Netanyahu seeking electoral stalemate, new elections to stay in power, former adviser says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly focused on preventing the opposition bloc from securing a majority, aiming instead to engineer a political deadlock that could lead to new elections. This strategy, according to former communications adviser Avi Bushinsky, is designed to keep Netanyahu in power as a caretaker prime minister.

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Netanyahu’s goal is one thing. If we ignore for a second Filber’s polls, in which Netanyahu gets something like 80 to 90 seats, depending on which day you wake up, then the goal is really to ensure a political tie in order to get to another election, or maybe reach ideal conditions, and then of course as long as there is a political tie you are the sitting prime minister and under the best conditions, namely a transitional government, then there is not even a Knesset on your back.

"Netanyahu’s goal is one thing," Bushinsky told 103FM. "If we ignore for a second Filber’s polls, in which Netanyahu gets something like 80 to 90 seats, depending on which day you wake up, then the goal is really to ensure a political tie in order to get to another election." He added that under such conditions, Netanyahu would remain the sitting prime minister, benefiting from the stability of a transitional government.

Bushinsky expressed skepticism about the viability of smaller parties and potential centrist alliances in the upcoming Knesset. He noted that parties formed by figures like Benny Gantz and Dedi Simchi have struggled to cross the electoral threshold. Bushinsky also pointed to fundamental issues in Israeli politics, such as the aftermath of October 7 and debates over military conscription, which complicate the formation of broad national fronts.

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There are more cardinal problems here. To come and say, 'We will unite,' 'We will join,' 'We will do' and 'a broad national [front],' there is a fundamental problem here in the State of Israel, the story of October 7, a state commission of inquiry, and so on, but right now there is something much bigger, which is where we are headed, and that is the issue of enlistment.

He specifically addressed the creation of new parties, such as one by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, suggesting they represent a "fundamental problem" and are unlikely to significantly shift the country's political landscape. Bushinsky believes that ego and grievances, rather than political strategy, drive such splits. He concluded that no midstream party, whether from figures like Erdan, Edelstein, or Tropper, is likely to succeed in the current political climate.

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I do not think that if by some miracle two or three MKs come together and form a centrist party, that will move the country. In my assessment, no such midstream party will be formed.