Netanyahu renews call for unity government that includes Haredi parties

Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud party, has once more called for the formation of a national unity government, and said that such a government should also include the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, parties. Ynet reported in a news alert that he made the appeal without referring to any rotation arrangement, the kind of deal under which two leaders take turns serving as prime minister.

According to N12 political correspondent Dafna Liel, Netanyahu again invited the parties of the so-called change bloc to enter a government that would contain every party in the national bloc, with himself as prime minister. Political commentator Amit Segal reported that Netanyahu argued the largest party should lead a unity government, and then added that he was prepared to enter into discussion on the matter.

What a unity government means in Israel

Israel is governed by coalitions. No single party has ever won a majority in the Knesset, the country's parliament, on its own, so a prime minister needs the backing of several parties to govern. A unity government, in Israeli usage, is a coalition that brings together rival camps that would normally sit on opposite sides of the chamber, rather than one built only from a leader's natural allies.

Such arrangements have sometimes been built around rotation, in which the premiership is split between the heads of two partner parties for set periods. That is why Ynet singled out the fact that Netanyahu did not mention a rotation: in a unity offer, the question of who sits in the prime minister's chair, and for how long, is usually the central point of bargaining.

The two blocs

The terms used in the reports describe the two broad camps of Israeli politics in recent years. The national bloc refers to Netanyahu's Likud together with its right-wing and religious allies, including the Haredi parties. The change bloc is the label used for the parties opposed to Netanyahu continuing as prime minister, which span the political centre, parts of the right and parts of the left.

Netanyahu's offer, as N12 described it, would not replace any of his existing partners. Instead it asks parties from the opposing camp to join a government in which all the national bloc parties remain, under his leadership.

Why the Haredi parties matter

The Haredi parties represent ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities and have been long-standing partners of Netanyahu. Their place in government is a point of friction for several parties in the change bloc, which have disagreed with them on issues such as military service for ultra-Orthodox men and state funding for religious institutions. By stating that a unity government needs to include the Haredim, Netanyahu set out a condition that some of the parties he is courting have objected to in the past.

A leadership claim with a caveat

The reports differ in emphasis on how firm Netanyahu was about leading the government. N12's account presents the offer as one in which he would be prime minister. Segal's report records the same claim, framed as a principle that the largest party should head the government, but also notes that Netanyahu followed it by saying he was ready to talk. Segal wrote that it is unclear whether that willingness referred to discussing who would stand at the head of the government or which parties would be included in it. Ynet, for its part, highlighted only that rotation went unmentioned.

The word "again" appears in all three accounts: each describes this as a repeated appeal rather than a new initiative.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports carries a response from the leaders of the change bloc parties, or says whether any of them is willing to consider the offer. They do not quote Netanyahu's full remarks or say where he made them, and they do not resolve what he meant when he said he was open to discussion, in particular whether the question of who would lead the government is negotiable.