In the same late April poll,


Gantz’s National Unity Par- ty would win 29 seats in the 120-member Knesset, down two seats in just one week, while Netanyahu’s conserva- tive Likud party would win 21 seats. Neither leader can govern


without forging a coalition government, and that is where things get tricky. Netanyahu’s coalition in-


cludes two ultra-Orthodox par- ties, Shas and United Torah Ju- daism. They have threatened to leave the government if the IDF changes its policy toward conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews, which allows them to serve in segregated units. It also includes parties led


by national security hawks Bezalel Smotrich, who cur- rently serves as finance min- ister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, who have issued similar warn- ings to bring down the gov- ernment if Netanyahu caves to Biden administration de- mands that he agree to an in- definite cease-fire with Hamas in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages. Gantz’s supporters have


called on him to the leave the government, but given that Netanyahu had a 62-vote ma- jority in the Knesset before he joined the war cabinet, that would likely have little impact on early elections. Danny Seaman, a former


head of the government press office under several center- right governments, told Newsmax that none of the


62 NEWSMAX | JUNE 2024


conservative parties currently supporting Netanyahu will take the risk of forcing early elections, which otherwise are scheduled for October 2026. “The government is stable,


and the coalition parties know their voters will not take kindly to anyone making an excuse, for any reason, for toppling the government,” Seaman said. “This is true at any point, but especially as we are at war. “They expect the govern-


ment to do what they set out to do. Total and complete destruction of Hamas. The


return of as many of the hos- tages as possible. Eliminating the threat from Gaza and also from Hezbollah, allowing dis- placed Israelis to return home without further threat.” More than 200,000 Israelis


displaced from their homes by the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7 remain in hotels, with friends or family, or in temporary shel- ters.


And because of rocket at-


tacks from Iranian proxy Hez- bollah in Lebanon, the north- ern third of Israel remains shut down, as it was during


LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES


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