Benjamin Netanyahu Elected as Prime Minister of Israel (Again)

By : Trystanto

On November 3, 2022, Benjamin Netanyahu was again elected as the Prime Minister of Israel. The election was the fourth general election in 3 years and is a continuation of political instability that has gripped Israel since April 2019. In fact, from April 2019 until March 2021, there was no working parliament in Israel as no party could form a majority, and Benjamin Netanyahu stayed as a caretaker Prime Minister. Two general elections in April and September 2019 failed to resolve the problem until 2021 when Naftali Bennet successfully formed a diverse coalition of right-wing, centrist, left-wing, and Islamist parties to form a government with a razor-thin majority (Walker 2021). Before he relinquished his position as Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in front of the Knesset – Israel’s parliament – “we’ll be back.”

Netanyahu, it seems, has stayed true to his promise. After 1,5 years, the extremely-diverse coalition of Naftali Bennet collapsed as the factions could not agree on anything quickly. Unable to resolve the crisis, the government called for a general election in November 2022, and Netanyahu made a political comeback as Prime Minister. Now, however, he would have to make a coalition with Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right nationalist and religious politician, as Netanyahu needs his party to form a coalition government (The Economist, 2022b). According to a poll prediction by The Economist, Netanyahu’s party and his coalition are almost certain to win 62–65 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset (The Economist, 2022a).

This makes resolving the Palestinian conflict much harder. In September 2022, the Prime Minister of Israel under the Bennet coalition, Yair Lapid, stated that Israel supports the two-state solution (France24, 2022). It won’t be very reasonable to expect Netanyahu to follow that promise. Netanyahu’s new coalition is filled with center-right and right-wing parties, and these groups have long opposed Palestinian independence. Additionally, the inclusion of Itamar Ben-Gvir as a political kingmaker suggests that Ben-Gvir will be given enormous powers in the upcoming government. It has been reported that Ben-Gvir wishes to be given the post of public security minister, the ministry in charge of Israel’s police (The Economist, 2022a). If anything, Israel’s occupation of Palestinians could get more brutal with a far-right nationalist and religious politician in charge of Israel’s police.

Trystanto is the former head of the Research and Development Division of FPCI UGM, 2022 term. This article represents his own views and not necessarily those of FPCI UGM.

References list

France24 (2022). Israel’s Lapid calls for two-state solution with Palestinians in UN speech. [online] France 24. Available at: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20220923-israel-s-lapid-calls-for-two-state-solution-with-palestinians-in-un-speech.

The Economist (2022a). Netanyahu seems on track to be Israel’s next prime minister. [online] The Economist. Available at: https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/11/02/netanyahu-seems-on-track-to-be-israels-next-prime-minister [Accessed 4 Nov. 2022].

The Economist (2022b). Who is Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s kingmaker? [online] The Economist. Available at: https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/11/03/who-is-itamar-ben-gvir-israels-kingmaker.

Walker, N. (2021). Israel: 2021 parliamentary election and new coalition government. London: House of Commons Library.