tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/knesset-15461/articlesKnesset – The Conversation2024-03-18T17:08:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259152024-03-18T17:08:04Z2024-03-18T17:08:04ZGaza conflict: Washington’s patience is wearing thin over the lack of leadership from both Israel and Palestine<p>The US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer – a Democrat and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/us/politics/schumer-netanyahu-israel-elections.html">highest-ranking Jewish official</a> in US history – has called for the removal of both Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, seeing both as representing the politics of the past. </p>
<p>In an incendiary intervention, Schumer – a longtime and stalwart supporter of Israel – <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-03-14/ty-article/.premium/senate-majority-leader-calls-for-new-elections-in-israel/0000018e-3d65-d67c-a18e-ff6d1f4a0000">told the Senate</a> that the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is testing US patience and that the lack of vision by both current Israeli and Palestinian leaders for the future beyond the war is also at variance with US policy.</p>
<p>Of the Israeli prime minister, he said: “Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, to preserve his credibility on the world stage, to work to a two-state solution.” </p>
<p>Turning to Netanyahu’s counterpart in Ramallah, Schumer was equally forthright: “For there to be any hope of peace in the future, Abbas must step down and be replaced by a new generation of Palestinian leaders who will work towards attaining peace with a Jewish state.”</p>
<p>Reflecting on his fellow Democrat’s comments, US president Joe Biden said Schumer had made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/15/schumer-netanyahu-speech-biden-reaction">“a good speech”</a>, adding that: “I think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans.”</p>
<p>Schumer’s speech came at the end of a week where Israeli and Palestinian politics showed how far away they are from the kind of change that Schumer rightly says is necessary.</p>
<p>Shifting factional politics has made Netanyahu’s position more secure. On March 12, Gideon Saar – a key powerbroker in the ruling coalition and an ally of Netanyahu’s biggest rival Benny Gantz – announced he was <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-statesmanlike-right-why-gideon-saar-has-decamped-gantzs-national-unity-party/">pulling out of his alliance with Gantz</a> and demanded that Netanyahu appoint him to the war cabinet. This has weakened Gantz while strengthening Netanyahu’s position. </p>
<p>The last opinion poll taken before Saar’s announcement showed Gantz with a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-finds-44-of-israelis-prefer-trump-over-biden-as-next-us-president/">12-point lead over Netanyahu</a> and the opposition winning 74 seats out of the 120 Knesset seat if there were an election. But, with Saar’s change of allegiance, an election that could bring about the change that Schumer wants to see now appears further away.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Ramallah, the Palestinian president called on Muhammad Mustafa, a close associate, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-14/ty-article/.premium/pa-president-abbas-to-ask-mohammad-mustafa-to-form-new-palestinian-government/0000018e-3cac-d30d-a7de-7cbf89b70000">to be prime minister</a> after the resignation of Mohammad Shtayyeh in February. </p>
<p>Washington had expressed the hope that Abbas would reach outside his circle and appoint a fresh face, maybe choosing a candidate from the next generation that could project the hope of a revitalised Palestinian Authority (PA). While Mustafa is two decades younger than Abbas, at 69 he hardly qualifies as someone who can relate to a Palestinian population with a median age is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-11-14/population-religion-and-poverty-the-demographics-of-israel-and-gaza#">21.9 years</a>.</p>
<p>Schumer’s frustration with the regional politics reflects a long-held view in Washington. Many US presidents have found Benjamin Netanyahu difficult to deal with, going back to Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Even Donald Trump had problems with Netanyahu, as the then US president’s <a href="https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/deal-of-the-century-what-is-it-and-why-now/">“deal of the century”</a> provided for a Palestinian state – small and weak though it would have been.</p>
<h2>Testing US support</h2>
<p>The Biden administration had thought that its solidarity with Israel after the October 7 atrocities would at least give it some influence over Israel’s response. </p>
<p>It has provided significant financial and human resources to Israel over the past five months. It has been resupplying much-needed military equipment while providing a diplomatic safety net through its veto at the UN security council. </p>
<p>This has been backed by the assiduous efforts of US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to achieve a ceasefire and the return of the Israeli hostages. But Washington has watched in horror as its ally flattened Gaza and exacted a terrible civilian death toll.</p>
