Netanyahu Says He’s Formed New Government Minutes Before Deadline

Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem on Nov. 2, 2022. Ammar Awad/Reuters

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially formed a new government and notified Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Netanyahu had until midnight on Dec. 21 to form the government after winning the election in November, securing his sixth term as prime minister.

“I got it,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter 10 minutes before the deadline.

“I was able to establish a government that will work for the benefit of all Israeli citizens,” he noted in a separate tweet, alongside a brief clip of him smiling while on the phone with Herzog, informing him of the development.

The announcement followed 38 days of negotiations between Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious partners, who still need to finalize their power-sharing deals with the prime minister and the Likud party.

Under new Israeli law, the new government must be sworn in within a week of the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, being notified.

Netanyahu told Herzog that he planned to complete the process “as quickly as possible,” but didn’t provide a specific date, according to The Times of Israel. Herzog thanked Netanyahu and wished him good luck, telling him that “the obligation is to work for the entire Israeli people and public.”

“I hope you will all join up for this mission at this time,” Herzog said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (R) walks next to Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu at the president's residency in Jerusalem on Nov. 13, 2022. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

New Government Pushes Sweeping New Policies

In the new Israeli government, Netanyahu will preside over a coalition of conservative and religious parties, including the parties of Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, and Noam, which are aiming to usher in new far-reaching policies, including an expected proposal that would allow the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court decisions.

The policies are expected to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported.

Another controversial measure would allow veteran politician Aryeh Deri—Netanyahu’s senior coalition partner and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party—to serve as a cabinet minister in the government.

Deri, who once served a prison sentence in a bribery case, is currently on probation for another conviction earlier this year on tax offenses.

Netanyahu’s coalition partners have also demanded that the new minister of national security be granted unprecedented authority over the police.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who’s known for being a hardliner, has called for a relaxing of the rules of engagement from police that would allow law enforcement officials to shoot at suspected Palestinian assailants and be granted immunity from prosecution in such cases. Ben-Gvir is widely expected to be elected as national security minister.

He also wants to ease restrictions on Jewish visits to Jerusalem’s most contested holy site. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, also known as al-Haram al-Sharif, is regarded as the third-holiest site in Islam and an emotional symbol for the Palestinians.

Israeli soldiers take positions during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Azzun in the north of the occupied West Bank after the funeral of Yahya Adwan, who was killed during an overnight Israeli army operation, on April 30, 2022. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

However, given that it sits on a sprawling esplanade that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount—the holiest site in Judaism—the area has long been contested by Israelis and Palestinians, leading to numerous clashes that have often turned violent.

The Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip has warned Ben-Gvir to not go ahead with those plans.

Other measures would allow incoming Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, known for his Jewish supremacist rhetoric, to serve as a minister in the Defense Ministry, Axios reported.

Washington has said that it will gauge the new Israeli government “by the policies it pursues rather than individual personalities.”

“We will hold [the Israeli government] to the mutual standards we have established in our relationship over the past seven decades,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference on Dec. 4. “And we will speak honestly and respectfully with our Israeli friends, as partners always should.”

Yohanan Plesner, a former Knesset member who’s now president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, said he anticipates that a “stable” coalition will come into power over the coming days.

“It’s in the interest of all members of the new coalition to form this government,” he said. “All of them have a lot to gain and much to lose if it’s not formed.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.