In Israel, Opposition Politicians Urge Patience Even as Renewed Iran War Could Scramble Plans To Oust Netanyahu

Israeli politicians who ran on ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are urging patience, as a coalition-building process takes place — but would a renewed Iran war intervene?Officials in Washington are reportedly telling Arab allies to prepare for a short, intense military campaign against Iran’s nuclear and missile assets. Air defense batteries are being rushed to the Gulf, and a number of American aircraft landed in southern Israel Friday. Aside from the post-election impasse, Israelis are wondering about the possibility of a joint strike with American forces, which could be launched as early as next week, following Tuesday’s midterm elections. Vice President Vance, Qatar, and Turkey, are attempting to reach a last-minute diplomatic pact with Iran. At the same time, the commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, briefed President Trump on Thursday on options for military solutions to the Iran impasse. Following the election, meanwhile, Israel’s politicians risk a “March of Follies scenario, in which we take bad decisions knowing they’re bad decisions,” an author, Einat Wilf, whose small Reservists and Economy party failed to reach the threshold needed for Knesset membership, tells The New York Sun.Despite losing the election, Ms. Wilf says that her party’s agenda of moving beyond the blocs that have paralyzed Israel’s politics for years was the real message of the Tuesday vote. As neither side emerged victorious, she says, there is an opportunity to “form the government Israel needs: A broad, centrist Zionist government that would finally begin confronting the country’s fundamental challenges.”Yet members of Israel’s change bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, are hinting that together with Arab parties, including some that are decisively anti-Zionist, they would capture a Knesset majority first — and only then form a government. Mr. Netanyahu, in that case, would remain prime minister, perhaps moving against Iran, which has always been central to his agenda. The change bloc is signaling that ousting the prime minister tops its agenda even after an election that left it short of the desired Zionist majority in the Knesset. “Those days when Netanyahu used the reins of power against Israel’s interests and for his personal needs are over,” Mr. Eisenkot said in a video posted on social media.Regardless of a probe into suspected foreign interference in the Arab vote, Mr. Eisenkot said that the Knesset would be sworn in on time. The change bloc would start legislating a host of laws that the Likud had previously blocked. With 19 seats for the Arab parties Mr. Eisenkot would have enough support for such legislation. A government leaning on the Arab parties, though, is abhorrent to some members of the change bloc. Fulfilling the wishes of voters whose top agenda was ousting Mr. Netanyahu, therefore, could take a long time. Members of the change bloc are hinting that making a coalition without Mr. Netanyahu is possible.One idea is unity of the change bloc with Ra’am, the smaller of the two Arab parties, and one religious party that came out of the election weakened. “The time is right” to end Mr. Netanyahu’s hold on power, a leader of one party in the change bloc, Yair Lapid, wrote on X. “A watchmaker doesn’t make noise,” Mr. Lapid wrote on X Friday. “He sits with a magnifying glass, moves one gear, then another. In the end, the clock works. No one knows how he did it, or how long it took.” Meanwhile the clock is ticking. Hinting that he might prefer a renewed election, Mr. Netanyahu says he would not agree to a unity government in which he and Mr. Eisenkot would rotate as premier. He might conclude that successful strikes in Iran would improve his chance of winning an outright majority when a second vote is conducted, perhaps in April. Both sides seem to blindly march toward missing a “fantastic opportunity,” Ms. Wilf says. “The Orthodox parties are in an unprecedented weakness. Arab voters prefer non-Zionist leaders. Not having a broad Zionist coalition under these circumstances would afflict the country with the March of Follies syndrome.”

In Israel, Opposition Politicians Urge Patience Even as Renewed Iran War Could Scramble Plans To Oust Netanyahu

In Israel, Opposition Politicians Urge Patience Even as Renewed Iran War Could Scramble Plans To Oust Netanyahu

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