Jerusalem - Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was quick to declare himself winner of last month's
Israeli election, but he now has until Wednesday to appease an
erstwhile ally, form a government and avoid a possible rematch.
The man at the centre of the crisis in Netanyahu's
coalition-building, former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman,
is sticking to his guns in a stalemate over military draft
exemptions for Jewish seminary students.
The brinkmanship six weeks after the April 9 election poses
another challenge to the decade-long reign of the right-wing
leader some Israelis have hailed as "King Bibi" and deepens
political uncertainty in a country riven with division.
Barring a breakthrough, Israel could hold a new election,
with parliament already making initial moves towards a fresh
poll and legislators proposing September for the national vote.
Without the support of Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beitenu
party, which has five seats in the 120-member Knesset, Netanyahu
cannot put together a majority government led by his Likud
party. Under a deadline mandated by law, he has until 2100 GMT
on Wednesday to announce a new administration.
Political commentators were hedging their bets.
Protesters hold signs as they take part in a rally calling upon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down in Tel Aviv. File picture: Amir Cohen/Reuters
"Netanyahu is a wounded animal. The man is fighting for his
life, and we shouldn't make light of his abilities," columnist
Yossi Verter wrote in the left-wing Haaretz daily on Tuesday.
Rivals had already smelled blood in the water when Israel's
attorney general said in February he intends to charge Netanyahu
in three graft cases. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing,
saying he is the victim of a political witch-hunt.
But in the closely contested April election, Netanyahu -
dubbed "crime minister" by his opponents - appeared on course
for a fifth term as head of a right-wing bloc.
All it would take, according to conventional wisdom, was the
usual wheeling and dealing on cabinet posts and allied factions'
pet projects.
Few imagined Netanyahu would not put a coalition together,
even after he asked for and received a two-week extension to an
original 28-day deadline.
WILD CARD
Suddenly, Lieberman became a wild card and the clock was
ticking, with Netanyahu facing a scenario in which President
Reuven Rivlin could pick another legislator to try to form a
government if he failed.
"A lot can be done in 48 hours," Netanyahu said on Monday
after parliament gave initial approval to a motion to dissolve
itself.
"The voters' wishes can be respected, a strong right-wing
government can be formed," he said.
If efforts to break the political deadlock fail, parliament
would take a final vote on an election on Wednesday. A new
ballot would mean Rivlin could not choose someone else to put
together a governing coalition.
But political commentators said it was still unclear if
Netanyahu could muster the required 61 votes to pass the motion.
The ball would then be in Rivlin's court, leaving Netanyahu, who
last lost an election in 1999, on unfamiliar sidelines looking
in.
Lieberman, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, began
his climb up the Israeli political ladder as a Netanyahu aide
and has long insisted ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students
share other Israeli Jews's burden of compulsory military
service.
That has put him at odds with United Torah Judaism in the
coalition negotiations, a schism that has played well with
Lieberman's support base of Russian-speakers - some of them
non-Jews under Orthodox criteria who came to Israel under a
right of return for anyone claiming at least one Jewish
grandparent.
"Yisrael Beitenu's only motive is standing on principle and
the commitments we made to the public before, during and after
the election," Lieberman said on Tuesday.
But for long-time Lieberman watchers, it's a clear power
play by a bare-knuckle politician who once worked as a nightclub
bouncer and now seeks, according to Deputy Foreign Minister
Tzipi Hotovely of Likud, to seize control of the "national
camp".
"According to Lieberman's calculations, Netanyahu's time in
power is nearing its end. To preserve his own, he knows this is
the moment to jump ship," Anshel Pfeffer, who wrote a biography
of Netanyahu, said in Haaretz.
"And he's doing so carefully, choosing a matter of principle
- the military draft law ... as the issue on which to break with
Netanyahu."
On Twitter on Monday, US President Donald Trump weighed in
on the internal Israeli political dispute, expressing support
for an ally he calls by his nickname.
"Hoping things will work out with Israel's coalition
formation and Bibi and I can continue to make the alliance
between America and Israel stronger than ever," Trump tweeted,
using Netanyahu's nickname. "A lot more to do!"
Both leaders have been in lockstep over policy towards the
Palestinians, who have accused Trump of being partial towards
Israel, and Iran. Netanyahu featured Trump in election
billboards placed prominently in Israeli cities.