After the election in Israel: what price does Netanyahu pay for victory?

The right-wing camp is hailing Israel’s election victory as the country wonders what price future Prime Minister Netanyahu will have to pay to his coalition partners. It is hardly coincidental that they speak of the pressure to succeed.

After the parliamentary elections on November 1, Israel is likely to get the most right-wing and religious government in its history. After counting all the votes, there is no doubt about that. The party alliance that Benjamin Netanyahu forged includes right-wing extremist coalition partners and ultra-religious parties.

Israeli media are already wondering whether Netanyahu will be able to keep his coalition partners in check, or what concessions he will have to make. Because they have as many MPs as Netanyahu’s Likud bloc. They are expected to demand policies that accommodate their clientele, the far-right and ultra-religious voters.

Yitzhak Wasserlauf from the “Jewish Power” party speaks of a “joyful evening for the entire right-wing camp” on which many hopes are now resting – “we will have to be successful”.

Controversy over campaign tactics

In the camp of Netanyahu’s opponents, it’s time to lick wounds. The remaining parties received a similar number of votes as the probable governing parties. But you are five seats short of a majority in the Knesset. A left and an Arab party stayed below the 3.25 percent hurdle. Labor just barely made it.

The main reason for this is the lack of electoral alliances, but Labor leader Merav Michaeli blames the main blame on outgoing Prime Minister Jair Lapid. The “fight” was not well conducted. Netanyahu “kissed the feet” of representatives of extreme parties, while Lapid failed to make a similar commitment to his potential allies.

In the evening, Lapid congratulated Netanyahu and met his party’s newly elected MPs: They will continue to fight for a Jewish, democratic and liberal Israel – until they come back to power, he wrote on Twitter.

Cautious reactions abroad

Different reactions came from abroad: While the new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Netanyahu on the victory, there was still no reaction from Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price spoke cautiously: It is hoped that “all representatives of the Israeli government will continue to uphold the values ​​of an open, democratic society,” he said. This includes tolerance and respect for all civil society, especially for Israel minorities.

The security situation remains tense

Some observers doubt that this will happen. Especially since the security situation is currently tense. There are almost daily clashes in the West Bank between violent Palestinians, radical settlers and the Israeli military.

Ori Struck of the Party of Religious Zionism, which is also likely to be part of the future government, says the current government must be replaced as soon as possible and a defense minister, a security cabinet and a government “that tackles terror the way it is heard”.

Officially, President Isaac Herzog will give the order to form a government in the week after next. Netanyahu would then have four to six weeks to conduct coalition negotiations and set up his government. Many observers expect that it could also go faster.