JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu remains Israel’s prime minister as the new parliament takes office on Tuesday, but its less friendly composition could make his life much more difficult.
Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief seeking to move Israel towards the centre, was given the mandate on Sunday by President Isaac Herzog to form a new government, a complicated task as neither he nor Netanyahu commands a majority.
Until then, Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, remains caretaker prime minister, but the new 120-member parliament can still move against him.
The lack of a new government “does not infringe upon the Knesset’s prerogatives”, said Assaf Shapira, a political expert at the Israel Democracy Institute.
Eisenkot has also warned military chiefs that Netanyahu does not have a mandate to resume the war against Iran, although the statement was more about politics than the law, with Netanyahu still in charge of national security.
Netanyahu’s bloc slipped to 53 seats in the new parliament, down from the decisive 68 it commanded previously.
Eisenkot’s core opposition bloc has fewer seats than Netanyahu’s, at 48, but the new parliament also has a record 19 lawmakers from Arab-majority parties that are vehemently opposed to Netanyahu and his hard-right government, although it remains unclear whether Eisenkot will seek to work directly with Israeli Arabs.
Here are some ways in which the new parliament could turn against Netanyahu:
Commission on October 7 attacks
One of the opposition’s main campaign promises has been to set up a commission of inquiry to probe the failures in the famously high-security country that allowed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
While Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing on his part, his government has consistently opposed the creation of a national, independent commission of inquiry with broad investigative powers. Instead, Netanyahu supports a review by political appointees.
Even before a new government is formed, the incoming parliament could set up a special committee to examine the attack and submit its findings to an eventual commission of inquiry, Shapira said.
Eisenkot declared after the election that establishing a commission would be an immediate priority.
Repealing Netanyahu-era laws
The new parliament could also move quickly to repeal some of the most controversial laws introduced under Netanyahu, including his efforts to overhaul the judiciary, which the prime minister has viewed as an adversary since he was charged with corruption.
The proposed judicial overhaul triggered some of Israel’s largest-ever protests, with liberals worried about the future of democracy, although the Hamas attack and subsequent wars quickly shifted public attention.
The new parliament could seek to repeal laws passed by the previous coalition that limited the powers of the Supreme Court and made it easier to remove the country’s attorney general.
Lawmakers could also roll back exemptions allowing ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid military service. The exemptions have angered many Israelis at a time when the military is stretched thin, although the laws did not go far enough for ultra-Orthodox parties, which are being courted by at least one opposition figure.
Shapira said repealing Netanyahu-era laws was as simple as calling a vote and reverting to previous policies. However, the process of passing new laws could take weeks as the opposition coordinates its priorities.
Electing a new speaker
The first political clash will concern the election of a new parliament speaker. The incumbent is Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu loyalist from his Likud Party.
Under parliamentary rules, the vote for speaker can take place as early as the inaugural session and must be held before a new government is sworn in.
An initial clash took place on Thursday when three parties in the Eisenkot bloc sent letters to the outgoing speaker requesting that his successor be elected at the opening session, a timing that Shapira agreed was more common.
Ohana responded that it was customary to elect the speaker on the day a new government is sworn in.
Naftali Bennett, a key opposition figure, vowed to act “urgently” on the bloc’s priorities.
“We will take control of the Knesset as quickly as possible.”
