The change bloc (), also called the anti-Netanyahu bloc, refers to an informal coalition of parties in Israeli politics opposed to the national camp. This group was particularly prominent during the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis when this bloc competed with the national camp for government formation.
The parties in the change bloc are ideologically diverse, which in the 36th government included the Arab religious Ra'am, the right-wing Yamina, the centrist Yesh Atid, and the left-wing Meretz.
History Early discussions Following the 2013 election, there were discussions of potentially creating a "preventive bloc" that would exclude Likud Yisrael Beiteinu from government, with Labour chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich saying she had made contacts with the aim of forming a centre-left coalition. However, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid rejected this idea and instead announced that "we must work together" by forming the 33rd government with Netanyahu.
2018–2022 political crisis During the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis, the change bloc competed with the national camp in order to form a majority government. Following the April 2019 election, Blue and White became the largest party in this change bloc, but party leader Gantz conceded as he was unable to form a governing coalition. As Netanyahu was also unable to form a government, a new election was called worsening the political crisis.
After the September 2019 election, there was still no clear path to government formation, although Gantz strongly wanted to avoid a third election. Netanyahu similarly did not want a third election, and called for a broad unity government, although Gantz conditioned a unity government on excluding religious right-wing parties and having himself as prime minister. He also criticized Netanyahu for forcing the national camp remain as a single unit in any negotiations. Besides a unity government, Gantz also tried to consolidate the change bloc by meeting with Meretz and promised to include Yisrael Beiteinu in any coalition. Gantz was later given the mandate for government formation, but could not form a government and returned the mandate, leading to a third election.
Following the 2020 election, the bloc again could not form a government and Gantz promised not to sit in coalition with Netanyahu. At the same time, the bloc could not rely on external support from the Joint List for a minority government due to internal opposition from some bloc members. Since the beginning of the political crisis, the change bloc was led by the Blue and White alliance, where its leader Benny Gantz was "the first candidate to pose a real threat to Netanyahu's rule in a decade". However this alliance fractured as it became internally divided over whether to join in a unity government with Likud to address the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Gantz's willingness to negotiate for the formation of the 35th government became a "setback for the center-left bloc".
The change bloc was revitalized following the 2021 election when Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid negotiated with other parties interested in unseating Netanyahu. These negotiations also included Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas. These efforts were complicated by the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, with Bennett unwilling to continue talks as part of the change bloc at first, but later reversing stance and resumed talks. Eventually, all eight negotiating parties signed coalition agreements, with the composition of the change bloc as: Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, Labor, Meretz, Yamina and Ra'am.
Analysis During the campaign season for the 2022 election, an analysis from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation stated that the presence of the national camp and change bloc has led to Israel becoming a "two-bloc system" where "no party is independent of bloc affiliation" and that "the two blocs solidified" with very little shift between blocs. It argues that this bloc formation would lead to the "legitimization of all political actors" with campaigns focused on attacking the opposite bloc's most extreme members.
There was also criticism that despite the bloc calling for change, there was very little change during the 36th government on addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because of the ideological diversity of the coalition.
See also Bennett–Lapid alliance
References