[1]Israeli Political Update

Friends --

Just over one year ago, eight parties from across Israel’s broad political
spectrum joined together in a governing union with one overriding goal:
Ending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 12 years in power.

For many in Israel, the United States and around the world, the notion
that a broad spectrum of political parties -- from right to left and
including Jewish and Arab Israelis -- could unite for the shared purpose
of defending democracy, was a hopeful sign.

Yesterday, after 372 days of relative stability, that coalition collapsed.

Ultimately, divisions between left and right, exacerbated by an ongoing
pressure campaign from Netanyahu’s right-wing opposition, pushed two
right-wing MK’s to defect, splintering the coalition's ability to renew
key legislation required to maintain Israel’s legal system in the West
Bank.

“If the settlements law expires there will be chaos,” Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett told Israelis. “We decided to go for elections in order to
prevent that."

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Speaking one after the other, the two leading coalition partners from the
right and center-left -- Prime Minister Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair
Lapid -- explained that the divorce was amicable, the terms clear.

The pair had agreed that the Knesset would vote this week to hold new
elections, that Lapid will assume the Prime Ministership for the caretaker
period, and that Israelis will likely go back to the polls, potentially in
October, for the fifth time in just four years.

"I will help Lapid to assume office in the most orderly fashion possible,”
Bennett pledged.

“Prime Minister Bennett has put the country before his own interests,”
Lapid said. “You are a friend and I love you.”

US Ambassador Tom Nides has confirmed that President Biden's trip to
Israel this July “will happen as planned" -- though it seems the president
will likely now be welcomed by a newly minted Prime Minister Lapid and a
government in caretaker mode.

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For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the government’s collapse as
“great news.”

The former Prime Minister, still standing trial for corruption charges,
now has yet another opportunity to regain the Prime Ministership after his
repeated failures to form a government plunged Israelis into a series of
deadlocked elections in recent years.

While it seems unlikely, Netanyahu may even be able to return to power
without new elections, if he’s able to stop the Knesset voting for new
elections and build a coalition within the current parliament, with
support from defected right-wing MKs.

While Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party continues to poll well ahead of
its competitors, the indicted former Prime Minister still faces an uphill
battle in pulling together a majority of lawmakers willing to back his
return.

Eulogies of the Bennett-Lapid government are still being written, but the
government not only ended Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 12 years in power, it
gave Israeli voters a glimpse of Jewish-Arab political partnership, not to
mention a 12-month reprieve from the ballot box.

While the coalition government passed a budget, achieved important
advancements for LGBT+ Israelis and pushed forward with secular reforms,
it also moved ahead with West Bank displacement, demolition and settlement
plans, despite strong protest from progressive and Arab coalition members.

As Israelis prepare for yet another protracted election campaign -- and as
Joe Biden prepares for his first trip to to the region as president -- J
Street will continue to press for clear, confident principled American
leadership to stand up for Israel’s democratic future, protect Palestinian
rights and ensure a free, equal and peaceful future for all.

Yours sincerely,

Adina Vogel Ayalon
Chief of Staff, J Street


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want
Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people.
Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we advocate policies that
advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish and democratic values,
leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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