The March 23 Israeli election results have the public in suspense, but the question is not who will be declared the official winner. Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu and his Likud party will win and win handily. Of this, there is no doubt. However, the complicated nature of Israeli politics is making his chances of forming a majority coalition very questionable.
Here to provide expert commentary on the election results in Israel and their ramifications for us is David Rubin, the former Mayor of Shiloh, who also happens to be the author of six books, including “Trump and the Jews”.
Suggested Questions:
- Mayor Rubin, can you please start by explaining the expected winners and losers? Netanyahu and his Likud party, as the easy recipient of the most votes, will be officially declared the winner of this election. Of that there is no doubt.
- Doesn’t that mean that he will definitely continue to be prime minister of Israel? Not necessarily! After the election, the ten party leaders (Yes, there are actually ten parties in the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament) make their recommendations to the President of Israel of who they think has the best chance of forming a majority coalition of 61 or more Knesset members. By the way, the presidency in Israel is a ceremonial post akin to the Queen of England, except that the Israeli president doesn’t have problematic children and grandchildren. Anyhow, the president awards the leader that receives the most recommendations from party leaders with the task of trying to form a solid governing coalition of at least 61 Knesset members from a variety of political parties.
- Will Netanyahu receive that task of forming the coalition? Yes, based on the results, he will receive the task, but that doesn’t mean he will succeed. The problem is that even though there will be over 70 right-leaning members in this new Knesset (Parliament), the right-leaning Netanyahu may not be able to get the minimum of 61 Knesset members to join his coalition.
- Wait a second, if Netanyahu is right-of-center and over 70 Knesset members are also right-of-center how is that possible? The problem for Netanyahu is that this is the most personalized election in Israel’s history and there are two moderate-sized right-of-center parties that have bad blood with Netanyahu and have sworn not to join a potential Netanyahu-led coalition, making his chances of forming a majority coalition very questionable. In the coming days, there will be intense negotiations and pressure on the politicians to compromise. If that doesn’t happen, we may, believe it or not, be headed for another election.
- Do you really think that’s going to happen? I certainly hope not, but, as it says in the Bible, we Jews are a stiff-necked (or stubborn) people, and Israeli politicians are even more stiff-necked, than everyone else.
- In your most recent book, “Trump and the Jews”, you explained a lot about some of the challenges that Israel faces every day. Where can people get a copy? They can go to the website www.DavidRubinIsrael.com , or just go to Amazon and type in the words, “Trump and the Jews”.
About Mayor David Rubin:
David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books.
Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack.
He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org
CONTACT: Celinda Hawkins (432) 349-2736 cemison@gmail.com
