Binyamin Netanyahu has begun efforts to assemble a new rightwing coalition to govern Israel after his Likud party scored a decisive victory in the country’s general election.
Hours after opposition leader Isaac Herzog conceded defeat on Wednesday morning, Netanyahu called Naftali Bennett, the hard-right pro-settlement leader of the Jewish Home party, to open negotiations over the shape of his new coalition.
Speaking on a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon, Netanyahu said he was “thrilled by the heavy responsibility” of his victory.
According to reports in the Hebrew media, Netanyahu has already approached Aryeh Deri of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, Avigdor Lieberman, who leads Yisrael Beiteinu, and former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, who leads a new centrist party Kulanu, which campaigned on social and economic issues.
The calls sketched out the likely shape of Netanyahu’s new government, should he succeed in putting together a coalition in the next few weeks.
Dog VS murgha ,, by sa4353899
That appears to be a government more rightwing and religious than its previous incarnation, reflecting Netanyahu’s own sharp tack rightwards in the last days of the election campaign, as he declared his opposition to a two-state peace solution and vowed to push ahead with settlement building.
Kahlon, who hedged his bets during the campaign over whether he would back Herzog or Netanyahu for prime minister, appeared to indicate on Wednesday morning that Kulanu – which won 10 seats – was actively considering joining a government led by Netanyahu.
“I need to ensure that the Kulanu will be able to keep its promises to the voters. Ten seats is more than 320,000 people, people who voted for us and put their faith in us, and we must meet this challenge,” he said
Likud itself took 30 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, but despite the scale of the win, Netanyahu’s victory is likely to carry heavy political and diplomatic costs for Israel.
Netanyahu appears locked on a collision course with Palestinians and the international community after disavowing his previous support for a two-state solution made in a speech in 2009.
His return to power on the back of his unequivocal opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state – a key policy of Washington and the European Union – seems certain to exacerbate his already difficult relationship with the US administration of Barack Obama during the president’s final two years in office.
Assuming he can form a government before the beginning of next month, Netanyahu will face an immediate crisis, with Palestinians determined to present on 1 April claims of war crimes against Israel over its 48-year occupation of the West Bank and last year’s war in Gaza.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, expressed those sentiments as it became clear that Netanyahu was heading for victory.
“It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that, we say clearly that we will go to The Hague tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify,” he declared.
If Netanyahu follows through on his pledges it would put him in conflict with the Obama administration and the EU, which has been weighing steps including trade measures to sanction Israel for its settlements policy.
His victory also raises questions about what happens to policy on Iran, with Obama determined to pursue negotiations on its nuclear programme and Netanyahu determined to scupper any deal.
Most Israelis had gone to sleep on Tuesday night with three television exit polls showing the two main parties tied at about 27 seats each, and expecting weeks of horse trading between the Israeli parties to try to negotiate a government.
But by early on Wednesday morning, it was becoming clear that the exit polls had underestimated turnout for Likud, which had mobilised support in recent days.
0 comments:
Post a Comment