On Tuesday, Israelis will vote for the sixth time in only four years to select who will lead their nation. The elections will determine who will fill the 120 Knesset seats in Israel’s parliament. There are thirteen distinct political parties with candidates. One party might create a new government if it wins a simple majority of 61 seats, although it has been years since an Israeli election was won that easily.
Recent polls indicate that no party will obtain 61 Knesset members this week, thus the head of the party that receives the most votes will have the first opportunity to build a coalition government with other parties. If the party with the most votes is unable to form a coalition, the opportunity passes to the party in second place.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was removed last year after a decade in office, is requesting another chance at the nation’s highest office despite facing a corruption trial. On the other hand, current Prime Minister Yair Lapid hopes that his brief tenure as head of the caretaker administration that took over when Netanyahu was removed has demonstrated his leadership ability.
However, neither Netanyahu’s conservative Likud nor Lapid’s moderate Yesh Atid are likely to gain the 61 seats on their own. Therefore, both men will seek to establish coalitions with minor political groups in order to get the 61 Knesset seats necessary to form a government.
Israel may be forced to hold yet another election if both Netanyahu and Lapid are unable to secure sufficient backing from smaller parties. After the rapid succession of elections, with the majority of the populace wanting to put politics aside in favor of government, some smaller parties will seek to play kingmaker.
In surveys conducted prior to this week’s election, Netanyahu had a slight edge over Lapid. If the troubled former prime minister prevails in the polls, he may form a coalition with the emerging star of Israel’s far-right, current Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Ben-Gvir is the leader of the Otzma Yehudit party (Jewish Power). Ben-Gvir, a resident of a Jewish colony in Hebron and a disciple of the American-born ultranationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane, was elected to the parliament in 2021 at the final round of voting. Not long before that, he was a contentious figure on the fringes of Israel’s far right.
In 1995, he stole the Cadillac symbol from Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s automobile, which was his first moment in the spotlight. Ben-Gvir displayed the Cadillac emblem to a television camera and stated, “Just like we reached his automobile, we will reach him.”
Rabin was murdered a few weeks later by a Jewish ultranationalist.
Since then, Ben-Gvir has had numerous run-ins with the police and numerous court appearances. He was found guilty of inciting racism for his participation in crimes against Arabs and for his support of a Jewish nationalist terrorist group. When he was 18 years old, the Israel Defense Forces refused to conscript him.
Ben-Gvir attended law school and then successfully sued the Israeli government for making false accusations. Since then, he has defended far-right activists as an attorney.
As an activist, he gained popularity among marginalized groups in Israeli society, including young ultra-Orthodox Jews who felt they did not belong in the existing ultra-Orthodox establishment. Ben-Gvir became a hero in some impoverished neighborhoods, where he supported movements against foreign immigration, particularly from Africa. Additionally, he has advocated anti-LGBTQ beliefs.
Ben-Gvir has led the nationalist “March of the Flags” on Jerusalem Day, which has become a source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians, in recent years. The instability surrounding the march in 2021 led to a major battle between Israel and the Palestinian party Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The lawmaker has a history of showing up at any fight between Palestinians and Israelis in contested east Jerusalem, and even brandishing a firearm during such incidents.
For the upcoming elections, Ben-Gvir has teamed up with another right-wing party, National Duty, to ensure that both parties would receive enough votes to qualify for Knesset seats. Netanyahu aided in the formation of this alliance, aware that he will need both parties to join any coalition he aspires to establish.
With recent polls indicating that Ben-party Gvir’s may win more than a dozen seats, Netanyahu could even appoint his far-right friend to the cabinet if he forms the next government.
The ascent of Ben-Gvir has stoked alarm among center- and left-leaning Israelis. Some believe that he poses the greatest threat to Israel’s democracy ever.