2021 in Israel

Israel entered 2021 amid an unprecedented cycle of political paralysis. The March 23 election was the country's fourth in two years, triggered after the existing government failed to pass a budget in December 2020.[1][4] Israeli law provides for a government's automatic dissolution when the required budget is not approved, a mechanism that had again driven the country toward an election.[6]

The country was simultaneously managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Israel had launched a mass vaccination program in December 2020, initially targeting at-risk groups.[8] On January 25, the government halted inbound and outbound foreign air travel, and land borders were closed on January 28 as part of pandemic restrictions.[9] By March 25, more than half of Israel's population of approximately 9.3 million had received two Pfizer-BioNTech doses: 4,655,955 people had received two doses and 5,203,644 at least one. Only 470 new cases were recorded the preceding day, while 482 patients were seriously ill, the lowest serious-case figure since December.[10] Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister for the preceding twelve years, was also standing trial on charges including bribery and fraud as he led Likud into the election.[4][2]

Israelis voted on March 23, 2021, for the 24th Knesset.[1] Turnout was 67.4 percent: 6,578,084 people were eligible to vote, 4,436,365 voted, 4,410,052 ballots were valid, and 26,313 were invalid.[11] Observers considered the election free and fair and reported only minimal irregularities that did not affect the outcome.[4]

Likud led the final results with 30 seats and 1,066,892 votes, followed by Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid with 17 seats and 614,112 votes and Shas with nine seats. Blue and White won eight seats; United Torah Judaism, Labor, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Naftali Bennett's Yamina each won seven; the Religious Zionist Party, Joint List, New Hope, and Meretz each won six; and Ra'am won four.[11] Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc held 52 seats without Yamina, while parties opposed to him held 57. Yamina and Ra'am remained uncommitted, leaving neither side with a majority.[1]

President Reuven Rivlin first tasked Netanyahu with forming a government, but Netanyahu was unable to assemble a coalition. Rivlin then gave the mandate to Lapid.[12] Shortly before his mandate expired, Lapid informed Rivlin that he had secured the support of Yesh Atid, Yamina, New Hope, Blue and White, Yisrael Beiteinu, Labor, Meretz, and Ra'am.[13]

On June 2, Lapid and Bennett announced the formation of a rotational coalition government.[4] Bennett was scheduled to serve as prime minister until August 27, 2023, after which Lapid would take the position; Lapid initially became alternate prime minister and foreign minister.[2]

The Knesset approved the 36th government on June 13 by a vote of 60–59, with one Ra'am member abstaining, ending Netanyahu's twelve consecutive years as prime minister. Bennett was sworn in as Israel's 13th prime minister.[3] The coalition united eight parties spanning the right, center, left, and Arab political spectrum. The Congressional Research Service characterized the alliance as disparate and fractious and assessed that its composition would make comprehensive action on contentious political issues less likely.[2]

Ra'am, the United Arab List led by MK Mansour Abbas, became the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli government.[2] At year's end, the government had a 35-member cabinet that included nine women—one of whom was Ethiopian-Israeli—and two Arab members. The 120-member Knesset included 35 women and 14 members from ethnic or religious minorities.[4]

The coalition immediately faced the challenge of coordinating parties with competing interests. The 2021–2022 budget included approximately $11 billion for infrastructure, education, health care, and crime-prevention needs among Arab Israelis.[2] Separate government plans included a five-year, NIS 2.4 billion program to reduce crime and violence in Arab society.[7] The government's survival depended on passing the budget because failure could trigger dissolution and another election.[2]

An 11-day conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist organizations began on May 10 and ended on May 21. Israel named its campaign Operation Guardian of the Walls.[4][14] It was the fourth major military exchange between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian organizations led by Hamas since Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, following rounds in 2008–2009, 2012, and 2014.[15]

The Congressional Research Service identified escalating tensions in Jerusalem during Ramadan, restrictions on Palestinian movement and worship around the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, demonstrations by Jewish nationalist groups, the Sheikh Jarrah property dispute, the postponement of Palestinian Authority elections, and wider political uncertainty among the factors preceding the conflict. The causes and the parties' conduct remain politically contested.[2]