<p>Schumer is right when he says that Netanyahu’s alliance with Israel’s far-right is driving the country towards pariah status. The Gaza tragedy is accompanied by a <a href="https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-occupied-west-bank-since-october-7-movement-restrictions-and-collective-punishment/">vicious conflict in the occupied West Bank</a>, which has seen a rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths as a result of both IDF action and settler violence. All of this is aimed at undermining any moves towards reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians and a two-state solution.</p>
<p>Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat as the president of the PA on Arafat’s death in 2004. He won the election in 2005 but has not held elections since. His administration lacks legitimacy and is widely seen as corrupt. </p>
<p>The combination of inefficiency and corruption of the PA and the continuing inhumanities of more than five decades of Israeli occupation alienates many Palestinians from any idea of peaceful coexistence with Israel and increases the attractiveness of extremist views. Schumer is right that there are extremists on both sides who want the destruction of the other,</p>
<p>But the US administration and leaders like Schumer are unable to change the politics of either Israel or Palestine, all they can do is call for new leaders. </p>
<p>Indeed, some might argue that all this noise about replacing leaders of other countries not only smacks of colonialism but could have the opposite effect. Netanyahu and Abbas – who are both beleaguered at home – might find it useful to have a foreign adversary as a foil to shore up domestic support. Both will pose as defenders of the nation. </p>
<p>With conflict resolution, the challenge is to bring together leaders who are often deeply flawed and who advance reprehensible policies. If they weren’t so flawed and unable to see the other side’s point there would not be a conflict. Schumer has shone a light on the extremist politics in both Israel and Palestine. The political developments in both countries this week make the vision of a peaceful future look more difficult. </p>
<p>And that’s why the US and the international community need to rise to the challenge. Less rhetoric and more practical peacebuilding would be a good start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Strawson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>But there is little sign that either side is listening.John Strawson, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219652024-01-29T13:36:36Z2024-01-29T13:36:36ZIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a dilemma: Free the hostages or continue the war in Gaza?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571656/original/file-20240126-25-l606eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On Dec. 8, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the funeral of a 25-year-old Israeli soldier who was killed in Gaza. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyhu-attends-the-funeral-for-news-photo/1842633511?adppopup=true"> Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As Israel’s war with Hamas drags into its fourth month, some Israelis are becoming increasingly angry at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s inability to free the remaining <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/22/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages">136 hostages in the Gaza Strip</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Israeli protesters have called for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/1226713168/in-israel-anger-at-netanyahu-is-getting-louder">Netanyahu’s resignation</a>, while dozens of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/22/families-hostages-gaza-israel-parliament-00137069">family members of the hostages stormed</a> the Israeli parliament on Jan. 22, 2024, demanding a deal for the hostages’ release.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. spoke with <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pgpEt8MAAAAJ&hl=en">Dov Waxman</a>, a scholar of Israeli politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to better understand the public pulse in Israel, and why some experts – including him – are saying that Netanyahu does not want to end the war.</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people, including several women, hold signs and shout in a nighttime shot, in front of tall, lit up buildings. One of the signs says 'Deal now.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571658/original/file-20240126-23-mzztut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Families of Israeli hostages protest in Tel Aviv, calling for the Israeli government to make a deal with Hamas and get the hostages released.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/families-of-israeli-hostages-carrying-photos-and-banners-news-photo/1950955826?adppopup=true">Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How is Israeli public opinion on the war shifting?</h2>
