Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing bloc has lost ground, but he still has options for leading Israel’s next government, RAND’s Distinguished Israel Policy Chair Dr. Shira Efron said.
Efron made the assessment in an interview with France 24 host Erin Ogunkeye published Wednesday, Oct. 28. She said she and others had underestimated the divisions in Israeli society. “Many of us, myself included, underestimated the extent of the fracture in Israeli society,” she said.
Efron said coalition-building is constrained by a more right-leaning Jewish electorate, deep ideological rifts and unresolved disputes over Arab participation in politics.
She cited bringing opposition partners into Netanyahu’s camp, forming a national unity government and pursuing another election as possible paths. Despite his bloc’s losses, she said, Netanyahu has “more cards, or better cards, to play.”
EconoTimes has previously reported on Arab Israeli Turnout Could Shape Netanyahu’s Future in Knesset Vote.
