On a Tuesday when a new Knesset gathers, Israel's divided opposition reaches for one of the quiet levers of power: the speaker's chair, long held by a loyal Netanyahu ally. It is a small seat with large reach, deciding what the legislature debates and who guides its committees, and it arrives before anyone has yet stitched together the coalition that might finally end a long political era. The move reveals a familiar truth of democratic life, that power is often contested first in its procedures and only later in its promises. Whether the opposition can hold together long enough to turn arithm
Knesset Speaker Vote Could Be Opposition's Key Step Toward Ousting Netanyahu
Without them, the opposition bloc would have fewer seats than Netanyahu's coalition
Mark
Why does the speaker's chair matter so much?
Mimi
The speaker controls the agenda and the committee chairs. Whoever holds it decides what gets debated and which committees draft the laws. Right now that's Amir Ohana, a close Netanyahu ally.
Mark
And the opposition has the numbers?
Mimi
Sixty-seven of 120 seats. Matan Kahana, from Eisenkot's Yashar party, has the backing of all four Jewish parties in the bloc, and the two Palestinian-led parties are expected to follow.
Luke
Careful with "expected." The Palestinian-led parties have said replacing Ohana is a priority, but that's not the same as a confirmed pledge for Kahana specifically.
Mimi
Fair. The article says they're expected to give him their votes, not that they've committed.
Mark
What about the warning from the former security chiefs?
Mimi
More than 160 of them wrote that activists plan to block MKs and families from entering and are urging tens of thousands to come.
Luke
Worth noting that's a letter from retired officials, quoted through Ma'ariv. It's a warning of intent, not evidence that anything has happened.
Mark
Why not just form a government and skip the speaker fight?
Mimi
Because Ohana can delay signing in a new government for up to a week, and Netanyahu is known for peeling off defectors. Some in the opposition don't want to hand him that time.
Luke
And the bigger unknown is whether a government forms at all. Several Jewish parties have sworn off sitting with the Palestinian-led parties, and without those 19 seats the bloc is smaller than Netanyahu's coalition. Nothing here says how that gets resolved.
El Pulso
- The opposition's 67 seats give it a real chance to replace Netanyahu's ally as speaker, and the vote could come within days.
- Threats of intimidation at the Knesset, with retired security chiefs warning of violent activists, have raised the temperature on swearing-in day.
- Eisenkot is trying to build an emergency government while Jewish parties refuse to sit with the Palestinian-led parties whose votes the bloc needs.
- Lieberman is courting ultra-Orthodox parties over the draft law, pulling in a direction that could split the opposition's logic.
- Every week of delay favours Netanyahu, who could stay on as caretaker if no government forms and fresh elections become the fallback.
On a Tuesday when a new Knesset gathers, Israel's divided opposition reaches for one of the quiet levers of power: the speaker's chair, long held by a loyal Netanyahu ally. It is a small seat with large reach, deciding what the legislature debates and who guides its committees, and it arrives before anyone has yet stitched together the coalition that might finally end a long political era. The move reveals a familiar truth of democratic life, that power is often contested first in its procedures and only later in its promises. Whether the opposition can hold together long enough to turn arithmetic into governance remains an open question.
Israel's new Knesset is sworn in on Tuesday, and the opposition is moving first on the one prize within easy reach: the speaker's chair, now held by Amir Ohana, a close Netanyahu ally. The speaker shapes the legislative agenda and assigns committee leadership, so control of the post matters well beyond ceremony. The opposition's candidate, Matan Kahana of Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party, has the backing of the four Jewish parties in the "change" bloc, and the two Palestinian-led parties are expected to support him as well. Together the opposition holds 67 of 120 seats, enough to win the vote once it is called.
The mood around the vote is tense. More than 160 former senior security officials warned that opponents of the change might try to block lawmakers from entering the Knesset on swearing-in day, and that rightwing activists were preparing violence. Behind the procedural fight sits a deeper problem: several Jewish parties have sworn not to sit with the Palestinian-led parties, even though those parties, representing about a fifth of the population, won 19 seats and are needed for any majority. Protesters have urged the Jewish parties to put removing Netanyahu first.
Eisenkot, who has pledged to build a national emergency government, has warned that no one will keep every campaign promise and that compromise will be unavoidable. Lieberman is pursuing his own path, exploring an alliance with ultra-Orthodox parties frustrated by Netanyahu's failure to deliver draft exemptions. Timing is delicate: a deal may be held back until the speaker is replaced, because Netanyahu's side could delay signatures for a week. If Eisenkot fails, the mandate passes on, and if that also fails, elections return and Netanyahu remains as caretaker. Political scientist Gideon Rahat argues that even a fragile alternative government would be harder to topple than a caretaker one. The coming days will show whether the speaker vote passes cleanly and whether a deal can be closed before the window closes.