<p>For the first three months or so of the war, Israelis, specifically Jewish Israelis, strongly supported the war and the government’s declared goal of defeating and dismantling Hamas. That consensus and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-half-of-israelis-say-theyre-let-down-by-war-cabinets-handling-of-hamas-conflict/">unity are rapidly fraying</a>.</p>
<p>Netanyahu says continuing the war is the best way to release the hostages, but more and more Israelis, including the families of the hostages, are arguing that with every passing day that the war continues, the lives of the hostages are in greater danger. </p>
<p>There’s also growing doubts about whether Israel <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-777771">can actually decisively defeat and destroy Hamas</a>. More than three months into the war, Hamas is still standing and firing rockets into Israel. While Israel has assassinated mid-level Hamas commanders, Hamas leaders are still alive and able to call the shots. </p>
<h2>You have said that Netanyahu does not want to end the war. Why would that be?</h2>
<p>Netanyahu is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/only-15-israelis-want-netanyahu-keep-job-after-gaza-war-poll-finds-2024-01-02/">widely unpopular</a> in Israel. Many Israelis, including some of Netanyahu’s supporters on the right, hold him accountable for the cascade of failures that resulted in Hamas’ massive incursion and horrific attack on Oct. 7, 2023. </p>
<p>To restore his domestic support, Netanyahu’s only hope is to continue the war and try to achieve the “total victory” over Hamas that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/netanyahu-insists-on-fight-until-total-victory-as-israel-marks-100-days-of-war">he has been promising</a>. If he fails to deliver on this, and on the release of the hostages, his Likud party is likely to lose the next election and he’ll be out of office. </p>
<h2>How does this political pressure influence Netanyahu’s response to the war?</h2>
<p>In order for Netanyahu to hold his coalition government together and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/why-is-israel-always-holding-elections-e671cfe22f9b045d2be3e65c5a60be61">avoid an election,</a> he has to <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-06/ty-article/.premium/limits-to-surrender-if-pm-placates-haredim-hell-enrage-broad-public/0000018b-0127-d037-a9af-51ff9dc00000">appease the far-right</a> and ultra-Orthodox parties in his government. For the ultra-Orthodox parties, that means ensuring that their constituents receive the generous government subsidies and welfare benefits that they depend on, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/11/01/israel-hamas-haredi-idf/#">not requiring them</a> to serve in the Israel military – unlike other Israeli Jews – and maintaining the religious status quo in Israel. For the far-right parties, it means supporting <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-24/ty-article/.premium/israeli-army-weighs-plan-to-arm-west-bank-settlements-with-anti-tank-missiles/0000018d-3b7e-d32b-adcf-ff7e83330000">Israeli settlers in the West Bank</a> and expanding settlements there, and also preventing anything that will strengthen the Palestinian Authority, which the far-right wants to get rid of.</p>
<p>To keep his far-right allies in the government, Netanyahu has to block any post-war plan that gives the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-20-2024-ba66b165f3e5d1904d30b591199cface#">Palestinian Authority control over Gaza</a>. Merely discussing the question of post-war Gaza is treacherous for Netanyahu because the far-right is calling for Israel to <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-24/ty-article/netanyahus-likud-ministers-far-right-mks-to-attend-gaza-resettlment-confab/0000018d-3b1e-d35c-a39f-bb5e38070000">reestablish Jewish settlements</a> there. The Biden administration opposes any long-term Israeli presence in Gaza and wants a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/revamped-palestinian-authority-should-govern-gaza-west-bank-says-senior-us-2023-12-14/">“revamped and revitalized”</a> Palestinian Authority to eventually return to oversee the territory. </p>
<p>Netanyahu’s way to evade these conflicting pressures is to avoid any discussion of the post-war governance of Gaza as much as possible. </p>
<p>Netanyahu has only said that Israel must have <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/damascus-airstrike-said-to-kill-iranian-revolutionary-guards/7448161.html#">security control over Gaza</a>, but what that actually entails is <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/evasive-on-postwar-gaza-netanyahu-risks-saddling-israel-with-full-responsibility/">totally unclear</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A soldier wearing a red beret carries a coffin covered in a blue and white cloth. People stand behind him crying." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571655/original/file-20240126-27-tloa3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mourners in Tel Aviv cry on Jan. 23, 2024, during the funeral ceremony for an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mourners-cry-during-the-funeral-ceremony-of-major-ilay-levi-news-photo/1948671112?adppopup=true">Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>What are most Israelis increasingly focused on, regarding the war?</h2>
