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What’s happening: Likud MK Yariv Levin is expected to be elected as the temporary speaker of the Knesset. This will finally give the incoming coalition control of the legislative process.

• On Friday President Herzog agreed to extend Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government by ten days.
• Herzog wrote to Netanyahu: “You said that you would form a government that would act on behalf of the entire public… Therefore, and in the spirit of your above-cited statements, I wish to repeat the call I issued on the day the Knesset was sworn in for the government that is formed to act on behalf of the entire Israeli public, and that the emerging coalition adhere to respectful and responsible dialogue.”
• Over the weekend, the outgoing Prime Minister Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party and the Labour Party already began protesting the incoming government at various bridges and junctions. Lapid himself attended one of the demonstrations in Tel Aviv. He told the crowd, “We are here to tell the new government that is being formed that we aren’t your suckers. We aren’t here only to pay you taxes and to send our children to the army for a government that doesn’t send its own children to the army. Avi Maoz, who hates LGBTQs and hates women, won’t educate our daughters; and Itamar Ben Gvir, a violent criminal who was convicted of supporting terrorism and didn’t serve a single day in the army, isn’t going to send our children into battle. What’s being formed now is neither a Likud government nor a right-wing government; it’s the most extreme and the most insane government in the country’s history. Netanyahu is weak, and partners who are younger than him, more determined than him and more radical than him, have defeated him unconditionally. But we aren’t going to surrender. We are here to stay.”

Context: Levin is considered one of the Likud MKs closest to incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu. He has served as the Likud’s lead negotiator during the coalition negotiations.

• Levin will only be a temporary appointment because the Likud leadership could not agree to a permanent candidate at this stage. There are several Likud MKs vying for the position but it is dependent on the allocation of other ministerial positions that has not yet been decided.
• The election of a new speaker is an essential step to forming the next government. Once in control of parliamentary proceedings they plan to pass a series of new laws before the government can be sworn in.  These include:
  • An amendment to Basic Law: Government to allow Shas leader Deri to serve as minister (despite being convicted last year on tax offences). The new amendment will make a distinction between a suspended prison service (that Deri received last year) and serving prison time (that happened to Deri in the past).
  • An amendment that would give Ben Gvir expanded powers over the police. Ben Gvir is set to be appointed national security minister. Among the expanded powers, he is seeking to place the police’s annual budget under his discretional purview. He also wants more direct oversight over the police commissioner.
  • Legislation that would move control over the Civil Administration (in the West Bank) and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, from the ministry of defence to Smotrich in the finance ministry.
• Levin himself is considered the lead candidate to become justice minister. However, recent speculation has suggested his desire for judicial reform may be too extreme for Netanyahu.
• From the outside a relatively homogeneous right wing religious coalition should have been easier to assemble. However, Israeli media is rife with speculation over disagreements and mistrust within the Likud faction and among the future coalition partners.

Looking ahead:  The first stage today will be for the Likud parliamentary faction to elect MK Yariv Levin as their candidate to serve as temporary Knesset speaker. Once approved by the faction, Levin’s nomination will be put to a vote in the Knesset plenum.

• The new coalition then intends to pass several pieces of legislation within the next few days.
• The plan is for these bills to pass their second and third readings by next week, to then allow the new government to be announced ahead of the December 21 deadline.
• After informing the president, Netanyahu will have an additional seven days to formally swear-in the new government.