Is Benjamin Netanyahu’s time up? A fortnight ago, it seemed so. Netanyahu’s mandate for forming a coalition expired. The opportunity was handed instead to Yair Lapid, leader of Israel’s second largest political party Yesh Atid. Many dissatisfied Israelis started to hope: after four inconclusive elections, there was finally a chance to oust Netanyahu. But then hostilities broke out between Israel and Hamas, and reports of Netanyahu’s political death appear to be greatly exaggerated.
In the weeks before this latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there was talk that Israel’s new government would be made up of an eclectic coalition that would include parties on the left, right and centre, as well as an Arab-Israeli party. Rather than relying on a common political ideology, the Israeli media described it as the ‘just not Bibi’ government.
Hamas’s rockets appear to have ended that coalition before it was even formed
A possible rotation agreement that would place Naftali Bennett, leader of the far-right New Right party, as prime minister for part of the term, followed by Lapid as PM during the second part, appeared to be a likely bet.
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