Iran war fears complicate Israel's race to form a new government

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

As Israel's new Knesset opened its first session following the legislative elections and its members were sworn in, Gadi Eisenkot's efforts to form a new government gained further momentum.

However, those efforts continue to face obstacles, including disagreements within Eisenkot's own Change bloc over which parties should be brought into the coalition to secure a parliamentary majority: Arab parties or ultra-Orthodox parties.

Eisenkot's main objective is to form a broad-based national unity government that includes Arab parties. 

However, his ally, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, wants a Zionist coalition allied with ultra-Orthodox parties, despite their outright refusal to serve in the military and their demands for written guarantees safeguarding their interests. Lieberman also rejects any form of Arab support, whether from within the coalition or from outside it.

Amid the disagreement between the two, Benjamin Netanyahu moved to propose forming a national unity government under his leadership.

Against the backdrop of these divisions, Israeli media reported that Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List (Ra'am), the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, had agreed to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization in exchange for being included in the government. Meanwhile, Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen stressed that his bloc would serve as a safety net for the government.

While attention remains focused on the fate of the next government, concerns are growing that the political deadlock could push Netanyahu toward what security officials have described as a rash move: launching a war against Iran to strengthen his chances of forming a unity government.

These concerns have been reinforced by reports that Netanyahu has been exerting intense, daily pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to give him the green light for such an attack.