

Netanyahu even attempted to court a small Islamist Arab party but was thwarted by a small ultranationalist party with a racist anti-Arab agenda. Although Arabs make up some 20% of Israel’s population, an Arab party has never before sat in an Israeli coalition government.

After Netanyahu’s failure to form a government, Lapid was then given four weeks to cobble together a coalition. He has until Wednesday to complete the task.

Lapid already faced a difficult challenge, given the broad range of parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc that have little in common. They include dovish left-wing parties, a pair of right-wing nationalist parties, including Bennett’s Yamina, and most likely the Islamist United Arab List.

Lapid’s task was made even more difficult after war broke out with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on May 10. His coalition talks were put on hold during the 11 days of fighting.

But with Wednesday’s deadline looming, negotiations have kicked into high gear. Lapid has reached coalition deals with three other parties so far. If he finalizes a deal with Bennett, the remaining partners are expected to quickly fall into place.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/netanyah ... 658f9549f7

Right with left remains to be seen how well that will work.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun May 30, 2021 10:20 pm Latest is that Bennet has gotten it done. WhataYahoo is declaring it will be a catastrophe, just as TFG did and continues to bleat about the capable Biden administration. Bibi knows his goose is cooked.
Bibi is already out saying the coalition government is a threat to national security because it will include Arab parties. Bennett is right, the nation doesn't really want another fruitless election. No one trusts Netanyahu, he fucked over Benny Gantz in their coalition, he's poison. Yair Lapid has until June 2nd though Rivlin could extend it. Bibi is whining - after me the deluge.
Last edited by highdesert on Mon May 31, 2021 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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highdesert wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 7:32 am
YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun May 30, 2021 10:20 pm Latest is that Bennet has gotten it done. WhataYahoo is declaring it will be a catastrophe, just as TFG did and continues to bleat about the capable Biden administration. Bibi knows his goose is cooked.
Bibi is already out saying the coalition government is a threat to national security because it will include Arab parties. Bennett is right, the nation does really want another fruitless election. No one trusts Netanyahu, he fucked over Benny Gantz in their coalition, he's poison. Yair Lapid has until June 2nd though Rivlin could extend it. Bibi is whining - after me the deluge.
Just like The Former Guy: "Apres moi, le deluge!" Time to inform these assholes they are NOT kings, emperors, or dictators.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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As Yesh Atid party leader MK Yair Lapid was reportedly set to formally announce Tuesday that he had managed to put together a coalition after marathon overnight talks, the legal adviser to the president pushed back against a claim by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party that the nascent government could not have Yamina’s Naftali Bennett serve as its first premier.

The legal adviser to the office of President Reuven Rivlin, Udit Corinaldi-Sirkis, said in a statement that there was no legal reason why the MK [member of the Knesset (parliament)] entrusted with forming the coalition should not serve as alternate prime minister during the first part of the potential government’s term.

Negotiations that began Monday and went on till late into the night reportedly saw further progress between Yesh Atid and Yamina, as well as with Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope, which also joined in some of the talks at the Kfar Maccabiah youth village near Ramat Gan. Lapid was reportedly preparing to tell Rivlin later Tuesday that he has mustered a majority, which he would then seek to have approved in a Knesset vote early next week.

However, as Lapid inched closer to achieving a coalition that would oust Netanyahu after over 12 consecutive years in office, the premier’s Likud party claimed there were legal obstacles to the reported coalition plan of rotating the premiership between Lapid and Bennett, with the latter serving as first head of government.
Further opposition to the deal came on Monday night from the spiritual leadership of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a long-time ally of Netanyahu.

In a public letter, the party’s Council of Torah Sages wrote that should the Bennett-Lapid government be formed, it would be “an act that is defiance of Heaven and is a bitter and difficult sin.”

“The perplexity and pain of blasphemy will be increased, as those who are at the central base for the formation of such a government are members of the Yamina faction who declare themselves Jews who believe in God and are observant,” the statement added, in a reference to the religious Zionist ideology of many of Yamina’s members and supporters.
Meanwhile, Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said Tuesday that she was staying home with her baby after the child was specifically mentioned in a threat.

“I’m at home because my baby’s name came up in messages that said to bring security guards because something is going to happen to her,” Zandberg told the Kan public broadcaster.
Under the emerging rotation deal between Yamina and Yesh Atid, Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years before handing the reins to Lapid. Joining the coalition will be a mix of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that refuse to join a government led by Netanyahu, who is on trial in three criminal cases.

Should a coalition not be announced by midnight Wednesday, when Lapid’s mandate expires, the Knesset would have 21 days to agree to back any lawmaker to lead a new government. If that also fails, Israel would head to its fifth election in two and a half years.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-lapi ... be-1st-pm/


The only thing that this proposed coalition of left, center and right wing parties have in common is that they want to get rid of Netanyahu. Likud and the ultra orthodox parties are protesting at the homes of proposed coalition members and armed security have been required as threats have also been made. The ultra orthodox have a lot to lose, the exemption of their young males from military service, state subsidies given to yeshiva students....

Lapid has to enter into written agreements with coalition members, they'll divide up government ministries among the parties and then the Knesset must approve the new government which means at least 61 members out of 120 must vote for the coalition.

A member of Likud has said if Netanyahu loses and they go into opposition, that he will call for a leadership election to boot Bibi out as leader.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog will be the 11th president of the State of Israel after he received 87 votes from MKs in a secret ballot vote in the Knesset plenum. Herzog’s opponent, Israel Prize-winning educator Miriam Peretz, received 27 votes and three MKs abstained. Had she been elected, Peretz would have become Israel’s first woman president.

