Netanyahu's Sixth Government (Israel's 37th Government)

Israel held its fifth election in less than four years on November 1, 2022, for the Twenty-Fifth Knesset.[2] The election produced 4,763,694 valid votes among 6,788,804 eligible voters, for a turnout of 70.17 percent.[2] Likud won 32 seats, Religious Zionism won 14, Shas won 11, and United Torah Judaism won seven, giving the right-wing and religious bloc a combined 64 seats.[2] Parties in the outgoing governing bloc took 51 seats, while Hadash-Ta'al won the remaining five.[2] Meretz failed to cross the 3.25 percent electoral threshold by approximately 3,800 votes, and Balad also won no seats.[2]

President Isaac Herzog gave Benjamin Netanyahu the first opportunity to form a government.[2] Netanyahu received 28 days for coalition negotiations and ultimately assembled a religious and right-wing government that included Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The prospect of the two politicians receiving cabinet posts was described as alarming to many observers inside and outside Israel.[2] After weeks of negotiations, Netanyahu assembled a six-party coalition, and the Knesset approved the government in a confidence vote.[3][6]

The government was officially sworn in on December 29, 2022.[1][3] The confidence vote passed with 63 of the coalition's 64 members voting in favor and 54 members voting against. United Torah Judaism MK Ya'akov Tesler was overseas and did not participate.[6] The coalition agreements specified political commitments but were not legally binding.[7]

Contemporary sources counted the cabinet at different stages. The Center for Israel Education described the inaugural government as consisting of 30 ministers, including five women, compared with 27 ministers and nine women in the preceding coalition.[8] The Jewish Virtual Library lists 31 ministers and records the government's start date as December 29, 2022.[1]

Three legislative amendments were passed in the days immediately before the inauguration, each connected to coalition demands. On December 19, 2022, an amendment to Basic Law: The Knesset narrowed the circumstances in which a group of Knesset members could secede from a faction without electoral sanctions. On December 27, an amendment to Basic Law: The Government increased the permissible number of ministers and allowed, under specified conditions, the appointment of a minister who had received a suspended prison sentence. On December 28, an amendment to the Police Ordinance gave the national security minister general authority to outline policies and principles governing police activity, including criminal investigations.[7]

The December 27 amendment concerning ministerial eligibility was connected to Aryeh Deri, leader of Shas, who had received a suspended 12-month prison sentence and a fine on February 1, 2022, following a plea agreement. Under the coalition agreement, Deri was designated vice prime minister, health minister, and interior minister during the government's first two years, with a planned transition to vice prime minister and treasury minister for the final two years. The High Court of Justice heard petitions challenging the amendment and Deri's appointment on January 5, 2023.[7]

The coalition brought together six factions with distinct but overlapping agendas. The Congressional Research Service described Likud as a right-of-center nationalist party skeptical of territorial compromise; Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit as ultra-nationalist parties supporting settlement expansion and, in varying forms, annexation of areas of the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria; and Shas and United Torah Judaism as Haredi parties favoring welfare and education funding for their communities.[9] Noam entered the coalition as the sixth party after running as part of the Religious Zionism electoral list.[3]

The government assigned Bezalel Smotrich the finance portfolio and a position within the Defense Ministry overseeing civil affairs in Area C of Judea and Samaria, including settlement construction. Itamar Ben-Gvir received the newly configured National Security Ministry with expanded authority over the police; the coalition agreement also provided his ministry with direct supervision of the Border Police, including units previously under Defense Ministry authority.[10]

When Netanyahu presented the government to the Knesset, he outlined three principal priorities: preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, developing national infrastructure and connecting Israel's geographic periphery to its center, and expanding the circle of peace with Arab states. He also cited restoring personal security and state sovereignty, addressing the cost of living, and improving education.[11] The coalition agreements and published guiding principles additionally prioritized judicial reform, settlement expansion, possible annexation in Judea and Samaria, and greater ultra-Orthodox control over state Jewish services.[12]

In January 2023, shortly after taking office, the government unveiled a sweeping judicial-overhaul program.[4][13] Justice Minister Yariv Levin presented it as an effort to strengthen democracy, rehabilitate governance, restore public confidence in the judicial system, and rebalance the branches of government.[14] The original plan had four central elements: abolishing or limiting the courts' use of the reasonableness criterion; enabling a simple majority of 61 Knesset members to override court decisions; restructuring the Judicial Selection Committee so the elected government would control judicial appointments; and reducing the independent authority of the attorney general's office.[4]

A March 2023 judicial-selection bill would have expanded the committee from nine to 11 members, given the government bloc six representatives, increased opposition representation to two members, and removed Israel Bar Association representatives. It also proposed giving the government authority to appoint the Supreme Court's president and deputy president.[15] Supporters argued that the changes would strengthen elected officials' influence and diversify the court's composition. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara argued that the combined proposals could effectively eliminate constitutional judicial review and weaken checks and balances.[14][15]

On July 24, 2023, the Knesset approved an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary preventing courts from using the reasonableness doctrine to review decisions of the government, prime minister, or government ministers. The vote passed by 64 to 0 after opposition members left the chamber.[16] On January 1, 2024, the Supreme Court invalidated the amendment by an 8–7 vote. Thirteen of the 15 justices agreed that the Court had authority to strike down Basic Laws under exceptional circumstances.[16] Attempts to revive parts of the broader overhaul were later reported after Benny Gantz left the emergency government.[17]

