Friday, March 29, 2024
Miles from the Mainstream
D. R. ZUKERMAN, proprietor

The Netanyahu "Win" in Israel's Third Election Within Twelve Months

March 5, 2020 --

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party came in first in Israel's third election, March 2, within a year.  But once again, according to the Times of Israel, as of March 4 the coalition led by Likud could count on 58 seats in the Knesset, three votes shy of the 61-vote  majority in the 120-member Knesset.   

Immediate indications are that it will be no easier for Netanyahu to get to 61 seats than it was last April and September. 

(And how strong is a coalition that forms a majority by just one vote?)   

LPR has a hunch that the anti-Netanyahu opposition has this in common with the anti-Trump left in the U.S.: both groups are motivated more by personal dislike for their adversary than by a political program.  

Mr. Netanyahu is still scheduled to go on trial for corruption charges on March 17.  Will he put together a ruling coalition by that day, or will he still be a titular prime minister in  political limbo? Or even worse, a defendant on trial? G-dwilling, more on  Israel's politics, next LPR.