<p>Most Israeli Jews are focused on the fate of the hostages and on Israeli military casualties – these are the stories that dominate Israeli media coverage. The families of the hostages have made sure that their plight is not forgotten. And since some of the hostages who were released back in November are recounting their harrowing experiences in captivity, this is also keeping public attention focused on the hostages still in Gaza. </p>
<p>The deaths of Israeli soldiers in Gaza also receive a lot of attention – on Jan. 23, the Israeli military had its deadliest day since the war began when <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226305928/israel-military-deadliest-gaza-hamas-war">24 soldiers were killed</a>. Most Israeli Jews have served in the military, and most have family members or friends currently serving. So they are very connected to the military, and military deaths resonate very powerfully in Israeli society.</p>
<p>What most Israelis are not focusing on is the suffering of <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/unicef-state-palestine-humanitarian-situation-report-no-15-escalation-11-17-january-2024%20in%20Gaza">Palestinian civilians in Gaza</a>. Many are not even aware of what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza, because it receives little coverage in the Israeli media. </p>
<h2>Families of the hostages are speaking out against the Israeli government and its inability to free the hostages. What kind of pressure is this creating?</h2>
<p>It has a big effect. There is great empathy for what these families are going through. There is also a strong ethos that the state has a moral obligation to rescue its citizens, including its soldiers. </p>
<p>Many people feel that the state fundamentally failed its citizens on Oct. 7 because it failed to prevent or stop the massacre and abductions that took place. So it is now especially incumbent on the government to bring the hostages home. Even if Israel defeats Hamas but doesn’t free the hostages, it will leave an open wound in Israeli society and damage, if not rupture, the relationship between the Israeli state and its citizens. </p>
<h2>Why is it unlikely that the military can free the hostages?</h2>
<p>The hostages are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/world/middleeast/gaza-hamas-israel-tunnels-hostages.html">kept underground in tunnels</a> that are hundreds of miles long. It’s likely they are frequently moved around, so it is next to impossible to even locate them. And even if they are located, actually reaching them before they are killed by their captors would be very, very difficult. </p>
<p>The only feasible option to free the hostages is to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-rejects-hamas-conditions-hostage-deal-which-include-outright-2024-01-21/">strike another deal</a> with Hamas. But it will be very hard for Netanyahu to accept the terms that Hamas is demanding, particularly ending the war. Netanyahu and his defense minister argue that the more military pressure Hamas is under, the more likely it is to accept a deal on terms that are acceptable to Israel. But the other members of the war cabinet, and growing numbers of Israelis, now believe Israel should make a deal to release the hostages whatever the price, even if that means ending the war without defeating Hamas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dov Waxman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of Israeli politics explains why Israelis are increasingly turning against Netanyahu and his promise that Israel can quickly defeat Hamas and bring Israeli hostages home.Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204452024-01-02T18:41:08Z2024-01-02T18:41:08ZIsrael’s highest court protects its power to curb government extremism − 3 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567606/original/file-20240102-15-z4y79r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C5%2C3976%2C2335&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Israeli Supreme Court assembled in September 2023 to hear arguments to strike down a controversial judicial overhaul limiting the power of the court to review and overturn government decisions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-esther-hayut-and-all-news-photo/1659537878?adppopup=true">Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP viaGetty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the midst of Israel’s fierce war against Hamas in Gaza, the country’s highest court on New Year’s Day drew attention back to a previous conflict within the country. In a narrowly divided decision, the justices <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-supreme-court-judicial-overhaul-78733a94428b8b9f2c311ee6779eba23">struck down a significant part of the contentious judicial reform</a> passed in July 2023 by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. </p>
