2019–2021 Israeli political crisis

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2019–2021 Israeli political crisis
Part of the politics of Israel
Police water cannon in protests against Netanyahu (cropped).png
Blue-colored water being blasted from a water cannon at protestors during the anti-Netanyahu protests
Date26 December 2018 – 5 November 2021
(3 years)
LocationIsrael
TypePolitical crisis
CauseDifficulties in having a stable majority governing coalition
OutcomeThirty-sixth government of Israel
  • Newly elected Knesset members form a majority governing coalition
  • Netanyahu ousted as Prime Minister
  • Opposition parties refuse to join the government lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but are not able to form a stable coalition government immediately.
  • State budget for the years 2021-2022 passed by the Knesset
For more information on governmental negotiations throughout the first three elections in the crisis, see Thirty-fifth government of Israel.

The 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis was a period of political instability in the State of Israel, in which four Knesset snap elections were held in a span of two years: in April 2019, September 2019, March 2020 and March 2021. The popular phrasing of the core division within the political parties (and within the public) was: "Only Bibi (nickname for Benjamin Netanyahu) or only not Bibi.". This stalemate was created due to the refusal of the liberal wing of the parliament to form a coalition with Netanyahu while the Likud party – the prominent party of the conservative wing – refused to remove Netanyahu from the party's leadership. The rest of the conservative wing parties refused to "betray" him. None of the wings were able to form a coalition by themselves due to the tie-breaking parliament seats held by the Arab parties. Some parliament members from Jewish parties (both wings) and Arab parties considered the possibility of governmental cooperation to be out of the question.

On 13 June 2021, the thirty-sixth government of Israel was sworn in after successfully receiving confidence in the Knesset in a 60-59 vote, with one MK from Ra'am Party abstaining. The government will be initially led by Naftali Bennett from Yamina, with the liberal Yair Lapid serving as Alternate Prime Minister in a rotation agreement concerning the prime minister position. As a result, Benjamin Netanyahu became the Leader of the Opposition; This marks the first change of the Israeli chief executive since Netanyahu took power in 2009. 61 Knesset members across 8 ideologically diverse parties are part of the coalition (there is diversity within the liberal wing as well). As such, with a minimal majority of 61/120, passing legislation may prove difficult. The crisis ended with the passing of the 2021-2022 state budget in November 2021.

Background[]

During the 20th Knesset, elected after the 2015 Israeli legislative election Netanyahu secured his fourth term in office as the head of the Thirty-fourth government of Israel. On 26 May 2016, Yisrael Beiteinu joined the government with 5 MKs, and Avigdor Lieberman was appointed Defense Minister in place of Moshe Ya'alon.

On 14 November 2018, Avigdor Lieberman resigned from his position and from the coalition, because of the government's approval of a ceasefire with Hamas, thereby undermining the stability of the government. On December 26, 2018, the law to dissolve the Knesset was approved, and the election campaign for the twenty-first Knesset began.

Following April 2019[]

Main article: April 2019 Israeli legislative election

The crisis began after the elections of April 2019 left no party able to form a government. The two major parties, Blue and White and Likud, received an equal number of 35 seats. The Likud received a mandate from the president to attempt to form a government, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to arrange a majority coalition of 61 seats. Netanyahu's Likud and their supporting parties voted to dissolve the Knesset instead of letting the president give the mandate to another Knesset member.[1]

Following September 2019[]

Main article: September 2019 Israeli legislative election

A second election was held in September 2019. This time, Blue and White overcame the Likud by a single seat. Nonetheless, the Likud received the mandate from the president after gaining the support of one Knesset member more than Blue and White. Netanyahu again failed to form a government.[2] This time, the mandate passed to Benny Gantz, who also failed to achieve a majority.[3] The President passed the mandate to the Knesset members for 21 days.[4] After no other candidate was offered, the Knesset was dissolved.

Following March 2020[]

Main article: 2020 Israeli legislative election

In March 2020, the third election was held. This time, Likud gained more seats than Blue and White, but Gantz achieved more recommendations from potential allies in the Knesset and received the mandate from the president. Gantz nevertheless was unable to unite enough allies into a coalition. His bloc was still agreed to replace the Speaker of the Knesset. Following this, the former Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein refused to convene the plenary to vote on his replacement. His refusal created a constitutional crisis. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel appealed to the Supreme Court, which ordered Edelstein to convene the Knesset. Following this Edelstein resigned.[5] Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel worsened, which precipitated negotiations for a national emergency government. On March 26, Gantz was sworn in as the new Knesset Speaker, with the support of the Likud party,[6] causing a split in Blue and White. Finally, on 20 April 2020, the Likud and Blue and White agreed on an equal unity government, which included a "rotation agreement" between Gantz and Netanyahu on the prime minister's chair.[7] However, following a failed budgetary vote in December 2020, the government coalition collapsed yet again, and a new election was called for March 2021, an unprecedented fourth election in only two years.[8]

