Skip to main content

Netanyahu facing greater ultra-Orthodox political appetite

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a hard time finding common ground between the large ultra-Orthodox bloc in the Knesset and secular hard-liner Avigdor Liberman.
RTX6RLLN.jpg
Read in 

The real surprise of the April 9 elections was not the impressive result achieved by the new Blue and White party (with 35 Knesset seats) or even the burning out of the New Right party. It was the rise of the ultra-Orthodox parties. The Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox Shas party, led by Knesset member Aryeh Deri, increased its Knesset seats from seven to eight despite assessments and predictions that it would get barely enough votes to enter the Knesset. The Ashkenazi Yahadut HaTorah party will have eight seats in the 21st Knesset, two more than the 2015 elections gave it.

With 16 seats in the 120-member Knesset, the ultra-Orthodox bloc is third in size after the Likud's 35 seats and Blue and White's 35. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot muster a majority for a coalition government without it. Blue and White, dubbed "the generals" party because of the three former army chiefs at its helm — Benny Gantz, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi — understands the clout wielded by this bloc. After the polls closed, party leader Benny Gantz called Deri and Yahadut HaTorah leader Moshe Gafni to suggest they join a coalition with him as Israel’s next prime minister. The two declined, announcing they would go with Netanyahu as they had promised throughout the campaign.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.