NETANYAHU'S COALITION ISN'T BUILT TO LAST
ISSUE BRIEF
ISSUE BRIEF
Netanyahu's coalition isn't built to last: Expect high sparks within and fragile prospects for Israel's incoming government FEBRUARY 2023
SHALOM LIPNER
COMPETING AGENDAS BETWEEN THE MEMBERS OF ISRAEL’S INCOMING GOVERNMENT PORTEND ANOTHER UNSUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIP. Four years and five elections since the dissolution of the last Knesset to survive until its second birthday, returning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits atop a sixty-four seat coalition which he contends will serve out a full term.1 Enthusiasts are heralding the establishment, finally, of a durable and homogenous leadership to pilot the country’s ship of state. The fine print suggests otherwise.
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Conventional wisdom imparts that the new ruling cohort will operate as a unified, conservative bloc to exercise control over the official instruments of power. That prognosis denies adequate attention to the nuanced differences between the various players on Team Netanyahu. Their divergent priorities—and the inevitable tension emanating from their efforts to placate overlapping, but not identical constituencies— reveal an underestimated fragility that will threaten its prospects.
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“Bill for the Dissolution of the 20th Knesset Passes Final Vote; Early Elections Set for April 9.” Main. knesset.gov.il, The Knesset, 26 Dec. 2018, https://main.knesset.gov.il/EN/News/PressReleases/Pages/ press2612f.aspx; Eliav Breuer, and Shira Silkoff, “Netanyahu: We Will Establish a Stable Government for a Full Term.” The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com, December 28, 2022. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/ article-725985.
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