Israeli opposition alliance holds first meeting since election, discusses ousting Netanyahu

[Financial News] The local opposition alliance that blocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a single-party government in last month’s election has begun discussing the formation of a coalition government to oust him.
According to local media outlets including The Times of Israel (ToI), opposition leaders from the anti-Netanyahu camp—including Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar Party, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid of Beyachad, Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu, and Yair Golan of the Democrats—gathered on the 3rd (local time) in Herzliya, central Israel, where Eisenkot lives. It was the first time opposition leaders had gathered together since the election on the 27th of last month.
In the results of Israel’s 26th general election, held on the 27th of last month, Netanyahu’s Likud Party and the right-wing bloc that had formed the previous coalition government with it won 53 of the 120 seats in total. Before the election, they held 68 seats, above the 61-seat majority threshold, but lost 15 seats in this election. The largest share of the right-wing bloc’s seats, 27, went to Likud, the most of any party in parliament.
The opposition alliance won 48 seats. The Yashar Party, which leads the alliance, secured 21 seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu, a right-wing party in the opposition camp, won 7. Beyachad and the Democrats won 12 and 8 seats, respectively. The Joint List and Ra’am, Arab parties belonging to neither of the two major blocs, government and opposition, secured 11 and 8 seats, respectively.
The opposition alliance leaders who met on the 3rd agreed to give their full support to forming a coalition government led by Eisenkot. At the meeting, Bennett, leader of Beyachad and a former Israeli prime minister, called for the swift replacement of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of Likud. Lapid, also a Beyachad member and former Israeli prime minister, likewise stressed before the meeting, “The past few days have reminded us once again that Netanyahu and his close associates must be driven out of the Prime Minister’s Office,” adding, “What we need to do now is form a government quickly.”
With a single-party government no longer possible, Netanyahu said on social media on the 2nd that he could cooperate with parties in the opposition alliance. “We aspire to form a broad government with our existing partners, as well as any party that wants to join the coalition and does not support terrorism,” he said. He added that he was open to discussing the matter at any time.
However, Netanyahu ruled out an alliance with Arab parties, criticizing them as “parties that support terrorism and deny the very existence of the Jewish state.”
Views are divided within the opposition alliance over whether to cooperate with Arab parties. Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu said on the 3rd that a coalition could be formed excluding Arab parties. On the same day, before the opposition meeting, Golan of the Democrats met for the first time with Yusuf Jabareen and Ahmad Tibi, leaders of the Arab party Joint List.
In a statement, the Democrats said, “The three focused on discussing follow-up steps and ways to coordinate among political factions, which are needed to use a majority in parliament to replace the Netanyahu government.”
 
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