Israel's Opposition Deploys Parliamentary Majority to Strip Netanyahu's Institutional Control

Six opposition parties use their new Knesset majority to seize committee chairs, replace the speaker, and fast-track term limits and a 7 October inquiry — even without forming a government.

Israel's new Knesset was sworn in Tuesday, and the six-party opposition bloc moved within hours to exploit the one power they hold cleanly: a legislative majority. Unable yet to agree on a coalition government, opposition lawmakers requested a vote to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu loyalist who controls the chamber's agenda. Ohana has delayed the vote to next Tuesday, the latest date permissible. Once a new speaker is installed, the opposition can advance legislation regardless of whether coalition talks succeed.

The legislative agenda is pointed directly at Netanyahu's political survival. Eisenkot's Yashar party submitted bills immediately after the swearing-in, backed by other opposition factions. Priorities include a state commission of inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks, term limits for prime ministers — which would block Netanyahu from returning to office after ruling Israel for 19 of the last 30 years — and a series of bills to reverse the judicial overhaul that weakened the judiciary and the attorney general's independence. The opposition also nominated candidates for key defence and finance committee chairs. Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, holds the presidential mandate to form a government within six weeks. If he fails, a second candidate — likely Netanyahu — gets another six-week window. Failure by both would trigger yet another election, extending Netanyahu's caretaker hold on executive power. Eisenkot has acknowledged the path is "extraordinarily complex" given incompatible election promises across the opposition, but described ousting Netanyahu as a national emergency warranting broken pledges. Netanyahu used the swearing-in ceremony to launch a racist attack on two Palestinian-led opposition parties, calling their lawmakers "terror supporters." Palestinian citizens make up roughly 20% of Israel's population, and their votes were essential to defeating Netanyahu's coalition. Since election day, Netanyahu has promoted groundless accusations of fraud in Palestinian communities. Election officials have said there was no evidence of irregularities affecting the outcome or its integrity. Eisenkot called the speech "delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful," evidence the prime minister was unfit for office. Yair Golan of the centre-left Democrats and Yoav Segalovich, a former police chief who ran on the Islamist Ra'am party's slate, walked out in protest. President Isaac Herzog, in a pointed warning, urged lawmakers to avoid a second election: "Reach out a hand for compromise, even between rivals." The structural picture is clear: the opposition has legislative tools but not executive power, while Netanyahu retains the caretaker premiership but has lost control of the Knesset floor. This asymmetry means the next weeks are a race between legislative fact-creation — locking in term limits, an inquiry, judicial restoration — and the clock on coalition negotiations. If the opposition cannot form a government within the mandated windows, new elections would hand Netanyahu the one thing he needs most: time. The deeper question is whether institutional reform passed under these conditions can stick. Term limits and a 7 October inquiry, once enacted, create legal and political facts that are difficult to reverse even if Netanyahu eventually returns as caretaker or wins a new mandate. The opposition is betting that structural change can outrun its own divisions.