Politics brief
Netanyahu's Internal and External Crises
Primary challenges, far-right fractures, and banking threats squeeze the ruling coalition.
Politics
The tribunal's ruling exposes growing internal resistance to Netanyahu’s attempt to centralize power — forcing him to defend his leadership in an unpredictable party primary.
BackgroundNetanyahu sought to suspend primaries and hand control of the Knesset slate to an appointed committee, citing wartime emergency risks. Under Likud bylaws, the party must hold democratic primaries unless a formal central committee vote waives the requirement.
- The Likud court ruled there was 'no room to open even the slightest door to canceling the primary,' asserting that Likud is not a one-man party and must remain democratic.
- Netanyahu had argued that organizing nationwide primary voting during active combat posed severe logistical risks, a claim his critics dismissed as an attempt to purge moderate rivals from the list.
- Concurrently, the Likud Central Committee is voting on a proposal to grant Netanyahu eight reserved spots on the slate, a move facing heavy resistance from local branch leaders.
Politics
Top commercial banks are forcing Netanyahu's government to choose between absorbing terror-finance legal risks or triggering the financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
BackgroundIsraeli commercial banks act as essential clearinghouses for the Palestinian Authority, facilitating international trade, tax transfers, and salary payments. The banks face increasing international regulatory and legal scrutiny over potential exposure to terror-financing liabilities.
- The commercial banks are demanding that the Israeli government establish a state-backed correspondent bank to assume all legal and regulatory liabilities from Palestinian transactions.
- Discount Bank took the step due to long delays by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in setting up a state-run alternative, leaving commercial lenders exposed to global sanctions.
- A complete cutoff of clearing services would block trade between Israel and the West Bank, severely destabilizing the Palestinian economy and risking a security escalation.
Politics
Eisenkot has positioned himself as the premier security alternative to Netanyahu — capitalizing on public anger over draft inequalities to build a leading center-left coalition.
BackgroundFormer IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot resigned from Netanyahu’s emergency wartime cabinet over strategic disagreements. He is now challenging the prime minister in the upcoming October 27 general election, which is dominated by debates over wartime failures and military draft exemptions.
- A Channel 12 poll projects Eisenkot's Yashar party to win 23 Knesset seats, edging out Netanyahu's Likud at 22 seats and dealing a major psychological blow to the ruling coalition.
- 43% of respondents named Eisenkot as the most suitable candidate for prime minister compared to Netanyahu’s 34%, signaling a substantial shift in public trust toward security-minded centrists.
- Eisenkot's 10-point platform focuses on universal national service for ultra-Orthodox and Arab citizens, directly targeting the coalition's fragile legislative agreements on draft exemptions.
Politics
The withdrawal of moderate ministers from the Religious Zionism slate reveals a deepening ideological fracture — threatening to alienate the party's core religious-nationalist voters over draft exemptions.
BackgroundLed by Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Religious Zionism party is a critical partner in Netanyahu's ruling coalition. Its traditional base of religious-nationalist voters heavily supports military service, creating intense friction as leadership pushes bills exempting ultra-Orthodox men.
- Orit Strock secured the second spot behind Smotrich, followed by prominent hardliners Simcha Rothman and Zvi Sukkot, consolidating the party's hard-right faction.
- Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer and MK Moshe Solomon withdrew from seeking reelection to protest the leadership's stance on ultra-Orthodox draft bills, exposing a deep ideological fracture.
- Smotrich retained the right to hand-pick and reserve two spots in the top ten positions, allowing him to bypass primary results to secure loyalists.
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