It was the largest victory in any presidential election in Israel’s history. Herzog will take over from President Reuven Rivlin when his term ends on July 9. A veteran politician, Herzog is a former head of the Labor Party, a former opposition leader, a former welfare and diaspora minister and is the son of Chaim Herzog, who served as Israel’s president from 1983 to 1993.

Herzog thanked all the MKs [members of the Knesset/parliament] who voted for him and said it was an honor to serve the entire people of Israel. He called Peretz a hero and an inspiration. “I will be the president of everyone,” Herzog said, singling out Israelis across the political spectrum and Diaspora Jewry. Herzog said, alongside Netanyahu, that he was ready to work with any government and any prime minister.
With his victory, Herzog becomes the first president whose father had been president. Chaim Herzog was Israel’s sixth president.

Every Knesset faction granted its MKs the freedom to vote their conscience, rather than binding them by faction discipline. None of the factions endorsed a candidate. This is the first presidential race in Israel in which neither of the two candidates is a current MK.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/votin ... tch-669876

Current Israeli president Reuven Rivlin is from the Likud Party.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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Israeli opposition parties have reached an agreement to form a new government that would end Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year tenure as prime minister.

Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced an eight-faction coalition had been formed.

Under a rotation arrangement, the head of the right-wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, would serve as prime minister first before handing over to Mr Lapid. There still needs to be a parliamentary vote before the government is sworn in.

In a statement, Mr Lapid said he had informed President Reuven Rivlin of the agreement, adding: "I pledge that this government will work in the service of all Israeli citizens, those who voted for it and those who did not.

"It will respect its opponents and do everything in its power to unite and connect all parts of Israeli society."

An image carried on Israeli media showed Mr Lapid, Mr Bennett and Arab Islamist Raam party leader, Mansour Abbas, signing the agreement, a deal many thought impossible.
Image
Whatever happens tonight and in the days left until the confidence vote if it ever takes place, this is a historic photo. A leader of an Arab-Israeli party and the leaders of a Jewish-nationalist party signing an agreement to join a government together
Mr Abbas told reporters: "The decision was hard and there were several disputes but it was important to reach agreements." He said that there were "many things in this agreement for the benefit of Arab society".

In his note to the president, Mr Lapid said he would head the government alongside Mr Bennett, who he would replace as prime minister on 27 August 2023.

Mr Rivlin has called on parliament to convene as soon as possible to hold the confidence vote.

If the coalition fails to win the support of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, there is a risk of the country having to go to elections for the fifth time in two years.
The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says that Mr Netanyahu's defeat was sealed not by left-wing opponents but by fellow right-wingers he had made into enemies by his ruthless, high-handed tactics.

No-one should expect big, new initiatives from the coalition, our correspondent says, adding that just surviving the onslaught Mr Netanyahu is undoubtedly planning will be a full-time job.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57336574
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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An economic union might be possible but nothing like the EU with a political union at this point in time. We don't know what Kushner and Trump promised the latest Middle East states to recognize Israel: UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan and if Biden will keep those promises. Israel has a lot to offer its neighbors in terms of economic development and helping reduce poverty.

If the Israeli parliament confirms the now government, Naftali Bennett becomes the first Orthodox Jewish prime minister. His parents emigrated from the US and he's a multimillionaire from the tech industry. He won't have an easy time keeping the coalition going while Netanyahu will wield all of Likud against the coalition to get back in power unless he's convicted and dumped by Likud but that speculative. Some progress is better than none.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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Bisbee wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 3:54 pm Once out of power, do you really think Netenyahu will be able to stay out of jail?

I don't know. Israel doesn't use juries in its judicial system, trials are before three legally trained judges. That means little of the courtroom dramatics that we've seen in some US high profile trials like the OJ one.

The three charges against Netanyahu.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47409739
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Bibi Netanyahu's days as prime minister could be over soon.

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The director of Israel’s domestic security service, the Shin Bet, warned on Saturday of growing incitement that could lead to politically motivated violence.

Nadav Argaman's rare public statement raised concerns about the threat of a Jan. 6-style attack in Israel to prevent a peaceful transition of power if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ousted after 12 years in office.

Netanyahu on Friday published a Facebook post that cited a story from the Bible, which compared his political rivals on the right to the spies Moses sent to tour the land of Canaan and that lied to the people when the returned.

According to the Bible, the spies received a punishment from God and died of a plague.

Netanyahu’s right wing rivals who are part of the “change government” – mainly Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett and his party members — have been the subject of social media attacks in recent days by Netanyahu’s supporters.

Netanyahu’s backers demonstrated in front of their houses and sent them text messages with death threats.

The Shin Bet decided to give Bennett a security detail even though he hasn't assumed office yet. And the police boosted security for several of members of his party.
A day after Netanyahu’s Facebook post, the Shin Bet director released a statement warning against “serious radicalization in incitement and discourse on social media.”

Argaman said the incitement could be interpreted by groups or individuals as an approval to use violence. He called on Israeli politicians to publicly ask for calm and denounce violence.

Shortly after the Shin Bet director’s statement, Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, attacked him on Twitter. “The is a disgrace. They are trying to shut the mouths of the right and label every political criticism as incitement,” he wrote.
The Knesset on Monday will convene for a special session to announce that opposition leader Yair Lapid managed to form a government. The vote of confidence in the new government is expected to take place on June 14.
https://www.axios.com/israeli-security- ... 22bdc.html
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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