00:00Yossi Mekkelberg is associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.
00:05Yossi, welcome back.
00:06What does Israel's inconclusive election result tell us about the country just at this moment?
00:13Thank you for having me.
00:16It's as always, the voters actually are voting for different parties.
00:23They hand the politicians, it's a very difficult hand, then to form a coalition.
00:28But this is the reality right now.
00:30So it depends how you look at it.
00:32The one thing that is very clear is that the voters rejected Prime Minister Netanyahu and rejected his coalition.
00:41And the opposition has way more votes and more seats in the Knesset.
00:46The question is how the opposition actually circle many squares in order to work together.
00:54And here comes, you know, the elephant in the room is the sum of these parties refuse to form a
01:00government with parties that represent the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
01:05And at the end of the day, if they want to form a coalition, something must give.
01:10They need to sit seriously and see what they do next.
01:13First, the swirling of the Knesset, selecting a chair of the Knesset, and then negotiations.
01:21You're a seasoned observer of this part of the world.
01:23I mean, how realistic are the opposition's chances of forming a government, given what we've heard?
01:31I think how realistic and pragmatic, actually, the heads of the opposition in this sense, and, you know, someone like
01:40Lieberman, say he won't form a government, he won't be part of a government, whether it's the Arab parties or
01:47the ultra-orthodoxy at the end of the day.
01:50Unless he wants to live to another election in a matter of two or three months, they will have to
01:57be pragmatic about that and not dogmatic.
02:02I think this is the open gambit.
02:04But at the same time, I think there is an opportunity and there is a big risk.
02:08The opportunity is actually to have an inclusive government, including the Arabs.
02:14And the risk is, if this incitement by the government takes hold of the Israeli society and normalizes racism of
02:22a priori and categorically banning all Arab parties from government, then I think Israel is heading into a very bad
02:32way.
02:32You mentioned another election.
02:34I mean, do you honestly think Israel could face another election?
02:37And what would that mean for the country's stability?
02:40And would the outcome be any different if there was another election?
02:46So I think especially a country that is still involved in seven open forms, so divided, and we saw the
02:53toxicity of the election campaign.
02:56The last thing it needs is another election.
02:58It needs an alternative.
03:00It probably won't make huge difference, but in Israel, as in Israel, it's enough that two or three seats are
03:08moving from one side to another, and then you can form a government.
03:11But in the long term, I think there is instability, which is ingrained in the society, and this needs to
03:22be addressed.
03:23Where does all of this leave Benjamin Netanyahu and his political future?
03:29I think the way that he reacted to the success of the Arab parties shows his desperation to stay in
03:37power, and that he knows.
03:39He has been in this situation so many times.
03:43They know it is almost impossible for him to form a government unless some defects from the so-called Eisenhower
03:51bloc.
03:52So the way that he went all guns blazing with accusation against the Arab parties and fraud among the sector
04:01of the Israeli society showed that he is quite desperate, and for the opposition is to stay firm right now.
04:08And, yeah, if he doesn't manage to form a government, he's not the prime minister again, then it means he
04:15faces this corruption, a corruption trial without the protection of office.
04:21Yossi, I'm sure we'll talk again in the coming days for the moment.
04:25Thank you, Yossi Meckleberg, the Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