Israel's new Knesset is sworn in on Tuesday, and the opposition arrives with a chance to seize some of the machinery of power before it has managed to assemble a government capable of unseating Benjamin Netanyahu. The first target is the speaker's chair, held by Amir Ohana, a close Netanyahu ally. The speaker controls the legislature's agenda and decides who chairs its committees, which is why the post carries so much influence.
The opposition's candidate is Matan Kahana, a former minister, fighter pilot and special forces officer from the Yashar party. Yashar is led by Gadi Eisenkot, the former Israeli military chief who was handed the presidential mandate over the weekend to try to form a coalition. Kahana has the explicit backing of all four Jewish Israeli parties in Eisenkot's "change" bloc. The two Palestinian-led opposition parties have said that replacing Ohana is a priority, so they are expected to vote for him too.
The arithmetic works. Opposition parties hold 67 of the Knesset's 120 seats, enough to install a consensus speaker. They plan to request a vote on Tuesday afternoon, after which Ohana has up to a week to bring it to the floor. Avigdor Lieberman, who leads another opposition party, is nominated to head the foreign affairs and defence committee. That committee will play a central role in drafting legislation on conscripting ultra-Orthodox men, a central campaign issue for him.
The stakes are high enough that more than 160 former senior security officials, including former heads of the military, intelligence and police, issued a warning over the weekend. In a letter to serving security chiefs, a forum of retired commanders said that actors opposed to replacing the speaker plan to go to the Knesset on swearing-in day and block MKs and their family members from entering. Ma'ariv newspaper quoted the letter as saying these same actors are urging tens of thousands of supporters to join them. The retired officials warned that rightwing activists were planning violent attacks.
Behind the speaker fight lies a coalition problem that remains unsolved. Several Jewish Israeli parties in Eisenkot's bloc have sworn not to sit with the Palestinian-led parties, which hold more than a quarter of the bloc's seats, or even to join a minority government that relies on their support. Palestinian citizens, about 20% of the population, voted in unprecedented numbers this year and won 19 seats. Without those seats, the opposition would hold fewer than Netanyahu's diminished coalition. Protests across Israel have urged the Jewish parties to put removing Netanyahu ahead of what the article describes as a racist commitment to excluding Palestinian-led parties.
Eisenkot has vowed to broker a national emergency government through "creative and unconventional political acts." He has also signalled that sacrifices are coming. No one will be able to fulfil all the promises they made during the campaign, he said, and everyone will have to compromise, because leadership means knowing when to decide and set priorities. Lieberman, meanwhile, is exploring a different route through an alliance with ultra-Orthodox parties. They are longtime Netanyahu allies, frustrated that he has not turned promised broad draft exemptions for their community into law. Lieberman has campaigned hard for universal conscription but appears to prefer compromise on it over working with Palestinians. Haredi journalist Arye Erlich asked in Yedioth Ahronoth whether the End of Times had arrived, wondering if Lieberman, the biggest persecutor of Haredim in decades, now believed he could compromise on a draft bill and sit alongside them in government.
Timing matters. Even if Eisenkot reaches a coalition deal, he may hold off announcing it until Netanyahu's speaker is gone, since Ohana could delay signing in a new government for up to a week. Some in the opposition do not want to give Netanyahu that window; he is known as a master of survival and last-minute deals, and has broken past coalitions by luring defectors. If Eisenkot fails, the mandate passes to other leaders, and if they fail, Israel returns to elections, with Netanyahu and his far-right allies staying on as a caretaker government. Although he is calling on opponents to join a unity government, a long limbo followed by a new vote offers him a likelier route back to power.
Gideon Rahat, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said an alternative government would be harder for Netanyahu to destabilise. Even a minority government might struggle to act, he said, but it would be governing, and would be hard to oust. What to watch now is whether the speaker vote passes cleanly and whether Eisenkot can close a deal before the mandate moves on.
Citas Notables
No one will be able to fulfil all the campaign promises they made, and all of us will need to compromise.— Gadi Eisenkot, Yashar party leader
Once they establish a government, they might be a minority government, but they will be governing and it would be hard to oust them.— Gideon Rahat, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Politics & Governance