<p>That reform would have taken away from the Supreme Court the ability to review and limit the government’s actions. Netanyahu and his cabinet – the most religious and politically conservative in Israel’s history – claimed the court had become too powerful, vetoing government policies. Opponents of the legislation said it was an attack on democracy, aimed at neutering the judicial system so that government had nearly unfettered power. </p>
<p>Demonstrations against the reform began in January 2023 and grew over several months into massive expressions of opposition featuring hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets. The public opposition grew so large and emphatic, attracting figures previously uninvolved in politics – such as members of the military and 18 former Supreme Court justices – that it was seen as unprecedented in Israel’s history.</p>
<p>The Conversation followed the path of the legislation in Israel’s parliament, as well as the demonstrations that accompanied its debate and passage. Here are three stories from our archives that can help readers understand what was at stake.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A protester raises a 'Scales of Justice' symbol while other protesters hold a banner and placards during a demonstration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A protester raises a ‘scales of justice’ symbol during a demonstration on Feb. 11, 2023, in Tel Aviv, where 130,000 people marched against Israel’s right-wing government and its controversial legal reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-raises-a-scales-of-justice-symbol-while-other-news-photo/1247124896?phrase=Netanyahu&adppopup=true">Matan Golan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>1. Unchecked majority power</h2>
<p>In an early analysis of the Netanyahu cabinet’s legislative moves, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K47kws8AAAAJ&hl=en">Boaz Atzili</a>, a scholar of international relations at American University School of International Service, wrote that there were a number of ways Israel’s democratic institutions, customs and practices <a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">were endangered by the new government</a>. Among those threats were the government’s hostility to freedom of speech, dissent, equal rights – especially for the LGBTQ community – and “the new government’s intention to de facto annex the West Bank.” </p>
<p>“Perhaps the most important front in the battle is the Israeli Supreme Court,” wrote Atzili. “The courts are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties and uphold the country’s Basic Laws, which provide rights in the absence of a formal constitution. But the new government wants to erase this separation of power and explicitly aims at weakening the courts. … This would, in effect, remove all barriers placed upon the power of the majority.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">Israel's Netanyahu facing off against the supreme court and proposing to limit judicial independence - and 3 other threats to Israeli democracy</a>
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<h2>2. Perception isn’t reality</h2>
<p>As the protests grew in Israel, we interviewed political scientist and Israel expert <a href="https://www.international.ucla.edu/israel/person/2520">Dov Waxman</a>, the director of UCLA’s Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, about the proposals to limit the independence and power of the judiciary. He said that there was a perception that the Supreme Court had overstepped boundaries. </p>
<p>“Since the 1990s, Israel’s high court has become <a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-enters-a-dangerous-period-public-protests-swell-over-netanyahus-plan-to-limit-the-power-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-199917">very involved in Israeli politics</a>, something it did not do in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s,” Waxman said. “It has intervened, overridden and disqualified many government decisions and laws. So the perception, particularly by those on the right, that this is an activist court, that it has been too active, is reasonable.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man marching in a protest wearing a military uniform raises his fist." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An Israeli reserve soldier raises his fist as he marches during a demonstration on Feb. 13, 2023, in Jerusalem to protest proposed judicial reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-israeli-reserve-soldier-raises-his-fist-as-he-marches-news-photo/1247124493?phrase=israel%20protest&adppopup=true">Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>But, Waxman said, “This perception among the right that the court has really restrained Israeli governments isn’t actually accurate. I think many people would accept that there could be an argument for some kind of judicial reform, at least passing a law to clarify the role and powers of the Supreme Court. But what’s being presented in this reform is actually a revolutionary attempt to essentially take away the independence and power of the Supreme Court.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-enters-a-dangerous-period-public-protests-swell-over-netanyahus-plan-to-limit-the-power-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-199917">Israel enters a dangerous period – public protests swell over Netanyahu's plan to limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court</a>
