Growing pressure for a minority Change government in Israel

Two developments over the past three days have sharpened the urgency confronting Israel’s Change Bloc: allegations that Shin Bet chief David Zini helped Benjamin Netanyahu challenge the election’s legitimacy, and a political shock from Washington, where Donald Trump announced an end to annual military aid to Israel before Democrats swept the midterm elections.

Together, they strengthen the case for two immediate moves: reversing the judicial overhaul through the newly elected Knesset, before a government is formed, and negotiating a minority emergency government supported externally by Arab parties and potentially ultra-Orthodox lawmakers.

Neither outcome is assured. Both require leaders to reconsider campaign promises excluding potential partners. But the calculation is changing. Leaving Netanyahu in the prime minister’s office while Israel drifts towards another election carries growing democratic and diplomatic risks.

The controversy surrounding Zini goes beyond a dispute over investigative procedure. It raises questions about whether Israel’s domestic security service is being drawn into a campaign to delegitimise the parliamentary majority opposing Netanyahu. Reports on Tuesday alleged that Zini sought to question senior Arab politicians without presenting sufficient evidence to the attorney general, while failing to transfer investigative material to an agreed joint team involving police and prosecutors. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara insisted that elected representatives, like other citizens, could not be interrogated without an evidentiary basis.