JEDDAH: Opposition politicians in Israel face a deadline of midnight on Wednesday to form a “change” coalition and oust Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.
The new alliance is being led by former TV presenter Yair Lapid, the secular centrist head of the Yesh Atid party, and right-wing religious nationalist Naftali Bennett, the tech multimillionaire who leads the Yamina party.
Lapid has agreed to allow Bennett to serve first as a rotating prime minister in a power-sharing agreement, before taking over halfway through their term.
The two men are racing to cobble together a disparate coalition of political groups from across the Israeli political and ideological spectrum, who are united on only one issue — distaste for Netanyahu.
In addition, the Knesset arithmetic dictates that to reach a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament, the new coalition will almost certainly have to include Raam, the conservative Islamist party led by Mansour Abbas.
Political analyst Afif Abu Much said on Tuesday that Abbas would not seek ministerial posts, but wanted chairmanship of two parliamentary committees and budgets for Arab communities.
He also aimed to revoke a law that increased penalties for illegal construction, which has had a disproportionate impact on Arab communities. “They don’t want to be part of the government,” Abu Much said. “What they want is to be the address of the Arab people in Israel.”
Abbas said on Tuesday that coalition talks appeared to be heading “in a good direction,” but he added: “Until it’s finished, nothing is finished.”
While the numbers appear to be against Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is a skilled political operator who has survived numerous challenges during 12 consecutive years in office, and analysts cautioned against writing him off. Political scientist Jonathan Rynhold said his opponents had a strong hand but Netanyahu was “the best card player by miles.”
Race to form coalition as midnight deadline looms to oust Netanyahu
https://arab.news/mz43r
Race to form coalition as midnight deadline looms to oust Netanyahu
- Islamist party leader holds key to opposition majority in Israeli parliament
Syrian Alawites protest in coastal heartland after mosque bombing
- Syrian Alawites took to the streets on Sunday in the coastal city of Latakia to protest after a mosque bombing that killed eight people in Homs two days before
LATAKIA: Syrian Alawites took to the streets on Sunday in the coastal city of Latakia to protest after a mosque bombing that killed eight people in Homs two days before.
The attack, which took place in an Alawite area of Homs city, was the latest against the religious minority, which has been the target of several episodes of violence since the December 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, himself an Alawite.
Security forces were deployed in the area, and intervened to break up clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
“Why the killing? Why the assassination? Why the kidnapping? Why these random actions without any deterrent, accountability or oversight?” said protester Numeir Ramadan, a 48-year-old trader.
“Assad is gone, and we do not support Assad... Why this killing?“
Sunday’s demonstration came after calls from prominent spiritual leader Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Islamic Alawite Council in Syria and Abroad, who on Saturday urged people to “show the world that the Alawite community cannot be humiliated or marginalized.”
“We do not want a civil war, we want political federalism. We do not want your terrorism. We want to determine our own destiny,” he said in a video message on Facebook.
Protesters carried pictures of Ghazal along with banners expressing support for him, while chanting calls for decentralized government authority and a degree of regional autonomy.
“Our first demand is federalism to stop the bloodshed, because Alawite blood is not cheap, and Syrian blood in general is not cheap. We are being killed because we are Alawites,” Hadil Salha, a 40-year-old housewife said.
Most Syrians are Sunni Muslim, and the city of Homs — where Friday’s bombing took place — is home to a Sunni majority but also has several areas that are predominantly Alawite, a community whose faith stems from Shiite Islam.
The community is otherwise mostly present across their coastal heartland in Latakia and Tartus provinces.
Since Assad’s fall, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and Homs province residents have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community.
Alawite massacres
The country has also seen several bloody flare-ups of sectarian violence.
Syria’s coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.
Late last month, thousands of people demonstrated on the coast to protest fresh attacks targeting Alawites in Homs and other regions.
Before and after the March bloodshed, authorities carried out a massive arrest campaign in predominantly Alawite areas, which are also former Assad strongholds.
Protesters on Sunday also demanded the release of detainees.
On Friday, Syrian state television reported the release of 70 detainees in Latakia “after it was proven that they were not involved in war crimes,” saying more releases would follow.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all Syria’s communities will be protected, the country’s minorities remain wary of their future under the new Islamist authorities, who have so far rejected calls for federalism.
