Golan accuses Netanyahu of trying to obstruct transfer of power

Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 4 of trying to obstruct the transfer of power after the October 27 parliamentary election. Golan called the alleged effort an attempted coup in a post on X, according to ANews. The accusation is Golan’s; it does not itself establish that a coup took place or decide who will form Israel’s next government.

Golan, chairman of the Democrats party, described developments over the preceding 24 hours as a serious warning for Israeli democracy. “Netanyahu lost. He refuses to recognize the results, and he is trying to carry out a coup and seize power by force,” he wrote, as quoted by ANews.

Golan alleged that police had arrested political activists without warrants and that the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, had tried to question senior elected officials without presenting evidence. He also accused the outgoing government of refusing to recognize the election results and said the developments were connected. These are allegations attributed to Golan in the report, not independently established findings.

He urged opposition parties to form a government quickly, restore the rule of law and prevent state institutions from being used for political purposes. He also called on the heads of the police, Shin Bet and Mossad to be loyal to the law and the state rather than to a prime minister, party or political interest.

The accusation followed an agreement among opposition leaders on November 3 to recommend Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the lawmaker who should be asked to form the next government. ANews reported that the agreement was reached at a meeting in Herzliya attended by Eisenkot, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Golan and opposition leader Yair Lapid.

The leaders said they would seek to replace Netanyahu’s administration with a “national emergency government,” begin drafting coalition agreements and coordinate parliamentary steps to replace the outgoing government and avoid another election. They also accused Netanyahu and his Likud party of trying to undermine confidence in the election results and the Central Elections Committee. Those statements are accusations by the opposition leaders.

The election left Netanyahu’s bloc with 53 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, opposition parties with 48, and Arab parties with 19, according to ANews. None of those groupings had the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority on its own. If all opposition and Arab lawmakers recommend Eisenkot during Herzog’s consultations, he could receive support from 67 lawmakers. That support would not, by itself, mean that a governing coalition had been agreed.

ANews reported that the opposition parties had not yet reached agreement on a coalition. Lieberman had ruled out joining a minority government that depended on Arab parties. The gap between a recommendation to the president and an agreed government is therefore an important part of the process described in the report.

For readers following the transfer of power, the central distinction is between political allegations and the formal steps that determine who governs. Golan’s statement raises concerns about the outgoing government and state institutions, but the reported account does not establish those claims as fact. The institutional process described by ANews depends on presidential consultations, the formation of a coalition and the Knesset’s confidence.

Under Israel’s parliamentary system, the president consults elected parties before appointing a lawmaker to form a government. The government currently in office remains in place until a new administration wins the Knesset’s confidence. That means an election result and a recommendation to the president are stages in the transition, not the same as a completed change of government.

The newly elected Knesset is scheduled to hold its inaugural session on November 10, ANews reported. Opposition parties are also seeking to replace the incumbent speaker, Amir Ohana of Likud. The report gives no outcome for those pending steps.

Other developments to follow are whether the opposition reaches coalition agreements, whom Herzog appoints to form a government, and whether a proposed administration wins the Knesset’s confidence. A lawmaker designated to form a government initially has 28 days, with a possible extension of up to 14 days, according to ANews. Until a new government wins that confidence, the outgoing administration remains in office.

Readers seeking to assess the transition should distinguish announced plans and attributed claims from completed institutional decisions, and follow formal announcements about the Knesset and the government-formation process.