An academic analysis from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev characterized the overhaul as a broader project concerning Israel's governing regime and the independence of the judicial branch, rather than merely a set of technical judicial changes.[13]

The judicial overhaul triggered a major and sustained protest movement. The first large demonstration took place in Tel Aviv on January 14, 2023, when approximately 80,000 people gathered in heavy Saturday-night rain. The event became known as the "protest of the umbrellas." Later demonstrations were reported at approximately 100,000, 150,000, and 200,000 participants.[4] Protest leaders also called for a general strike on February 13, 2023, the date scheduled for the first committee vote on the legislation.[14]

Opponents described the overhaul as a "coup d'état" and argued that it would politicize the judiciary and remove a principal institutional check on governmental power.[14] Army reservists organized opposition and threatened to curtail voluntary service if the program proceeded. Supporters countered that Israel's judiciary had acquired excessive influence over elected government and lacked sufficient democratic accountability.[16]

The overhaul was shelved after the October 7 Hamas attack and the formation of the emergency unity government. The arrangement between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz included a commitment to freeze non-war-related legislation, placing the overhaul in abeyance during the emergency arrangement. Later reporting described efforts to revive parts of the program after Gantz's departure.[17]

From its first days, the government identified Iran's nuclear program as a central strategic threat. At the inauguration of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, Netanyahu stated that Israel should prevent Iran from reaching the nuclear threshold or acquiring a nuclear weapon. An analysis by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs said Netanyahu contemplated a possible preemptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities and anticipated the risk of a broader, multi-front conflict.[18]

The analysis described Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security Council director Tzachi Hanegbi as supporting an aggressive posture toward Iran. It also stated that military action would depend on Israeli preparations, budget allocations, and coordination with the United States, while discussing a possible anti-Iranian regional alliance involving Arab states connected to the Abraham Accords.[18] Expanding normalization with Arab states was also one of the three priorities Netanyahu presented at the government's inauguration.[11]

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a massive terrorist attack against Israel. The government declared a special situation on the home front, and on October 8 the cabinet confirmed a state of war effective from 6:00 a.m. on October 7.[19] The attack and the resulting Iron Swords War fundamentally altered the government's composition and legislative agenda.[5]

An agreement to establish a national emergency government was reached on October 11, and Benny Gantz's National Unity Party formally joined the government on October 12.[19][5] The Knesset approved five National Unity lawmakers as ministers without portfolio by 66 votes to 4: Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, Gideon Sa'ar, Chili Tropper, and Yifat Shasha-Biton.[20] The war cabinet consisted of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Gantz as its principal members, with Eisenkot and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer serving as observers.[20]

The emergency arrangement was formed despite significant political animosity between Netanyahu and Gantz.[5] Gantz and his party remained in the government until June 2024, when they withdrew.[5] After Gantz's departure, the government returned to a narrower coalition configuration, and coalition figures expressed renewed interest in advancing parts of the stalled legislative agenda.[17]

The coalition faced repeated internal tensions, particularly over military service for Haredi yeshiva students. A Jewish Review of Books account described Shas and United Torah Judaism as seeking legislation exempting Haredi yeshiva students from military service, while Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit sought to limit judicial intervention in settlement policy and other issues important to their constituencies.[4]

In 2025, Shas and United Torah Judaism left the government over the conscription issue while continuing to support the coalition in Knesset voting, creating a distinction between cabinet participation and parliamentary support.[9] A May 2026 report described Likud moving toward dissolution of the government, potentially advancing elections to August or September, amid Haredi dissatisfaction with a proposed conscription law.[21]

A Congressional Research Service report dated July 2, 2026 identified Haredi conscription, judicial changes, the handling of a future inquiry into the October 7 failures, Netanyahu's corruption trial, and policies in Judea and Samaria as principal issues affecting coalition stability.[9]

On July 17, 2026, the Twenty-Fifth Knesset formally dispersed after lawmakers approved the dissolution measure by a vote of 62 to 0.[3] The national election remained scheduled for October 27, 2026, and Netanyahu's government was to remain in office until a new coalition was formed after the election.[3]

Keeping the date prescribed by law allowed the Knesset elected in November 2022 to complete its statutory term. The election was described as Israel's first national election held on schedule since 1988, following five elections between April 2019 and November 2022.[3]

Several constitutional controversies marked the government's tenure. The December 2022 amendment permitting the appointment of a minister who had received a suspended prison sentence was connected to Aryeh Deri's cabinet position, and the High Court of Justice heard petitions against the amendment and his appointment in January 2023.[7] The broader judicial overhaul was also deeply contested: Attorney General Baharav-Miara warned that the full package could effectively eliminate constitutional judicial review, while government supporters presented the measures as restoring democratic accountability.[14] The Supreme Court's 8–7 decision invalidating the reasonableness amendment was itself contested, with government supporters challenging the Court's authority to strike down a Basic Law amendment.[16]

The roles assigned to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, including Ben-Gvir's expanded police authority and Smotrich's Defense Ministry responsibilities in Area C, drew domestic and international criticism.[10] Descriptions of the government as Israel's most hardline or most radical administration are political assessments rather than formal institutional classifications. The National Library of Israel catalog reproduced the phrase "the most radical in Israel's history" from a publisher-supplied description of a scholarly volume, while contemporary news coverage used similar evaluative language.[22][6] Likewise, the claim that the judicial program represented democratic backsliding or a fundamental change in Israel's governing regime belongs to academic and political interpretation rather than uncontested institutional description.[13]