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad opened large-scale rocket fire on May 10, with initial launches directed at Jerusalem.[2][15] Reports counted approximately 4,300 to 4,360 rockets and mortar shells launched toward Israel. Iron Dome intercepted about 90 percent of the projectiles headed toward populated areas, while hundreds of rockets misfired or landed inside Gaza.[4][2] The IDF subsequently reported destroying parts of Hamas's underground tunnel network known as the "Metro," including more than 100 kilometers of tunnels, as well as rocket-launching and other infrastructure.[14]

Casualty totals varied by reporting body. The Congressional Research Service reported 12 people killed in Israel, including two Thai nationals.[2] The State Department reported 13 people killed in Israel, including two children, and 710 injured; it also quoted a Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center count of 12 Israelis killed by rocket fire and one IDF soldier killed by an antitank missile.[4] Three foreign nationals—two Thai citizens and one Indian citizen—were killed by rocket or mortar fire, according to Israeli government figures cited in the same report.[4]

For Gaza, the State Department attributed to UNOCHA a total of 261 Palestinians killed, including 67 children, and more than 2,200 injured. It classified an estimated 130 of those killed as civilians, 77 as members of armed groups, and 54 as having undetermined status.[4] These figures are source-attributed totals rather than a universally accepted casualty count.

The fighting also caused substantial displacement in Gaza. At its height, 113,000 internally displaced people sought shelter at UNRWA schools or with host families. Approximately 8,250 remained displaced afterward, primarily because their homes had been destroyed or severely damaged. The State Department report said Israeli airstrikes destroyed 1,800 homes, including five residential towers.[4]

Severe civil unrest occurred inside Israel from May 6 through May 21 alongside the Gaza conflict.[4] Violent clashes took place in mixed Jewish-Arab cities including Lod, Jaffa, Ramle, Acre, and Haifa. Violent groups from both communities used firearms and Molotov cocktails, disrupted daily life, and heightened incitement and fear.[16] Fatal incidents were recorded in Lod and Acre.[4]

A later state comptroller report described systemic problems in the police response, including failures in intelligence gathering, coordination, and operational preparedness; the unrest left three people dead and hundreds injured.[17] On May 24, police launched an operation involving thousands of officers to arrest suspected rioters and others accused of instigating unrest. By June 3, the operation had resulted in 2,142 arrests and 184 indictments against 285 defendants.[4] Haaretz reported that Arab and Palestinian citizens constituted 91 percent of arrests for suspected riot involvement during the period it examined. Police described the operation as an effort to prosecute offenses and restore public order, while the High Follow-up Committee characterized it as an attempt to intimidate Arab and Palestinian citizens.[4]

Business leaders and technology-sector figures organized public appeals for coexistence and equal treatment during the violence.[16] The Shin Bet recorded 4,575 terrorist attacks during the year, including rockets and mortars, with 2,805 registered in May.[4]

On April 30, 2021, a catastrophic crowd crush at the annual Lag BaOmer observance at the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron killed 45 men and children and injured more than 150 people.[5] Eighteen of the injured were reported in serious condition. People leaving the crowded site slipped on steps at a narrow exit, causing those behind them to fall in a human cascade shortly after the leader of the Toldot Aharon Hasidic sect lit a traditional bonfire.[18]

At its first meeting, the Bennett government decided to establish a State Commission of Inquiry into the disaster. The commission was charged with examining preparations for the festivities and the events of the night, including procedures for mass religious gatherings, and received NIS 6 million for its work.[19] In interim recommendations issued in November, the commission said the material and testimony before it indicated that approximately 20,000 people could be safely accommodated on the mountain at one time. It stressed that this was not a final target capacity and that its investigation remained in progress.[5]

Israel's COVID-19 vaccination program, launched in December 2020, expanded eligibility to people aged 16 and older on February 4, 2021, and to those aged 12 and older on June 2.[8] By late March, more than half the population had received two doses, giving Israel one of the world's highest vaccination rates at that time.[10]

A resurgence associated with the Delta variant prompted the Ministry of Health to approve a third Pfizer-BioNTech dose on July 30.[20] The booster program initially focused on at-risk adults and expanded over time; vaccine eligibility was extended to children aged 5–11 in November.[8] A study of Clalit Health Services members aged 50 or older found that 758,118 of 843,208 eligible participants received a booster during its 54-day study period. It recorded 65 COVID-19 deaths in the booster group and 137 in the nonbooster group and estimated 90 percent lower mortality among boosted participants.[20]

