Rightwing ‘Big Bang’ hits Israeli politics

ISRAEL: The rightwing alliance between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his foreign minister has polarised political forces in Israel ahead of next January’s parliamentary election.

Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman’s surprise announcement late on Thursday that their respective Likud and Yisrael Beitenu parties would run on a joint ticket was dubbed “the rightwing Big Bang” by the Israeli press.

Alongside the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, the premier’s right-wing Likud -- already predicted to win the vote -- would be able to form a broad nationalist bloc leaning strongly to the right.

Such a move would also allow Netanyahu to overcome, to some degree, the chronic instability of past coalition governments in the country. “Israel needs a strong coalition government based on a political list based on genuine cooperation,” Netanyahu said on Thursday evening.

“We ask the people to support strengthening the state, and I want a clear mandate so I can take care of the basic” issues.

Israeli media quoted a survey by an adviser to Lieberman, according to which the joint list would receive 51 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, when the votes are cast on January 22. Other polls, however, predict an outcome of less than 42 seats, the current combined number of Likud (27) and Yisrael Beitenu (15), the third largest political force in the Knesset.

AFP