Netanyahu's Caretaker Government Can Legally Strike Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's caretaker government retains the full legal authority to order a military strike on Iran, despite losing its parliamentary majority in last month's election, according to legal experts cited by Al Jazeera. Netanyahu is reported to be weighing new action against Iran even as the U.S. administration, Israel's own military establishment and politicians seeking to replace him show little enthusiasm for it, Al Jazeera reported.

What authority does a caretaker government have?

Article 30 of Israel's Basic Law states that an interim government continues performing the same duties as a standing one until a new majority is sworn in, Al Jazeera reported. Netanyahu's coalition lost its majority in last month's parliamentary election, and the opposition has struggled since to assemble a replacement government — a process that could stretch on for months, according to the outlet.

Officially, that leaves the caretaker government with the same formal powers as any sitting government, including on matters of national security.

Does the "duty of restraint" block a strike?

Israel's Supreme Court has previously ruled that an outgoing government must avoid irreversible policy moves unless they qualify as urgent, a standard known as the "duty of restraint," Al Jazeera reported. In practice, Netanyahu could still order military action by presenting it to his caretaker government as "urgent and in the national interest," Neve Gordon, a professor of international law at Queen Mary University London and author of "Israel's Occupation," told Al Jazeera.

Or Asher, a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Tachlith Institute, told Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera, that security decisions are generally "the clearest exception" to that restraint doctrine. "The Supreme Court has historically avoided intervening in decisions to go to war, and parliamentary oversight is at its thinnest in the weeks after the new Knesset convenes and before its committees are formed," Asher said. "A caretaker prime minister can legally take Israel to war, including against Iran," he added, according to Al Jazeera.

What would a strike mean politically at home?

Ehab Jabareen, an analyst and Palestinian citizen of Israel, told Al Jazeera that the government's caretaker status raises the "political burden of proof" for any military decision. "Netanyahu would be asking the country to accept the consequences of a decision that could outlast his government," Jabareen said.

That framing matters because any strike launched now would be executed by a government that voters have already moved to replace, even though the replacement process remains unfinished. The legal mechanics may permit action, but the political cost of ordering it without a mandate falls on whichever coalition eventually takes office — and on Netanyahu's own legacy as he exits.

How did Israel get to this point?

• Last month: Netanyahu's coalition loses its parliamentary majority in Israel's election, triggering caretaker status under Article 30 of the Basic Law, per Al Jazeera.
• Nov. 10, 2026: New members are sworn in at a Knesset ceremony in Jerusalem, with Netanyahu in attendance, Al Jazeera reported, even as opposition parties continue struggling to form a governing majority.
• Nov. 13, 2026: Al Jazeera reports Netanyahu is weighing a new strike on Iran, prompting the legal questions over whether a caretaker government can authorize it.

What happens next for Israel's government?

The opposition's coalition talks remain unresolved, according to Al Jazeera, meaning Netanyahu's caretaker administration could remain the operative government for an extended stretch. Legal scholars quoted by the outlet agree the formal authority to strike exists under current law and precedent — the Supreme Court's reluctance to intervene in war decisions, combined with a Knesset that has not yet seated its oversight committees, leaves few institutional checks in the near term.

What remains unresolved is whether Netanyahu will use that authority before a new government is seated, and whether doing so deepens the domestic split that cost his coalition its majority in the first place. Al Jazeera's reporting does not indicate a timeline for a decision, only that the legal door is open and the political reckoning, as Jabareen put it, would extend well beyond Netanyahu's own tenure.