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AzIz director: Benjamin Netanyahu has more chances to form gov’t

11 April 2019 13:51 (UTC+04:00)
AzIz director: Benjamin Netanyahu has more chances to form gov’t

By Trend

The current Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has more chances to form a government, Lev Spivak, director general of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association AzIz, told Trend commenting on the parliamentary elections in Israel.

He said that according to the laws of Israel, if no party gains an absolute majority of votes (61 mandates) following the election, the country’s president will order one of the parties with the most votes to form a government.

He noted that in the coming days, the president of Israel will consult with the heads of parties that entered the parliament.

“The party that gains more votes in a closed voting will receive a mandate to form a government,” Spivak said.

He noted that in order to form a stable government, it is necessary to have a coalition in parliament and get 61 votes.

“There are 120 MPs in the Israeli parliament, and in order to form a government, each of these parties should attract other parties to the coalition,” he said. “The fact is that it will be very difficult for the Kachol Lavan party (the Blue and White, named after the colors of the Israeli flag), the only clear slogan of which was “We are ready for anything, but not with Netanyahu”, to abandon its beliefs and make an alliance with Netanyahu.”

Spivak stressed that Kahol Lavan appeared only two months ago as a result of the merger of three parties and one invited general.

The leading figures in the party are well-known Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, who was previously a member of the Knesset of the two convocations and minister, and three former chiefs of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces in reserve.

“Of course, the party couldn’t create a clear program within two months that could be submitted to the voters,” he said. “They got such a big number of votes through the statements against Netanyahu.”

“Presently, Benjamin Netanyahu’s party "Likud" also has 35 seats in the parliament, but its natural allies are "Shas" party with eight mandates,” he said.

Spivak added that another party called the Union of Right-Wing Parties is also a bloc that emerged on the eve of the elections.

“The bloc, which united several small parties, received five seats in the parliament,” he said.

“The common features of these parties are that, firstly, they are right-wing parties, I would even say the far-right-wing parties, which has been indicated even in their names,” he said. “Secondly, they are very religious parties. These are five more mandates. In total, Netanyahu has 48 guaranteed mandates.”

“Yadut HaTorah party, which gained eight seats in the parliament, also positions itself as a right-wing party, even though it was in the past with the left-wing parties in the government,” Spivak said.

“Nevertheless, the party is more inclined to ally itself with the right, which gives Netanyahu 8 more mandates. However, Israel Our Home, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, will have the final word in any case, as none of the sides will manage without its 5 mandates," Spivak noted.

According to him, all sociological polls during the election campaign showed that Israel Our Home will not pass the electoral barrier. In many polls, the party was not included at all, which was something perceived by many as a frank provocation.

“Generally speaking, pre-election polls in Israel have recently turned from a means of understanding the current situation into a tool for agitation. Nonetheless, Lieberman’s convincing victory showed that he was doing the right thing and took the right course,” he said.

Spivak noted that, taking into account all that has been stated, it can be said that the results of the Israeli elections are not yet clear, and the intriguing situation in the country will continue for another month and a half, until a government is finally formed.

Parliamentary elections began in Israel on April 9 of this year.

As of now, the right-wing Likud party headed by Netanyahu and the opposition centrist block Kahol-lavan are in the lead. According to the website of the Central Election Commission of Israel, both parties won 29.2 percent of the vote after the processing of 97 percent of the votes.

In the coming days, once the official final results of the voting are known, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will consult with all parties that have overcome the electoral barrier, and will choose the party with the most support in the Knesset to form the government.

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