Could unity government offer way out of Israel’s electoral deadlock?

A unity government with Netanyahu would be a ‘disgrace and a paralyzed government,’ says opposition leader Avigdor Liberman Unity government may require sidelining Ben Gvir and Smotrich, freezing judicial overhaul and investigating Oct. 7 events, says Israeli commentator Yaron Dekel Two weeks ahead of Israel’s elections, the prospect of forming a unity government has returned to the forefront amid opinion polls indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc and the Jewish opposition bloc may both fail to secure the majority required to form a government, while the opposition rules out relying on Arab lawmakers to break the deadlock. If neither bloc manages to secure 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel could face two options: holding another election within months or forming a unity government bringing together Netanyahu’s Likud party and opposition parties. The scenario under discussion excludes the far-right Jewish Power party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and largely excludes the far-right Religious Zionism party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as the religious Haredi parties and Arab parties. Herzog pushes for stability Israeli President Isaac Herzog has emphasized his efforts to avoid repeat elections. “I am doing everything in my power to ensure that Israel has a stable government,” he said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Monday. “I will absolutely do everything I can to prevent repeat elections,” he added, warning that “Israel faces enormous national challenges and cannot afford the cost of repeated election cycles.” However, Avigdor Liberman, leader of the opposition right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, rejected the idea of forming a unity government with Netanyahu on Tuesday. “It would be a disgrace for generations to come, and it would be a paralyzed government,” he said at a conference organized by Yedioth Ahronoth. “Netanyahu does not care about security or anything else, only power. A person who bears responsibility for a series of disasters cannot hold office,” he added. Liberman said the opposition parties would decide on their candidate for prime minister after the elections if they win. Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition Blue and White party, expressed support for the idea of a unity government but ruled out the participation of Arab parties and the Haredim. “Israel cannot afford another government that relies on Arab parties or Haredi parties,” he wrote on US social media platform X, adding: “Israel needs a broad Zionist unity government.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid, however, rejected the proposal, expressing hope that Herzog would not push for what he described as “another fake unity government.” He said Netanyahu would “deceive his partners” in such a government and called on the other opposition parties to declare in advance that they would refuse to join it. A formula under discussion The Israeli newspaper Maariv recently revealed a proposed formula for a unity government that would exclude Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Under the arrangement, Netanyahu would serve as prime minister for a year and a half before being elected president of Israel by the Knesset. Ben Gvir believes Netanyahu is planning to form a government that includes opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, instead of him. “All indications suggest that the prime minister is planning an alliance with Gadi Eisenkot,” Ben Gvir said Tuesday, urging Netanyahu to keep the bloc “purely and comprehensively right-wing.” “Instead of taking seats away from me, go and take them away from Eisenkot,” he told Netanyahu. Eisenkot has not officially addressed the possibility of joining a unity government. ​​​​​​​Meanwhile, Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, called for the formation of a “broad national unity government,” saying, according to Maariv, that Israel “needed to demonstrate its unity to the world” and to those he described as “its enemies.” Mutual concessions Israeli commentator Yaron Dekel argued in an article published by Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday that an inconclusive election result could bring Israel back to the model of a unity government established in 1984. He said this would require Netanyahu to “abandon Ben Gvir and Smotrich, freeze the judicial overhaul plan and agree to an independent investigation into the events of Oct. 7, 2023.” These steps would give Eisenkot grounds to justify joining a government led by Netanyahu to his voters, he noted. At the beginning of 2023, Netanyahu’s government advanced a judicial overhaul plan that it said would “balance the legislative, executive and judicial authorities.” The opposition, however, viewed it as “a coup against democracy that would turn Israel into a dictatorship.” Dekel noted that opposition leaders currently rule out cooperation with Netanyahu. However, their simultaneous refusal to rely on Arab parties, amid the possibility of a deadlock between the two blocs, could leave them “with no other choice.” He explained that holding another election would not guarantee either bloc an improved position and could instead produce an even worse result. In his view, one factor making a unity government conceivable is the absence of personal hostility between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, which could provide “a starting point for negotiations.” Dekel stressed, however, that both sides would have to make “major concessions.” Eisenkot could agree to Netanyahu serving as prime minister first under a rotation agreement, in exchange for clear political and security gains, he said. He argued that “removing Ben Gvir and Smotrich from the government, appointing Eisenkot as defense minister, halting the judicial overhaul plan and establishing an independent commission to investigate the events of Oct. 7 could form a package of achievements that Eisenkot could present to his voters to justify joining the government.” Netanyahu, for his part, would have to make the required concessions in advance if he wanted to serve as prime minister first, according to Dekel. Chief among them would be abandoning his far-right allies. Elections for the Israeli Knesset are scheduled for Oct. 27. Opinion polls indicate that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition bloc will be able to form a government. Netanyahu has chaired the current government since late December 2022. It is described as the “most right-wing government in Israel’s history.” Netanyahu also faces charges of corruption, bribery, and breach of trust in three cases. In addition to the domestic corruption trial, Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2024 over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip, where more than 74,000 people have been killed in a genocidal war since October 2023.