Netanyahu Eyes Comeback as Bennett's Government Loses Majority

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suddenly the favorite to mount a comeback after current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett lost the majority he needs to hold his coalition together with a key defection on Wednesday.

As Breitbart News reported:

Israel’s government looked set to crumble Wednesday after coalition whip Idit Silman announced she is quitting to form a new government, causing the ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to lose its majority.

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Silman, who is a member of Knesset in Bennett’s Yamina party, chose to defect after she clashed with Israel’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz over his order to hospitals to allow visitors and patients to bring in non-kosher-for-Passover food, known as hametz, during Passover — thereby contravening Jewish law.

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Losing its 61-MK majority means the ruling coalition government would require support by the opposition, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in order to advance any legislation.

Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., told Alex Marlow on Breitbart News Daily on Wednesday that Netanyahu was considered likely to lead the next government, perhaps through new elections.

Netanyahu was ousted last year after several elections in which right-wing parties won a majority but could not form a coalition because some leaders would not work with Netanyahu, who faced controversial corruption charges. Though still on trial, Netanyahu has put up a spirited defense that has exposed the emptiness of much of the case against him.

In a stunning development earlier this year, much of the evidence against Netanyahu was found to have been the product of phone hacking, which stunned the Israeli public and lent weight to the impression that Netanyahu had been unfairly targeted.

Bennett’s small Yamina party negotiated to lead the Israeli government at the head of a hodgepodge of parties, including an Arab party. The country successfully navigated the omicron wave of the coronavirus, and has played a mediating role in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. However, Bennett’s voter approval ratings have remained steadfastly low.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.