Netanyahu risks taking Israel to the brink

November 15, 2022 - 13:19

TEHRAN- Despite the ability of Israel’s right-wing parties to resolve the electoral battle in their favor, the internal crises indicate that the regime is far from any political stability.

The right-wing bloc, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is being given the mission to form a cabinet. In a bid to avoid another snap election, Netanyahu faces an abnormal political situation that does not reflect the end of political stalemate and social crises.

The opposite is closer to the truth, as internal polarization is greater and deeper. The victory of the right-wing bloc will only increase internal rifts.

The components of Netanyahu’s bloc are mostly formed from the Likud Party’s alliance with ultra-orthodox religious parties and extremist Zionist elements. The (center-right) figures are absent from the coalition.

The irony here is that the head of the Shas Party, Aryeh Deri, who has a history of heated clashes and disagreements with Netanyahu is considering joining the cabinet of Israel’s longest serving premier.

The process of forming the coalition will witness a struggle over important ministries, whether within the Likud party or the rest of the far-right parties.

Netanyahu will be keen to give top ministerial portfolios, such as war, foreign affairs and finance, to persons member to his Likud party. He will try to reject the demand of another far-right figure Bezalel Smotrich, who has also been at odds with Netanyahu, to take over the ministry of war.

Should this ministry be assigned to Smotrich, it will reduce the cabinet's powers. In a bid by to cling on to power, Netanyahu will try to assign the ministry of domestic security to Itamar Ben-Gvir, another criminal, racist and sacrilegious figure. There are divisions among the far-right extremists themselves.

Netanyahu has a lot of work to do to satisfy all these potential ministers or criminals but will do his best to form the cabinet as soon as possible, so that it will be ready by the time the Knesset takes the oath of office in mid-November.

But all reports suggest the prolonged negotiations will delay the announcement of the formation of the cabinet until after the inauguration day. Should these talks collapse, the regime will enter another political stalemate.

On the other hand, the opposition bloc lacks harmony, after the anger within the bloc against Yair Lapid, the outgoing prime minister. This is due to his failure to unite its ranks before the elections, and given the ideological and political disharmony among its components.

The depth of the political and social crisis within the society will soon become clearer after Netanyahu reveals whether he has formed a solid coalition. But all the signs are that his coalition will not be stable amid profound disagreements among Israelis about the nature of the regime’s identity and lack of any Jewish identity.

This is while the expected policies by Netanyahu's potential cabinet will only exacerbate the manifestations of political and social polarization. Netanyahu himself is facing a number of corruption charges and it is unclear what repercussions this will have on the veteran terrorist.

He is expected to make adjustments to Israel’s so-called supreme court by changing the mechanism for appointing judges, and dismissing the current cabinet’s legal advisor, who is accused by right-wing leaders of being left-leaning, and was appointed by Lapid.

The right-wing coalition intends to change the shape of the judiciary, replace judges with a purely right-wing orientation, and enact laws that will cancel the indictments against Netanyahu, which confirms that the right-wing coalition will seek a systematic campaign to eliminate the influence of the left in the judicial institution.

This will only lead to an increase in polarization and disarray within the occupation community over its judicial system, which deals with Israelis, but will lead to a sharp decline in the confidence of the settler society toward its institutions.

The other judiciary within the apartheid regime that handles cases related to Palestinians allows Israeli rulers and military officials to get away with war crimes and genocide against children on a regular basis in addition to scores of other violations of international law, UN agencies say.

Nevertheless, moves by Netanyahu to change the rules and reduce the powers of the judiciary may lead to the resignation of a number of judges and the emergence of mass protests, which increases the risks of the protests turning into clashes in the streets between supporters and opponents of Netanyahu’s right-wing policies.

The return of another authoritarian far-right bloc to power has raised fears from Israel’s so-called left and center-left as well as the settlers community. A poll by the Research Institute of the Knesset of the regime, conducted last October, indicated that the percentage of optimism about the future of “democracy” within the entity has dropped to 18% of the public to the left, and 36% in the center camp, and in total, approximately 73% of all respondents expressed low confidence about the future of the regime. Such hopelessness will rise further after the victory of a right-wing coalition.

Following the announcement of the election results, according to data by the online search engine Google, search options for obtaining residence and immigration visas to European countries and Canada came first, and ranked first in the entity, which indicates a large segment of the settlers are considering to migrate back to their countries of origin, due to an election that has left even the regime’s settlers scratching their heads.

Reports have pointed out that the majority of the settlers who are considering returning to their countries of origin are the most productive sections within the occupation regime, in addition to the educated classes and the owners of large businesses and technology.

One of the aspects of the internal polarization of Israeli society is the preference of the personal interests of its leaders at the expense of the ideological and “national” dimensions, especially after the personality of Netanyahu was manifested as a figure who solely determines the path of the regime.

The enemy’s political map has been divided in recent years between Netanyahu’s camps and his opponents. Those who gathered only as a movement were opposed to the personality of Netanyahu, the prime suspect in their view for Israel’s increasing international isolation, and for seeking to undermine the foundations of the regime, for his own personal ends.

In addition to the political, partisan, ideological, social and personal crises, which will worsen with the right-wing coalition taking over, the entity suffers from accumulated crises in the educational and health system, and a rise in prices and the high cost of living, especially rise in housing and apartment prices, which prompted more young people to emigrate. This will shrink the regime’s economic activities.

Increasing the proportion of ultra-Orthodox settlers, which is estimated at about 13%, is also an economic burden for Israeli leaders, as they receive allowances from the regime’s rulers, and Netanyahu will increase their allowances. All of this is accompanied by an increase in the feeling of a loss of personal security in light of the high rates of crime, the weak police force, and other factors such as a hike in Palestinian retaliatory operations. These crises are likely to be exacerbated by the state of polarization that included all components of the regime. One public opinion poll published after the election results indicated that nearly half of the settlers inside the entity have a desire to emigrate away from it.

Most indications confirm that the enemy’s internal environment is a catalyst for more division even before the return of Netanyahu. These internal threats, which a number of the regime’s leaders, officials and analysts have been warning about, are becoming more serious. 

Leave a Comment