Israel’s Elections and Netanyahu Supporters’ Convergence in Likud
With the dissolution of the Knesset and the establishment of a new government under Yair Lapid’s leadership, a new election has been triggered in Israel, marking the fifth election cycle in recent years. For many analysts, such a development was natural and expected. The fragility of the coalition organized by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, and the unique role of Israeli Arabs, whose presence and agency in this coalition’s politics have faced serious doubts, had predetermined such an outcome for the coalition long ago, with only the timing of the Knesset’s dissolution remaining uncertain. The upcoming elections in November signify a special period of Israeli politics, characterized by a distinctive style of parliamentary politics and elections based on a preferential method in the occupied territories.
New Coalitions and Parties
Apart from the Likud and Labor parties, and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, significant politicians on one side and smaller political groups on the other, prior to the elections and following a process that has almost become an electoral tradition, form coalitions with each other and create special currents with electoral functions. Ultimately, these coalitions, if they achieve the necessary threshold and can secure parliamentary seats in the Knesset from their electoral list, can play a key role in determining the final election results by joining a coalition government in the post-fragility conditions of party dominance. One of the new coalitions is the alliance between Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister and leader of the Blue and White alliance, and Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the right-wing New Hope party.
Military Figure Supports New Hope
This coalition has recently gained the support of one of Israel’s most prominent military figures, Gadi Eisenkot. This coalition opposes Netanyahu. Another small coalition is the new alliance between the current government’s Minister of Communications and Minister of the Interior. This is a small coalition, and if it reaches the required threshold in percentage of votes and gains a few seats, it might support a coalition led by Netanyahu, being one of the former Prime Minister’s hopes. Especially as current polls show that Netanyahu and his current aligned groups are reaching 59 seats, leaving him a few seats short. However, there is still a lot of time until election day. Alongside this coalition game, major parties are also considering preparing their lists.
Primary Elections
Parties must formalize a list of their candidates’ names. Israeli citizens vote for the party, not a specific individual. After the votes are counted in the election process, parties earn parliamentary seats in the Knesset based on the proportion of votes they receive, provided they surpass the necessary threshold to gain seats. Israeli parties usually hold primary elections to prepare their lists, allowing party members across the occupied territories to decide on the list and the priority of individuals’ presence. Yair Lapid’s party, unlike Likud and Labor parties, does not follow this path, and the party’s central leadership prepares the list.
Bibi and a List of Loyalists
The Labor Party is a broken party in the occupied territories that no longer has its former glory. Polls have long depicted the general support for this party among Israeli citizens as very weak. The primary elections and the process of determining the Labor Party’s electoral list were never comparable to the noise generated by Netanyahu and the Likud Party. About 80,000 Israeli members of the Likud Party participated in the intra-party elections last Wednesday to determine the party’s prioritized list. The announcement ceremony of the results and the pre-election campaigns had their own particular noise. Loyalists and supporters of the former Prime Minister secured the subsequent priority ranks after him. The most popular figures were those showing greater hostility towards the Israeli judicial system and stronger opposition to Netanyahu’s trial in corruption cases. The significant figure in the selected electoral list and the second after Netanyahu is Yariv Levin, a prominent Knesset figure and one of Netanyahu’s staunchest supporters. Subtle changes have also occurred in this list. Yuli Edelstein, the previous second in command and a key Likud member who had rebelled against Netanyahu and once deemed him and his government dangerous for Israel, faced a lack of serious reception from party members who clearly have strong empathy with Netanyahu, placing him at a very low sixteenth position.
In line with this content, an article titled ‘Bibi’s Return’ has been published in Iran Gate.