The Bennett government confronted a fourth COVID-19 wave in late summer and autumn while keeping the economy open, and the major surge was followed by falling case numbers.[6] The government's year-end account said the wave produced a large increase in cases but did not require a lockdown.[8]

Israel began allowing foreign tourists to enter in November under a framework based on vaccination or recovery status, after tourist entry had been barred since March 2020.[21] Regulations approved on November 28 then prohibited entry by most foreign nationals for two weeks in response to the emerging Omicron variant. Vaccinated or recovered Israeli arrivals were required to test on arrival and isolate at home for at least three days.[21]

The pandemic continued with changing intensity alongside a successful vaccination campaign, while COVID-related economic difficulties persisted in some sectors despite the broader recovery.[7]

Israel's economy recorded 7 percent growth in 2021, although the headline figure masked an unequal recovery.[7] Increased tax revenues, foreign investment, and exports were linked predominantly to the high-tech sector, which represented roughly one tenth of the labor force. Gaps widened between better-off groups and sectors that had not shared fully in the recovery.[7]

A December 2021 report by the nonprofit Latet, cited by INSS, estimated that 2,540,000 people—27.6 percent of the population—lived below the poverty line. The estimate included 1,118,000 children, or 36.9 percent of all children. The figures were presented alongside calls for action on infrastructure, education, employment, and housing.[7]

Israel's population stood at 9.453 million in 2021, comprising 6.9826 million Jews (73.9 percent), 1.7089 million Muslims (18.1 percent), 183,200 Christians (1.9 percent), and 148,600 Druze (1.6 percent), according to Central Bureau of Statistics figures reproduced by the Jewish Virtual Library.[22]

Passage of a state budget was an existential test for the new coalition. The cabinet approved a budget in early August for the first time in more than three years.[2] The NIS 609.1 billion 2021 spending plan—Israel's first state budget passed since March 2018—was then brought before the Knesset.[23] Failure to complete the budget process by November 14 would have automatically dissolved parliament and triggered another election.[23]

In the early hours of November 4, after an all-night session, the Knesset passed the 2021 Budget Law in its second and third readings by 61 votes to 59.[23] It included major spending associated with the COVID-19 crisis and debt repayment. A senior government official remarked afterward, "A normal country operates with a budget. We're going back to being a normal country."[6] Approval provided a measure of economic stability and removed an immediate threat to the coalition's survival.[6]

On June 2, the Knesset elected Isaac Herzog as Israel's 11th president, the country's head of state. Herzog received 87 votes in a secret ballot, defeating Miriam Peretz, who received 26; three members abstained, three ballots were disqualified, and one lawmaker did not vote.[24] Herzog had previously served as chairman of the Jewish Agency and began his presidential term on July 7, succeeding Reuven Rivlin.[25][24]

On March 1, 2021, the High Court of Justice ruled 8–1 that people who converted to Judaism in Israel through the Reform or Conservative movements must be recognized as Jews for purposes of the Law of Return and Israeli citizenship.[26] The ruling applied specifically to conversions performed in Israel and did not require the state rabbinate to recognize them for other religious or civil matters, including marriage. The decision followed a legal case lasting more than fifteen years.[26]

By year's end, the Bennett-Lapid coalition had survived its most immediate parliamentary test by passing the 2021 and 2022 budgets, removing the automatic-dissolution threat and providing a measure of economic stability.[6][23] The government had also managed the fourth COVID-19 wave without another lockdown.[8]

The broader recovery remained uneven. Although the economy grew by 7 percent, sectors affected by the pandemic did not share equally in that growth, and poverty estimates remained high. These disparities left infrastructure, education, employment, housing, and governance as continuing domestic challenges.[7]

Accounts of Operation Guardian of the Walls differ in their casualty totals and classifications. The Congressional Research Service reported 12 people killed in Israel and more than 250 in Gaza, while the State Department reported 13 killed in Israel and, citing UNOCHA, 261 Palestinians killed. The reports also used different categories for civilians, members of armed groups, and persons of undetermined status.[4][2]

Rocket totals likewise varied between approximately 4,300 and 4,400 across official and analytical accounts.[4][2] These differences reflect distinct sources, reporting periods, and classification methods and should be read as attributed figures rather than a single universally agreed total. Ra'am's participation is most precisely described as the first instance of an independent Arab party joining an Israeli government, a formulation that accounts for earlier Arab parties that supported governments without formally joining them.[2]