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<h2>3. Secular power vs. settlers and the Orthodox</h2>
<p>Behind the judicial reform effort by Netanyahu’s government was the move to wrest state power away from the liberal, secular interests that had long dominated Israel’s politics. </p>
<p>“A country once known for left-leaning politics now has a right-wing government dominated by Jewish religious nationalists who spearheaded the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-contentious-judicial-reform-becomes-law-in-israel-netanyahu-cements-his-political-legacy-210043">efforts to curb judicial checks on executive power</a>,” wrote <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">David Mednicoff</a>, a scholar of Judaic and Near Eastern studies at UMass Amherst. </p>
<p>“This reform appeals to important sectors of Netanyahu’s supporters who see the Supreme Court’s power as an inappropriate secular check on Israel’s increasingly pro-settler and pro-Orthodox government,” Mednicoff wrote. </p>
<p>At the center of this battle, wrote Mednicoff, is the man who has played a leading role in Israeli politics since the 1990s, Benjamin Netanyahu. He did this in part by allying himself increasingly with the country’s settler population, many of them Orthodox Jews.</p>
<p>“Today’s Israel is marked by growing splits between secular, urbanized citizens near the Mediterranean coast and Orthodox and other settlers in or near the West Bank. The two groups have different visions for Israel’s future, with the latter citizens pushing the country in a more theocratic direction.”</p>
<p>“This divisive battle over Israel’s nature owes a great deal to Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership,” wrote Mednicoff.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-contentious-judicial-reform-becomes-law-in-israel-netanyahu-cements-his-political-legacy-210043">As contentious judicial 'reform' becomes law in Israel, Netanyahu cements his political legacy</a>
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<p><em>This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Israel’s highest court has struck down the government’s law limiting its power. Three scholars look at why the law was proposed, what it aimed to do and who supported – and opposed – it.Naomi Schalit, Senior Editor, Politics + Democracy, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164252023-11-01T12:36:33Z2023-11-01T12:36:33ZDespite his government’s failure to anticipate Hamas’ deadly attack, don’t count Netanyahu out politically<p>Since the brutal Hamas <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/sirens-warning-incoming-rockets-sound-around-gaza-near-tel-aviv-2023-10-07/">attack on Israel</a> on Oct. 7, 2023, news analysts and the public have focused on Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/29/world/middleeast/israel-intelligence-hamas-attack.html">Benjamin Netanyahu and his role in the intelligence failure</a> that preceded the attack, in which 1,400 people were killed. </p>
<p>In other parliamentary democracies, a failure of this magnitude would normally cost leaders their jobs, or at least spark challenges to their leadership.</p>
<p>But a closer look at Netanyahu’s political history shows that he is not like other leaders.</p>
<p>Over the last 24 years, he has been able not only to survive the rough and hard-hitting Israeli political arena, but to stay on top of it. Despite numerous setbacks and challenges that might well have terminated the career of other leaders, Netanyahu has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-prime-minister-sworn-in-right-wing-rcna63616">come back to lead his party</a> and take the prime minister’s office, again and again. His first term, 1996 to 1999, ended in a humiliating defeat. But he returned to his party’s leadership at the end of 2005. Between 2009 and 2023, he was able to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-israel-government-benjamin-netanyahu-west-bank-2aadcdf4de57c54c59e619478bac63dc">form a coalition government five times</a>.</p>
<p>It is possible that this time might be different, and that the government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/deadliest-day-for-jews-since-the-holocaust-spurs-a-crisis-of-confidence-in-the-idea-of-israel-and-its-possible-renewal-215507">failure has been so devastating for Israelis</a> that Netanyahu will be unable to recover. A week after the Israel-Hamas war began, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-767880">a small majority</a> of Israelis wanted Netanyahu to resign. </p>
<p>But based on his history, he might survive this scandal.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Time Magazine cover with a photo of a man's face, and a headline saying " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556899/original/file-20231031-21-gylbxj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In 2012, Time ran a cover story that called Benjamin Netanyahu ‘King Bibi.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20120528,00.html">Screenshot, Time Magazine</a></span>
