Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was about to declare early elections but decided against it at the last minute, decided at the last-minute, over indications from his advisors that President Reuven Rivlin does not intend to assign to him the task of forming the next government even should his Likud party win, Israel Hayom reported Wednesday.
The Israeli president’s most important role is to help lead the process of forming a government. Israel’s electoral system has yet to produced a majority party in any election so far, so after each election, the president consults with party leaders to determine who is most likely to succeed in cobbling together a majority coalition—historically this has usually been the leader of the largest party. But in the end it is the president who decides whom to turn to with the assignment.
One the most memorable occasions when the leader of the largest party was not assigned the role of gathering a coalition government was during the 18th Knesset, when Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, won 28 seats, one seat ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud, but no party other than Kadima itself recommended Livni for the job – which went to Netanyahu.
According to Israel Hayom, sources close to Rivlin have suggested to people in Netanyahu’s circle that in case of a big Likud win the President plans to turn to another Likud member to assemble a coalition because of the six or so corruption cases pending against Netanyahu. Should the Likud win by only a few seats, the President would approach the leader of a different party altogether.
Not one to leave much to chance, the PM, who is in competition with the late David Ben Gurion for the longest term at the helm, turned to Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem, who will submit an amendment to the election law which narrows down the president’s authority considerably, directing him to approach only the leader of a party, and only based on recommendations from other parties which are likely to form a majority coalition.
The President’s residence issued a response on Wednesday suggesting Netanyahu’s recent move was anchored in sheer paranoia.
I guess we’ll never know.