Following March 2021[]

Main article: 2021 Israeli legislative election

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with the heads of all political parties on 5 April 2021,[9] and charged Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government the next day.[10] Netanyahu had been given until the end of 4 May to form a government.[11] Netanyahu failed to form a new government by the deadline.[12] The next day, Rivlin entrusted Yair Lapid with the second mandate.[13] On 9 May, it was reported that Lapid and Naftali Bennett had made major headway in the coalition talks.[14][15] On 10 May, it was reported that plans were made to form a new government consisting of the current opposition, but that the Islamist Ra'am Party, which froze talks with both Lapid and Bennett in the wake of recent warfare in Gaza, still needed to pledge support for the Change bloc in order for the opposition MKs to secure a majority.[16][17] In late May, Lapid secured the support from Blue and White, Labor Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, and Meretz, with Yamina and Ra'am possibly giving support.[18] On 30 May, Bennett announced in a televised address that Yamina would join a unity government with Lapid, after all but one Yamina MK agreed to back this decision.[19]

On 2 June 2021, following negotiations with Lapid and Bennett, Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas signed a document tethering his party to the coalition, and agreed to allow his party to join a non-Netanyahu government.[20][21] Just an hour before his 2 June mandate was set to expire, Lapid informed outgoing president Reuven Rivlin that he could form a new government.[22][23][24] On 11 June, Bennett's Yamina party became the last opposition faction to sign a coalition agreement with Lapid's Yesh Atid party, thus allowing the thirty-sixth government of Israel to be sworn in on 13 June.[25] The crisis came to an end when the Knesset passed the 2021-2022 state budget on 5 November, thus providing political stability for the time being.[26]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Gil Hoffman; Lahav Harkov (30 May 2019). "Israel goes back to elections as Netanyahu fails to form coalition". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. ^ Holmes, Oliver (21 October 2019). "Benjamin Netanyahu tells Israeli president he cannot form government" – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. ^ Lis, Jonathan (22 October 2019). "Israeli President to Task Gantz With Forming Government on Wednesday". Haaretz.
  4. ^ "Rivlin hands mandate to form government to Knesset, slams 'miserable political situation'". ynet. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  5. ^ Wootliff, Raoul. "In bombshell, Yuli Edelstein resigns to avoid calling vote on new speaker". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. ^ Wootliff, Raoul. "Elected Knesset speaker by right wing, Gantz heads for government with Netanyahu". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. ^ Levinson, Chaim (20 April 2020). "Netanyahu, Gantz Sign Coalition Deal to Form Government". Haaretz.
  8. ^ Wootliff, Raoul. "Israel calls 4th election in 2 years as Netanyahu-Gantz coalition collapses". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Netanyahu secures most nominations for PM; Rivlin to tap candidate Tuesday". The Times of Israel. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  10. ^ Gil Hoffman (6 April 2021). "Rivlin hands Netanyahu mandate to form coalition despite low chance of success". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  11. ^ Lis, Jonathan (3 May 2021). "In Crunch Time, Right-wing Leader Bennett Says Netanyahu 'Doesn't Have a Government'". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  12. ^ Lis, Jonathan; Khoury, Jack (4 May 2021). "As Netanyahu's Coalition Deadline Expires, Lapid Seen Likely to Get the Nod". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  13. ^ Hoffman, Gil (5 May 2021). "Lapid, Bennett hope to form government within a week". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Lapid, Bennett make major headway in coalition talks: reports". I24 News. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  15. ^ Shlezinger, Yehuda (10 May 2021). "Report: Lapid, Bennett make major headway in coalition talks". Israel Hayom. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ^ Wootliff, Raoul; Schneider, Tal (9 May 2021). "'Change bloc' seeking to swear in new government as early as Tuesday". Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  17. ^ Fulbright, Alexander (10 May 2021). "Ra'am freezes coalition talks with 'change bloc', amid violence". Times of Israel. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Israel Election: Bennett Expected to Announce Coalition Deal With Lapid Within Days, Source Says". Haaretz. 29 May 2021.
  19. ^ "With his party's support, Bennett says he's heading into government with Lapid". The Times of Israel. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Mansour Abbas signs coalition agreement to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu". The National. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  21. ^ Tov, Michael Hauser (June 2, 2021). "Lapid expected to The Tell President He Has Succeeded in Forming a Government". Haaretz. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  22. ^ "Coalition deals signed". The Jerusalem Post. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Lapid, Bennett hope to form government within a week". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  24. ^ "What happens now: A timetable of the process to (maybe) form a government". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  25. ^ "Lapid finalizes coalition deals with all parties in incoming 'change government'". The Times of Israel. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  26. ^ Kershner, Isabel (2021-11-04). "Israel Passes First Budget in More Than 3 Years in Lifeline for Government". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
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