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<h2>Mr. Security?</h2>
<p><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9605/31/netanyahu.wins/">Netanyahu won his first election in May 1996</a>, beating Labor leader Shimon Peres by a narrow margin. It was the country’s first split-ticket vote, in which citizens voted for both a party to represent them in parliament and for an individual for prime minister. Netanyahu won by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/31/world/israeli-vote-overview-netanyahu-set-lead-israel-seek-peace-with-security.html">claiming</a> he could better protect Israelis in the wake of a surge of terrorist attacks in February and March of that year that had killed over 50 citizens. </p>
<p>Since then, commentators, especially those abroad, have referred to him as something like a protector of Israel. In 2012, Time ran a cover story that called Netanyahu “King Bibi.” A post-Oct. 7 <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/17/israel-hamas-gaza-benjamin-netanyahu-economy-security-polls/">piece in Foreign Policy</a> referred to him as “Mr. Security,” a name it was said that Israelis themselves used. </p>
<p>Netanyahu has never presided over any military or diplomatic process that strengthened Israeli security; quite the opposite. His tenures have been marked by several <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-25-mn-47381-story.html">intelligence</a> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9710/06/israel.netanyahu/">failures</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-security-failure.html">miscalculations</a>, by the Oct. 7 attack and an inconclusive war with Hamas in 2014. He was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-charges-israel.html">indicted on corruption charges</a> in 2019, but his <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-08-06/ty-article/.premium/judges-in-netanyahus-corruption-trial-deny-reluctance-say-length-is-due-to-complexity/00000189-cb38-d9f3-a1cd-ffbb2e8e0000">trial has yet to conclude</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/politics-in-israel-governing-a-complex-society-9780199335060?cc=us&lang=en&">scholar of Israeli politics</a>, I have watched Netanyahu ride a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/03/19/the-weakening-of-the-israeli-left/">right-wing</a> <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2015-03-24/israels-right-turn">wave</a> to win power several times since the mid-1990s. </p>
<p>It’s clear to me that his ability to win elections is rooted not in his own political foresight and reputation as a successful defender of Israel, but more a function of Israel’s political system and his ability to make wild promises to prospective coalition partners. </p>
<h2>Route to power</h2>
<p>Netanyahu’s political successes have often been the result of the public’s apparent decision that he is the best out of a set of poor choices. </p>
<p>The Israeli electoral system produces <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/25792">fragmented outcomes</a>. It is common for dozens of parties to run in an election, and for 10 to win representation in the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body. A government is formed through bargaining between the parties, until a coalition obtains 61 votes – a simple majority – in the 120-seat Knesset.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/">existence of so many parties</a>, representing a range of views on religion in the public sphere, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Zionism and the relationship between the Jewish state and its Arab citizens, gives the person who aims to be prime minister options when trying to cobble together a coalition. </p>
<p>Because all the parties know this, and they know they can threaten to join a government under someone else, promises must be made to these parties by would-be leaders to secure their place in the government and their support in the Knesset.</p>
<p>These promises can include offering ministerial posts to leaders of the parties or commitments to provide more government funding to certain religious communities. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of women in the nighttime protesting and carrying signs that say things like 'Cease fire Hostage deal.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556921/original/file-20231031-15-sqqufg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, call for a cease-fire, a hostage deal and, in Hebrew, Benjamin Netanyahu’s resignation, on Oct. 28, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protestors-call-for-a-cease-fire-and-netanyahus-resignation-news-photo/1761903039?adppopup=true">Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Promises made</h2>
<p>Netanyahu has excelled at making promises in order to stay in or gain power, even when they have gone against what the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/28-of-israelis-considering-leaving-the-country-amid-judicial-upheaval-poll/">majority of Israelis want</a> and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haaretz-today/2022-09-15/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-is-a-serial-promise-breaker-but-this-one-hell-have-to-keep/00000183-41b9-dfd0-a5f7-4fbb8fab0000">his own prior commitments</a>.</p>
