JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the stroke of a pen, has put to bed doubts about his personal future and about whether he had lost the tactical wizardry that allowed him to dominate the political scene for more than a decade.
Mr. Netanyahu secured an 18-month lease on power in a deal Monday with archrival Benny Gantz and the weakened center-left Blue and White party. The big question now is what he plans to do with his victory.
Ordinary Israelis, ground down by three inconclusive elections in less than a year and by tedious backroom talks over a “unity government,” appeared to greet the news with resignation bordering on apathy. But with the coronavirus ravaging the country, the economy largely sheltering in place and rising uncertainty across the region, Mr. Netanyahu, analysts say, has never been one to let a good crisis go to waste.
“I promised the state of Israel a national emergency government that will work to save the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a triumphant tweet after securing the deal with Mr. Gantz to share power, Cabinet seats and the prime ministership for the next three years.
Israeli political analysts say the long negotiating ordeal showed Mr. Netanyahu’s ability, against long odds, to steamroll some opponents and co-opt others.
Mr. Gantz, the former army chief whose entire political movement was focused on getting the corruption-challenged Mr. Netanyahu out of power, “is now the indicted prime minister’s chief protector and defender,” analyst Anshel Pfeffer said in a Tuesday opinion column in Haaretz.
“He is contractually obliged to safeguard Netanyahu’s position not only for the next 18 months while he remains prime minister, but for the entire three years, including the second half when Netanyahu is deputy premier but the real power in government, as he will still have the allegiance of three-quarters of the coalition’s lawmakers,” said Mr. Pfeffer, who has authored a biography of the prime minister.
With a politically weakened Mr. Gantz as his partner and generally good reviews for his handling of Israel’s coronavirus crisis, Mr. Netanyahu may have a better chance of moving ahead on key priorities, Joshua Mitnick wrote in ForeignPolicy.com.
“The pandemic has also been a political salve” for Mr. Netanyahu, “allowing [him] to put off his corruption trial, smash the country’s main opposition party, and now forge a governing majority that had eluded him since late 2018. In the coming months, it could provide another dividend: … a chance to fulfill a nationalist agenda of annexing parts of the West Bank and effectively quashing Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own.”
Under the deal, Mr. Netanyahu remains in power on a rotation with Mr. Gantz, who will become prime minister in 2021 — if a crisis doesn’t derail the unity government before then.
The agreement to keep Mr. Netanyahu in power has been met with some minor protests. An iconic pre-deal image of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv observing social distancing while protesting Mr. Netanyahu’s continued reign was more evocative than effective. The very next day, Mr. Gantz signed the unity government agreement.
On paper, at least, Mr. Netanyahu will have to get used to sharing some of his power. Mr. Gantz, a retired general and former Israeli military chief of staff, will be the vice prime minister and defense minister. That could be a key shift as Israel faces renewed tensions in Syria and Lebanon.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah members cut three holes in a border fence last week, and the Syrian regime has blamed Israel for recent airstrikes, including one Monday as the deal was being hammered out.
Mr. Netanyahu’s real success in past elections was an ability to hold on to power without the need to form a new coalition. This time, Mr. Netanyahu was able to divide Blue and White factions at the last moment and bring Mr. Gantz into an agreement over strong objections of other Blue and White figures who left the alliance and took their Knesset seats with them.
Early test
An early test of the power-sharing government will be the decision on annexing parts of the West Bank, an idea enshrined in President Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Mr. Gantz has urged caution, but Mr. Netanyahu appears to have little opposition and is determined to act when the outlines of the U.S. map are handed over this summer.
The unity deal explicitly allows Mr. Netanyahu to raise the issue of annexation in the Cabinet after July 1.
Some details on the new division of power were still emerging Tuesday.
The Likud and its allies and the Knesset will run the ministries of health, finance, internal security and education, among others, while Blue and White ministers will oversee defense, foreign affairs, justice and the economy. The new speaker of the Knesset, Yariv Levin, will be a Netanyahu Likud ally.
Analysts say the agreement looks like a major win for Mr. Netanyahu, at least early on. He remains as prime minister, and new elections will be held if the courts rule against him in his corruption prosecution.
Mr. Gantz’s muted celebration and the angry reactions of some of his onetime allies were further indications of how the agreement was greeted.
The challenger, who proved at times an awkward presence on the stump beside the charismatic prime minister, sounded almost relieved that the stalemate had ended.
“We prevented a fourth election,” Mr. Gantz told reporters. “We will protect our democracy and fight against the coronavirus.”
Private advocacy groups have filed legal challenges arguing that an indicted figure like Mr. Netanyahu should not be allowed to form a government, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. The prime minister faced multiple charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. He denies the charges and says he is the victim of a hostile media and aggressive prosecution.
Leftist parties were harshly critical of Mr. Gantz for cutting a deal.
“The man who was supposed to be the prime minister who would bring change decided to raise a white flag instead of winning,” Tamar Zandberg, chairwoman of the social democratic Meretz party, told The Jerusalem Post.
“Gantz destroyed the hope of a majority of Israelis and sold the mandate that the majority gave him to a corrupt inciter,” she said. “This is not an emergency government, but there is an emergency situation for our democracy.”
The virus crisis provided Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud party with unexpected leverage. After three inconclusive national elections in less than a year, polls showed Mr. Netanyahu was in a stronger position if a fourth national vote was needed.
⦁ This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Seth J. Frantzman can be reached at srantzman@washingtontimes.com.
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