Netanyahu Relents, Suggests Unity Government to Cement Post-Election Stability

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he intends to form a “broad national government,” using a press conference on a new US-brokered framework agreement with Lebanon to call for a wider coalition ahead of this fall’s Knesset election.

Netanyahu said he wants to form a government that does not depend on Arab parties, telling reporters, “A civil war will not happen here,” and adding that such a government would be based on “basic principles,” including Israel’s ability to defend itself. The remarks suggest an attempt to reduce his reliance on the ultra-Orthodox and far-right factions that have anchored, and at times destabilized, his current coalition.

What Netanyahu Is Proposing

Netanyahu insists he is seeking a coalition that reaches “broad agreements” on contentious issues, including Haredi military service, even as polls show he has no clear path to forming a right-wing coalition with a Knesset majority. His effort to legislate continued mass exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men from the army is widely opposed by the Israeli public, a tension a broader coalition could help him manage.

Netanyahu said “everyone can join” his proposed government, provided they accept “basic principles”, that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, that individual rights are respected, that the economy remains free and technologically advanced, and that Israel retains the ability to defend itself.

A Push for Flexibility on Security and Diplomacy

Netanyahu argued there is “far more unity among the people than what you see in the Knesset,” pointing to what he described as a growing consensus against Palestinian statehood and a shared desire to avoid “civil war” over divisive domestic disputes. He stated bluntly that “there is no room for two states” as a foundation of the government he hopes to lead.

The framing lets Netanyahu position a broader coalition as a vehicle for consensus on Iran, Lebanon and the Palestinian question, areas where his current hardline partners have sometimes constrained his options.

Opposition Reacts With Skepticism

Democrats chairman Yair Golan rejected the overture outright, saying Netanyahu “will not form a unity government or any government” and that he was welcome to “unite with Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and the haredi parties in the opposition.”

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said he did not believe Netanyahu, arguing that “if it were up to you, you’d form another government with the haredi parties and with extremist elements,” and announced his own plan to build a rival “bloc of the people of Israel.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the proposal “very disturbing,” insisting on a fully right-wing government instead. By contrast, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar backed the idea, saying “there is no longer room for politics of boycotts and disqualifications” and calling a broad national government “a clear national interest.”

Netanyahu’s chief rival, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, is widely seen as his main challenger and has not ruled out joining a unity government himself, despite leading the bloc opposing Netanyahu. Bennett has also allied with former rival Yair Lapid under a new “Together” party, reviving the coalition that previously ousted Netanyahu in 2021