Bibi is Back in the Saddle

It once seemed impossible, then unlikely, and now it is happening. Benjamin Netanyahu, also known as Bibi, Israel’s Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, is about to serve again in that capacity after winning Israel’s latest round of elections. On November 13th, Israel’s president Isaac Herzog handed Bibi a mandate to form Israel’s 37th government. Netanyahu has up to six weeks from that day to do so. Israel’s democracy derives its authority from one legislative body, the Knesset, requiring its ongoing “confidence” to remain in power. No political party in Israel holds a majority of Knesset seats, so Israel’s prime minister must routinely complete a bargaining process with leaders of other factions to form a government. It is a frustrating process, requiring compromise on all sides. Politics make strange bedfellows, the adage goes, and bedfellows come no stranger than in Israel. Bibi has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to form curious coalitions, a knack for which he has been both admired and reviled.