Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his appeal for a national unity government Wednesday, saying he would keep contacting potential partners as Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot held the mandate to form a government after the Oct. 27 election left no bloc with a majority.
Netanyahu told reporters, “Yesterday I said why a national unity government is essential. Today I want to say why it is possible,” Israel Hayom and Israel National News reported. He pointed to solidarity at the Knesset swearing-in ceremony and during the war as examples of unity across political and religious divisions, the outlets reported.
In a Nov. 10 address to the Knesset, Netanyahu accused the Joint List and United Arab List (Ra’am) of seeking Israel’s destruction. He warned against forming a government that depended on Ra’am or the Joint List, according to the Nov. 10 address recorded by Knesset Channel. The charge and warning were Netanyahu’s allegations.
Official results from Israel’s Central Elections Committee showed Likud with 27 seats, Yashar with 21, the Joint List with 11 and Ra’am with eight in the 120-member Knesset. The Times of Israel put Netanyahu’s allies at 53 seats and Eisenkot’s four-party group at 48, while the Joint List and Ra’am together held 19. No bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority.
The Associated Press has pointed to a five-election span from April 2019 through November 2022 as a recent illustration of Israel’s difficulty breaking political deadlocks. The Times of Israel reported Nov. 7 that Netanyahu’s earlier unity proposal would include outgoing coalition partners and opposition parties, without identifying who would lead the proposed government. EconoTimes previously covered Netanyahu’s call for a unity government.
On Nov. 8, President Isaac Herzog gave Eisenkot the task of forming a government. Factions representing 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, those representing 46 recommended Netanyahu, and one seven-member faction made no recommendation. Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with Herzog able to extend the period by up to 14 days.
