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What happened: Yesterday Israel marked the 27^th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Ceremonies were held at the gravesite on Mount Herzl and in the Knesset.

• Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid said, “As fate would have it, this commemoration for Yitzhak Rabin takes place only a few days after the State of Israel held elections and emerged from them once again divided, angry, and threatening to split into ‘us and them’.  There is no ‘us and them’, only us. Rabin’s murder was an attempt at assassinating the very notion of us living together….. We are here together. Religious and secular, right-wing, left-wing and centrist. Our differences of opinion are deep, they are real and sometimes necessary, but above all else – we have a shared responsibility. The IDF is all of ours. The police are all of ours. The legal system is all of ours. The Bible is all of ours.”
• Likud leader and presumed incumbent prime minister Netanyahu also struck a conciliatory tone saying, “The elections are over, and as the dust of discord between both political camps settles, we must come out of the trenches and work together. Differences won’t disappear, and that’s fine. We have profound disagreements on several issues, which need to be addressed with responsibility and consideration. It’s okay to argue, we don’t need to agree on everything, but at the same time, we do need to know what to agree on.”
• President Herzog spoke about mutual responsibility, which some interpreted as nudge towards forming a national unity government, however, Lapid later dismissed the idea saying, “The government that I head lost the elections….People who believe in Israeli democracy when they win must also believe in it when they lose. There is no scenario, no situation, in which we will be part of the new government. We will fight for our worldview and for the values of the huge public that voted for us from the opposition.”
• Leader of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich stirred up controversy when he addressed the Knesset saying, “It wasn’t harsh words that led to the murder of the prime minister, rather, it was a despicable murderer, Yigal Amir. The people who failed to protect him weren’t members of the right wing and religious Zionists,  weren’t settlers, rather, it was the Shin Bet Security Service, which not only failed to protect him, it also made use of irresponsible manipulations that have not been revealed fully to this day, in order to encourage the murderer to commit his evil deed.”
• Smotrich’s comments were widely condemned. Defence Minister Gantz responded saying, “Accusations against the Shin Bet are a conspiracy that must be deleted from the public conversation and not be mentioned by public leaders and future senior ministers.”

Context: In the background over the weekend, Netanyahu began preliminary negotiations with his presumed coalition partners.

• Netanyahu’s most reliable partner is Shas leader Aryeh Deri.  It is hoped he will be a moderating factor in the new government and is expected to be given first pick of the portfolios.
• United Torah Judaism are expected to maintain their stance of not seeking cabinet ministers. Instead they are likely to return to chairing the Knesset’s finance committee and other deputy ministry positions.
• Despite hosting separate gatherings on election night Religious Zionist leader Smotrich and head of Jewish Power  Itamar Ben Gvir have said they intend to negotiate as a single political unit.  Their declared shared goals are to “restore governance and personal security, to make the necessary reforms to the justice system, to strengthen Jewish identity.”
• Smotrich is understood to want either the finance or defence ministries.  However, Netanyahu has  previously stated he will keep those positions for the Likud.
• However some in Likud believe that Netanyahu was likely to keep the defence portfolio and several other ministerial portfolios for himself, to later incentivise others from the centrist parties to join his coalition.
• Ben Gvir has announced that he want to be the minister public security, which has responsibility for the police.  He is also asking for budgetary increase to upgrade the police, hire new officers, to raise police officers’ salaries and to open new police stations.
• In an effort to reassure concerned Israelis,  Ben Gvir wrote an oped today in the Israel Hayom newspaper addressing, “Friends on the left: we are brothers!” He further wrote, “I’ve heard all the people reminding me about [hood] ornament from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s [car] (from 27 years ago!) and the portrait of Baruch Goldstein, but I’d like to remind you of the path I’ve travelled since then and the change: I’ve matured, I’ve become more moderate and I’ve come to understand life is more complicated. Today I don’t make generalisations about all Arabs.”
• As well as satisfying his coalition partners Netanyahu faces competing demands within his own Likud party.  For example, several prominent Likud MKs have demanded the finance portfolio for themselves.
• Netanyahu has also tried to reassure the LGBTQ+ community, relaying a message that no harm would be done to their rights, including their right to demonstrate and express themselves in the pride parade, and that the civil status quo will be maintained. In Ben Gvir’s oped he also wrote, “even though I may not be thrilled by the parade, I will make sure that the lives of the people participating in it are fully protected.”

Looking ahead  Netanyahu is expected to meet Ben Gvir this afternoon.

• In parallel Netanyahu’s trial will also resume today.
• On Wednesday, President Herzog will begin formal process of consultations with all party leaders, before handing over the mandate to Netanyahu to form a coalition.
• Following their congratulatory phone call, it is anticipated that Netanyahu’s first overseas visit will be to see French President  Macron.