Netanyahu retains security powers as Israel enters caretaker period

Benjamin Netanyahu remains Israel’s caretaker prime minister after the 27 October election, with no bloc projected to win a majority in the 120-seat legislature, according to Reuters. The caretaker period may constrain some government decisions, but analysts say it does not remove the government’s authority to act on security matters, including a decision to go to war with Iran.

Israeli media projected that neither Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition nor the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot would secure a majority, Reuters reported. Those projections leave the next government dependent on the final count and coalition negotiations. President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult party leaders after the final tally, then nominate the candidate he considers most likely to form a government. That nominee would have up to 42 days to do so.

What caretaker status means for security decisions

Or Asher, a researcher at the Tachlith Institute, told Reuters that security matters are the clearest exception to that duty of restraint. He said Israel’s Supreme Court has previously held that caretaker governments should avoid far-reaching decisions unless a pressing necessity justifies them. In Asher’s assessment, a caretaker prime minister can legally take Israel to war, including against Iran. That assessment concerns the government’s authority; Reuters did not report a decision to launch a new attack.

Asher also told Reuters that the court has historically avoided intervening in decisions to go to war. Parliamentary oversight is particularly thin in the weeks after a new Knesset convenes and before its committees are formed, he said. Those conditions make the distinction between political restraint and legal power consequential while parties try to form a government.

Eisenkot warned that Netanyahu might use security matters for political ends, Reuters reported. Netanyahu’s office had previously rejected accusations that he was using the Iran conflict for political gain and did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on 28 October.

Diplomacy continues amid the Iran conflict

The question of Israel’s security powers arises amid continuing regional diplomacy. Deutsche Welle reported that envoys from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials in Tehran on 26 October. The three represented the Mecca defense pact; the apparent outcome of the meeting was an agreement to keep talking.

Ali Asghar Shafieian, a media adviser to Pezeshkian, told Deutsche Welle that the envoys’ visit should not be taken as an ultimatum before an attack. He said Iran could prepare for further conflict while continuing negotiations. Deutsche Welle also reported that Tehran had not publicly offered the guarantees over Houthi attacks that Riyadh would want, leaving a significant issue unresolved in those discussions.