Benjamin Netanyahu’s 1-Seat Coalition Could Be Doomed From Start


Long at odds with Western allies over his views on the Palestinians and Iran, Netanyahu could be similarly vexed by domestic legislation that even his right-leaning, five-party alliance will not necessarily agree on, political analysts say.
After striking the coalition deal with less than two hours to spare before a midnight deadline on Wednesday, the conservative leader made no secret of wishing he had more than the 61 seats he will control in the 120-seat parliament.
“Sixty-one plus is an even better number,” he said in televised remarks, hinting he might try to add more parties in time.
Netanyahu’s aides left the door open to a “national unity” government bringing in center-left opposition leader Isaac Herzog – possibly by offering him the foreign minister’s post, a portfolio being kept in reserve.
“It’s hard to say exactly how long this (coalition) will last, but it’s not viable,” said Amotz Asa-El, a fellow with the Shalom Hartman Institute, a liberal Israeli think-tank.
“It will be short-lived, laden with difficulty and will end in a unity deal with Herzog.”
What might usher in a fresh partnership, Asa-El said, would be an Iranian nuclear deal with world powers in talks due to end on June 30 that “leaves the Israeli mainstream feeling exposed, betrayed and vulnerable.”
Herzog, scion of a family of statesmen – his father served as president and ambassador to the United Nations and his uncle was foreign minister – could make a valuable emissary to an Obama administration angered by Netanyahu’s anti-Iran lobbying.
But Herzog was scornful of the unity idea on Thursday, telling Israel’s Army Radio: “This is a government devoid of responsibility, stability and any chance of governing.”
“I have no intention of serving as a fifth wheel, uncorker or hole-plugger for Bibi Netanyahu,” he said. “I intend to replace Netanyahu, and I intend to lead a fighting opposition.”
Yet that might be a tall order for Herzog, given that other lawmakers outside the government range from anti-Zionist Arabs to the far-right former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
ELUSIVE UNITY
Parliamentary cohesion will also elude Netanyahu, especially on contested bills such as one that would anchor Israel’s identity as a Jewish nation-state, and which has discomfited the country’s 20 percent Arab minority as well as Western allies.
The legislation is championed by the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, second-biggest coalition partner to Netanyahu’s conservative Likud and holder of the justice portfolio. But political sources said disagreement with Likud by the centrist Kulanu party – another coalition partner – may stall the bill.
Working to survive no-confidence motions will keep government lawmakers busy in parliament.
“They’ll barely be able to step out to the washroom, because the fighting opposition will stay on top of which Knesset members are present and absent from the plenum,” wrote Eitan Haber, political commentator for Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
He added that the incoming government “will have to fight nearly the entire world diplomatically, and quite possibly also have to fight militarily” against Israel’s various enemies.
Palestinians, or the peace talks with them that collapsed a year ago, are not mentioned in the coalition pacts Netanyahu sealed with his four partners.
Both Likud and Jewish Home are strong proponents of settlement building on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state, and Netanyahu’s other coalition members have focused on religious and economic issues.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.