Israel's 67-Seat Opposition Meets the State's Machinery

Netanyahu’s caretaker government still controls military operations, national security and foreign affairs, even after losing its parliamentary majority. In last week’s election, the six parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats; Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox partners won 53. The numbers have shifted. Executive power hasn’t.

A majority without a government

The new Knesset is set to convene on November 10. President Isaac Herzog is expected to give a lawmaker—most likely Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot—28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension. If that effort fails, Herzog could hand the mandate to another lawmaker, and potentially a third. If nobody succeeds, another election is possible. Until a new government wins the Knesset’s confidence, Netanyahu and his ministers remain in office as a caretaker government.

The opposition’s 67 seats include 48 held by Jewish-majority parties and 19 held by the Arab-majority Joint List and Ra’am parties. They’ve started coordinating efforts to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a Likud lawmaker. A speaker needs a simple majority of votes cast. Parliamentary offices can offer a way to act before any coalition takes shape.

The opposition could establish the Arrangements Committee, which manages the Knesset’s agenda between the swearing-in of a new parliament and the formation of a governing coalition. The committee appoints chairs and members of other committees and can set up temporary and special committees to advance legislation. Its membership must reflect the relative size of parliamentary factions; its chair must come from the faction of the lawmaker tasked with forming a government, and the plenum must approve the committee.

Dr. Assaf Shapira, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, said: “The Knesset is an independent branch of government, and its powers are not contingent on the formation of a new government. From the moment it convenes, it can operate independently, even without the government’s consent.” The opposition could build parliamentary machinery around its priorities. But if Eisenkot gets the first mandate and fails to form a government within the allotted time, Netanyahu and a Likud lawmaker could take the Arrangements Committee chairmanship. The opposition would retain its numerical advantage on the committee. Losing the chair, though, would make it harder to advance its priorities.

Legislation, with gates and veto points

Eisenkot has said he intends to advance legislation establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, regulating the Haredi draft and repealing the outgoing government’s judicial overhaul legislation. Other opposition members have proposed prime ministerial term limits and barring people on trial from serving as prime minister. Those measures could disqualify Netanyahu from forming a government or running in future elections. Whether the bloc can pass legislation before a government forms remains uncertain.

Existing law allows a government decision or the Knesset’s State Control Committee to establish a state commission of inquiry, subject to statutory conditions. Neither route is readily available to the opposition unless it forms a government. Yashar has started work on an amendment that would let a simple majority in the Knesset plenum establish the commission. Shapira said the measure would still require multiple readings and committee deliberations, and could face objections from Knesset legal advisers, the attorney general and the Supreme Court. “To amend the law to create another channel only because the opposition can’t use the current legally established channel is a bit problematic,” he said.

The caretaker’s reach

Netanyahu’s caretaker government faces no special legal restrictions on military operations. Shapira said it could legally authorize an attack on Iran under ordinary decision-making procedures: “Legally, with regard to military operations and wars and everything, this is a regular government with no special limitations.” He said Eisenkot and others would support another full-scale conflict with Iran, especially with U.S. support; without the United States, an attack might draw “a little bit more opposition.”

The caretaker government faces extra scrutiny over senior appointments and spending. The government would have to explain why it needed to immediately appoint a new IDF chief of staff or head of the Mossad or Shin Bet. Significant, unexpected spending would require additional legal scrutiny and justification unless it stemmed from demonstrated urgent security needs. The parliamentary majority can rearrange committees and propose laws. The government still holds the machinery of military and executive power while negotiations continue.