Why the new coalition is the right choice for Israel

The viability of Israel’s historic coalition remains to be seen, but while no coalition is perfect, there is much to celebrate when it comes to the new unity government. For years, successive governments have been limited by a number of factors, an inefficient electoral system that fails to hold politicians accountable, special interests and corrupt politicians, and the disproportionate power of the ultra-Orthodox who have held the entire country hostage by pushing their extremist agenda at any cost. 

After four elections, Israel has been at a complete political stalemate with no leader able to form a government. But last week, against all odds, the unthinkable occurred – Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid was able to piece together a government with a combination of parties almost no one thought possible. While skeptics are certain the government won’t last, there’s more to this coalition than meets the eye.

One of the chief criticisms of the new coalition has been that the only unifying power is unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But what these critics are missing is that even if that was the only factor (which it is not), it would still be an important coalition with historical significance that moves the country forward. While ending Netanyahu’s rule is certainly a priority for all of these parties, each party comes with their own agenda items as well, and in a bizarre turn of events, the best option is achieving these agenda items together.

For Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu, they are successfully forming a government without the influence of the ultra-Orthodox and unseating Netanyahu in the process. Interestingly, Meretz and Labor share the same goals as Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu in this regard. By forming the government, all parties had to make compromises, such as Yair Lapid stepping aside to allow Naftali Bennett to serve as prime minister for the first two years before Lapid would switch with him. Additionally, Labor and Yamina had intensive debates over who will serve on the Judicial Selection Committee – Ayelet Shaked or Merav Michaeli. In the end a rotation scheme was agreed upon with the switching of other ministerial portfolios midway through the term. 

But perhaps the biggest surprise in the coalition is Ra’am, the Islamic party. While the Arab parties have been characterized by decades of political failure, Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am began changing their tune months ago when Abbas signaled he’d be willing to sit in a coalition with Prime Minister Netanyahu. 

The shift came on the heels of the Joint List’s abysmal failure to secure adequate resources for the Arab-Israeli community, or for that matter to push forward any of the interests of the Arab-Israeli community. Instead of focusing on the communities in need in Israel, the Joint List used their position in Knesset to bash Israel. Thanks to Mansour Abbas, those days, at least for now, appear to be over. By joining the coalition, Ra’am was able to negotiate NIS 53 billion in funding to Israeli-Arab communities, 10,000 new housing units, the legalization of three Bedouin villages, revision of the Kaminitz law including freezing relevant provisions until 2024, a government plan to combat violence in the Arab communities and to increase representation in the public sector, and more.

From an international perspective, this coalition breaks many records. It is the first time in decades that an Israeli Arab party has joined the coalition government, it breaks the record for the number of female ministers with eight, and it is the first time that a religious kippah-wearing Israeli will be prime minister (Naftali Bennett). This government will also have eight Israeli Arab MKs, an Israeli Arab minister, an Ethiopian Israeli minister, and the entire coalition itself is one-third Mizrahi origins. There are parties on the Left, Right and Center, religious and secular. 

So will this government actually be able to govern? In short, yes, but in a limited capacity – and here’s why: in order to ink these coalition deals to begin with, the major differences have already been brought up and ironed out. This means that from the start there are many issues which this government simply will not put on the legislative agenda because of the ideological disparities. Only when there is a future government able to address these controversial agenda items will they come up (in future elections). 

In the aftermath of the severe hostilities we’ve seen in recent weeks, the fact that so many divergent parties could come together to form a government is a positive step. Sadly, they are facing an unprecedented wave of extremist threats from every direction, with personal addresses and information being leaked, as well as the ultra-Orthodox urging their communities to do “anything necessary” to stop the coalition government from being sworn in. While the path to this government has been anything but smooth, the fact that extremists are united against it proves only one thing: that the coalition is on the right side of history.