الخميس 01 كانون الأول 2022
Netanyahu’s alliance with the far right bodes ill for Israel
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Financial Times
After 18 months in opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has towered over Israeli politics for more than a decade, is on his way back. Following Tuesday’s parliamentary election, his rightwing bloc is projected to secure 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset, returning the 73-year-old to the prime minister’s office for a sixth term. His victory may ease a period of tumult that caused Israel to hold five elections in three-and-a-half years. There is little else to cheer as his chosen path to success now threatens to undermine the very democratic values the Jewish state has long professed to espouse.
Aside from Netanyahu, the biggest winner is Itamar Ben-Gvir, an anti-Arab ultranationalist previously convicted of incitement to racism: a fringe politician whose entry into the mainstream not long ago seemed unthinkable. But thanks to Netanyahu’s cynical machinations, Religious Zionism, which is led by Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right politician, is set to become the third-largest party in the Knesset. Netanyahu brokered the deal that brought the pair together to form a key part of his rightwing bloc.
Both now demand cabinet posts. Their rise to the corridors of power would mark a dark chapter for a nation that has lurched ever more to the right over the past decade.
High on Smotrich’s agenda is legal reform that would severely undermine the independence of the judiciary. Ben-Gvir has said he would support legislation to dismiss the corruption trial that has dogged Netanyahu for two years (critics argue that avoiding conviction is Netanyahu’s ultimate aim).
The results are also a disaster for the increasingly marginalised and isolated Palestinians, and risk stoking tensions in the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ben-Gvir, like Smotrich, advocates annexation of the occupied West Bank. He once threatened to expel Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. He has moderated this to expelling only those who are “disloyal”. Granting his demand for the public security ministry would be catastrophic for both Israelis and Palestinians, who in 2021 endured the worst communal violence in the Jewish state in years.
Israel’s western allies should monitor events with deep concern. The US-Israeli relationship will no doubt endure. But the inclusion of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in government would create discomfort in Washington, particularly if they get the security posts they desire. The Biden administration should refuse to engage with the extremists if they are given positions in the cabinet.
Another contentious point will be Iran, as long as Biden tries to revive the moribund 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran. The focus of Netanyahu’s foreign policy has been to scupper the deal, even at the expense of relations with Democrats, a position that will be reinforced as he aligns with the far right.
The inclusion of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich would also create awkwardness for Arab states that in 2020 agreed to formalise relations with Israel, notably the United Arab Emirates. They were, however, happy to sign the Abraham Accords with Netanyahu when he was last in office. The move highlighted how the UAE’s concerns over Iran, and its desire to co-operate with Israel on security, trumped the Palestinian cause. That calculated approach may continue, although it would be tested.
But Netanyahu has created a monster. The key question is whether he will use his political skills to contain the extremists he has empowered. He is typically risk averse when in power; a sabre-rattler, but cautious to act. The alarming alternative is that he has let the genie out of the bottle, risking a catastrophe for Israel and the Palestinians.