The election results make one thing clear: neither of the Zionist “blocs” has won a decisive victory. A narrow government drawn from only one side of the political map will most likely be impossible to form.
And even if Benjamin Netanyahu manages to assemble a narrow coalition resembling the outgoing government, that would be deeply damaging to Israel. Such a government would continue to govern on behalf of one camp and against the other, while turning Israel into an international pariah – at precisely the moment when the challenges facing the country demand broad political partnership.
And those challenges are immense.
The Iranian threat has not disappeared and may remain with us for years. Along Israel’s borders – north, south, and east – the threats persist and require constant vigilance. Internationally, boycotts and sanctions against Israel are spreading and already having tangible effects.
The domestic picture is no less troubling. Israel’s social divisions run deep, and public trust in state institutions has been worn dangerously thin. Both undermine the country’s ability to mobilize society around a common purpose.
As long as most young haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men do not serve in the military and haredi participation in the workforce remains limited, the community’s demographic growth threatens Israel’s ability to sustain both a strong economy and a strong military.
In the Negev and Galilee, the state has largely lost the ability to govern effectively. And in Judea and Samaria, Jewish rioters are attacking innocent people, undermining the rule of law, and damaging Israel’s standing abroad.
Faced with these challenges, Israel needs a broad Zionist government. Such a government can – and should – be built around clear principles reflecting agreement on the major issues confronting the country. Creating it will require concessions from every partner, including backing away from some campaign promises.
Externally, the first task is a determined, united struggle against Israel’s enemies. The war that began on October 7 demonstrated that Israeli society knows how to mobilize when necessary. But it also showed how political division can impede the conduct of war. The confrontation with Iran and its proxies will continue for years, and prevailing in it will require broader unity than Israel has known in recent years.
The second challenge is restoring Israel’s international legitimacy – above all in Europe and among Democrats in the US, but also among the American public at large and parts of the Republican Party.
For decades, American support for Israel rested on a bipartisan consensus. Its erosion, particularly among Democrats, threatens that foundation. Israel is, strategically speaking, an island state. It cannot afford to remain a partisan issue in Washington and a target of boycotts in European capitals.
A change in the character of its government could, in itself, begin to reverse this trend. Without such a shift – and if sanctions continue to spread – Israel’s ability to maintain a prosperous economy, and perhaps ultimately even to survive, will come under growing strain.
Integrating haredim into Israeli society
At home, the government must commit to haredi military service and fuller integration into the workforce and Israeli society. It should advance a thin constitution establishing the basic rules governing relations among the branches of government and allowing the struggle over the judiciary to be brought to an end.
It must restore governance and law enforcement in the Negev and Galilee. And it must act decisively to eradicate Jewish terrorism in Judea and Samaria while pursuing policies there that also take their international consequences into account. It should also establish a commission of inquiry.
The Zionist enterprise has always been a joint undertaking of those who see the State of Israel as the indispensable answer to the challenge of Jewish existence. Despite profound disagreements, Israel’s leaders have known how to join forces when the country’s future was at stake.
They did so on the eve of the Six Day War, when a national unity government was formed. And they did so again in 1984, when another unity government brought runaway inflation under control and withdrew the IDF from most of Lebanon.
The future of the Zionist enterprise today likewise depends on the willingness of the major Zionist political forces to join hands. The election results place a heavy responsibility on Zionist parties on both sides of the political divide. This will not be anyone’s dream government. But Israel cannot afford endless rounds of elections.
Zionist leaders must stop ruling one another out and form a government capable of confronting the challenges that threaten Israel’s future.
Dr. Shuki Friedman is director general of the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and a senior lecturer in law at the Peres Academic Center.
