Netanyahu’s Sixth Victory
According to Iran Gate, Benjamin Netanyahu announced an agreement to form a new coalition government, which will undoubtedly be the most right-wing executive body in the history of Israel.
“I succeeded,” was the phrase Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter page, announcing that he had finally reached an agreement to form a new government. A politician with the longest-serving prime ministership in Israel’s history, who had been rejected by his former allies and was under legal pressure, not only never left the Israeli political scene but is set to return to lead a new executive body after just a year and a half in opposition.
On December 21, the Likud leader managed to reach agreements to form a new government just before the end of the mandate given to him by President Isaac Herzog following the results of the November 1 elections.
The new Israeli government, considered the most right-wing in the country’s history, will be formed by Likud, religious parties, and religious nationalist Zionists Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Avi Maoz, and will hold a majority of 64 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
According to local media, this agreement is the result of a series of very intense negotiations with Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party and gives the far-right nationalist the keys to power in exchange for political and personal support for Netanyahu. The announcement of future ministers includes prominent figures known for their racist and radical stances.
This not only provoked reactions from Palestinians but also shocked liberal Israelis, who are concerned about the endangerment of democracy and the rise of extremism in the country. The swearing-in ceremony must be held by January 2.
A Controversial Executive Body
For Netanyahu, this will be his sixth non-consecutive term as prime minister in the Israeli government. The coalition he led won the parliamentary elections last November, the fifth parliamentary election in four years, and he negotiated for weeks to reach a coalition agreement that would support his future majority.
In recent days, the names of some of the future ministers have also been released. Among the most controversial decisions is granting extensive powers to the Ministry of Public Security and to Itamar Ben Gvir, the leader of Jewish Power, known for his inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinians. He has been accused 62 times of inciting riots, vandalism, and racial incitement, with eight convictions.
Bezalel Smotrich, another controversial figure whom Netanyahu plans to entrust with managing Israeli policies in the West Bank and the Ministry of Defense, supports the expansion of settlements and Israeli laws in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Another future minister, Avi Maoz from the Noam party, is known for his homophobic and gender-discriminatory positions. He has proposed banning gay pride parades in Jerusalem and opposes the integration of women in the military. He also plans to reform and significantly restrict immigration to Israel based on the Law of Return, granting Israeli citizenship to anyone of Jewish descent, provided they immigrate to Israel.
Other coalition partners include Aryeh Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, who is poised to take over the Finance Ministry despite a conviction for tax fraud.
Judicial Reforms
Overall, the coalition parties announced by Benjamin Netanyahu reject the idea of two independent states, one for Israelis and the other for Palestinians in the West Bank, with Jerusalem as the shared capital—a formula supported by the international community that has been the basis of all negotiations to end the conflicts.
However, there are other matters. Representatives of the new government coalition want to give parliament members the power to overturn decisions of the Supreme Court, Israel’s highest judicial body, which in recent years has rejected several proposed actions by Netanyahu-led governments. Most importantly, they have explicitly stated their intention to carry out necessary reforms to end the corruption and fraud trials Netanyahu is accused of.
A turning point for two formations that until recently were on the fringes of Israeli political life and could count on very few parliamentary representatives, while thanks to the results of the November elections, they now have the chance to play a pivotal role as a new majority in Israeli politics.
Faced with criticism and fears from his opponents, Netanyahu preferred to pour water on the fire to calm the situation. He said, “I will keep my hands firmly on the wheel, I will not allow anyone to act against the LGBTQ community or discriminate, or deprive Arab citizens of their rights. Time will prove me right.”
Bibi, Hostage to the Right Wing
The new government, which Netanyahu is expected to unveil these days, will come to power after a year with the highest level of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in a decade. In the past twelve months, more than 150 Palestinians and about 20 Israelis have been killed in clashes between the two countries.
At the end of November, a double bombing in Jerusalem left one dead and over thirty injured, plunging the city back into a nightmare of renewed attacks after a period of relative calm. The victim of these bombings was Aryeh Sheupak, a 16-year-old Canadian student, who was hit by one of the two explosions near a bus stop and died.
With the advent of the new government, and given the circumstances, no one predicts that the situation will improve. Political analyst Yossi Alpher noted that the new government could be an impending disaster for Israel. No one guarantees that Netanyahu can or will control the radical parties to which he has granted unprecedented powers during the negotiations.
Less than two months after Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory, Israel has a new government, the sixth led by Likud. However, the unity that the coalition showed during the election campaign was short-lived, and recent weeks’ negotiations revealed some differences between Netanyahu and his allies.
The decision to appoint the controversial figure Itamar Ben Gvir as Minister of National Security reflects the polarization of the Israeli political scene. It is unclear what impact the entry of these figures into the government will have on Israel’s relations with its international partners, primarily the United States and the European Union.