By Callie Mitchell, SAVED News International Correspondent, Jerusalem, Israel
We are just a few days post-second elections here in Israel. If you remember, even though our current PM Netanyahu’s party (Likud) won the most seats in our national elections in April, he was unable to form a governing coalition of 61 seats comprised of smaller parties, as required by our parliamentary system. That meant that we had to return to elections several months later.
Well, we seem to find ourselves in a similar place! This time, the party led by Netanyahu’s opponent, Benny Gantz (Blue and White), finished with two seats more than Likud. At this point, our President will charge either Gantz or Netanyahu with the responsibility of forming a coalition. Even though Netanyahu came in second, he could still gain that opportunity if it seems Gantz does not have enough support from smaller parties to do so. Even though the count is in, that means we do not have a clear “winner” until a coalition is formed. At present, however, it doesn’t seem that Netanyahu has the support he needs to form a coalition either. So where does that leave us?
Possible New Party?
There is a strong possibility that the two larger parties, Blue and White and Likud, will form a “Unity Government” and work together. For American ears, that might sound strange. This isn’t equivalent to trying to get Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to work together, however. Both parties are Centrist, with Blue and White leaning slightly more Left and Likud slightly more Right. It’s more do-able than it sounds. It would prevent some extremist parties on either the Right or Left from joining the coalition.
There have been several different “prophetic” words swirling around about the results. Everything from the despair that the Israeli people largely chose a Left-leaning secular party, to rejoicing that the stronghold from Netanyahu’s alliances with the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, of which he had to partner with to form coalitions in the past, has come to an end. The Orthodox parties serving in major roles in the government have made life very challenging for secular Jews and Believers alike, as they tend to be both anti-zionist, protesting compulsory military service, and also anti-Messiah Yeshua, blocking citizenship and other rights for Messianic Jews.
Personally, all I know is that the Lord is doing something here. This is the first time in the modern state of Israel’s history this has happened. He’s seeking to get the attention of His people. We need to pray for eyes and ears to hear from Him during this time. Likewise, we need to be in prayer for godly compromises for our leaders in the area of personal agendas and pride, and protection from ungodly compromises on issues that are near to the Lord’s heart, as the leader chose to form a coalition works over the next month. No one wants a third election! It’s going to take a lot of prayers for this next government to form. Please stand with us in asking the Lord for His best to come together.
About The Author
