What’s the Deal with Israel’s Election?

Israel has just completed its 8th elections in the last four years and it’s still a major talking point in the news. I think now’s a good time to address it. <br><br>Israeli politicians have found themselves in an absolutely tense position in the last few years. Why? Well, it’s the fault of two people, Netanyahu and Gantz.<br><br>Pro tip: if you call yourself a lefty but then join Bibi (right-wing) and then blame everyone else, you’re not being taken seriously. <br><br>In any case, we’ve got a lot of people asking us on this page about Israel’s election, so here’s what happened: <br><br>In 2021, the Israeli Parliament was divided into 58-62. 58 on the right/center-right side, and 62 on the center-left side. <br><br>The leader of the right wing coalition, Netanyahu, was trying to make a deal. However, he had a problem. His right-wing wasn’t extreme enough to get the 61 needed to rule. <br><br>His right wing was made up of 3 parties: Yamina (9 seats), Likud (30 seats), Shas (9 seats), UTJ (7 seats), RZP (6 seats). Then there’s the Arab parties Raam (5 seats), and Hadash (6 seats) and Labor (4 seats) who are more left. <br><br>So in order to get to 61, you need to get a 5 plank bridge. <br><br>Netanyahu couldn’t come to an agreement with Gantz and Saar, two center-right parties. He never once made an offer to either of them without these being back-doored or with a major catch. Then he finally came up with the idea - let’s give the Mansour Abbas the ministries he wants. <br><br>Gantz gave the offer, then pulled it back, then agreed to see it through. He didn’t want to actually have a government, he just wanted to be able to say “oh well, I gave you the chance.” <br><br>After months and a lot of tries, it never came through. It was time to move to a caretaker government - the current acting government. This was supposed to be the end of Netanyahu. <br><br>But they had it too good, Gantz was enjoying being the Defense Minister, Saar the Justice Minister. They didn’t actually want a government without Bibi. <br><br>So what did they do? They told Bibi to try and make one with Mansour Abbas, and they’d join. <br><br>Bibi knew this would never work, so he pretended to try. <br><br>Then it went to Yair Lapid, who didn’t want a government either, but he was too afraid to say no. Then Gantz again, then Bibi. <br><br>And now, here we are - November 2022. <br><br>It was the right that wanted a government the whole time. <br><br>I hope this explains things for you. One thing I can say for sure, us Israelis are very tired of this. We just want a government. <br><br>Even a center-left one… <br><br>Editor’s note: This post is written by u/Zorblort.