<p>The most egregious example occurred after the 2022 elections when Netanyahu formed a government with far-right and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvirs-policy-goals-going-to-extremes-even-europes-far-right-wont-touch/">fascist parties</a>. Some of his promises included <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/defense-minister-pans-ben-gvirs-proposed-national-guard-as-a-private-militia/">creating a militia</a> under the control of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/itamar-ben-gvir-israels-minister-of-chaos">Itamar Ben Gvir</a>, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahus-party-signs-first-coalition-deal-with-israeli-far-right-2022-11-25/">widely known for its anti-Arab racism</a>. </p>
<p>Another promise Netanyahu made to entice Knesset members to join him in a coalition was to overhaul the judiciary, reducing its independence and making it a tool of the government. <a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-enters-a-dangerous-period-public-protests-swell-over-netanyahus-plan-to-limit-the-power-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-199917">This promise became legislation and sparked</a> what has become <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65086871">weekly protests against the policy</a> as a threat to Israeli democracy, drawing hundreds of thousands of Israelis.</p>
<p>Netanyahu’s increasingly extreme promises indicate a desperation born out of fear of losing power. This is not surprising, since in every election since 2009, his party <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/">barely got a plurality of votes</a>. If he could not form a majority coalition, another party and its leader could. </p>
<p>The highest percentage of the popular vote his Likud party has ever won was 29%, <a href="https://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3449/">in 2020</a>. Even then, Likud’s main rival, the Blue and White Party, won 27% of the vote. In other elections since then, <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/">Likud has won around 24% or 25%</a>. </p>
<p>Netanyahu himself is more popular than his party, but not by much. In most of the elections that Netanyahu competed in as head of Likud, results commonly showed that a little more than <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/">half of voters supported him over his closest rivals</a>.</p>
<p>In part, this support stems from his long years in politics. Netanyahu is a <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/anshel-pfeffer/bibi/9780465097821/?lens=basic-books">well-established</a> figure, so there is some comfort for voters in choosing a candidate who is well known. </p>
<p>As head of Likud, he has been leader of one of the country’s <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/israel-studies-review/33/3/isr330305.xml?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Anthropology_of_the_Middle_East_TrendMD_0">oldest major parties</a>. And though its share of seats has dropped over the years, Likud remains firmly entrenched in Israel’s political constellation. It can be difficult for observers to disentangle support for Netanyahu from support for the party. </p>
<p>Finally, no Israel government has lasted <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/">its full four-year term since 1988</a>, forcing new elections to be called. There is a constant fear among coalition partners that a new election will weaken them. Supporting Netanyahu and Likud has often been the best way to avoid another election.</p>
<p>It may be, then, that contrary to expectations, Netanyahu will be able to outlast disasters as he has before, and remain a player in Israeli politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brent E Sasley has received funding from the University of Texas at Arlington.</span></em></p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presided over disasters before – and remained in power. But is the intelligence failure preceding the Hamas attack so big that this time he won’t?Brent E Sasley, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064382023-05-31T20:00:12Z2023-05-31T20:00:12ZFrom Donald Trump to Danielle Smith: 4 ways populists are jeopardizing democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529348/original/file-20230531-21-ur28mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=520%2C0%2C6418%2C4629&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former U.S. president Donald Trump gives thumbs up as he watches during the first round of the LIV Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1954, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/11/richard-hofstadters-tradition/377296/">Richard Hofstadter, the eminent American historian of modern conservatism</a>, asked a provocative question about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/joseph-mccarthy-an-american-demagogue-who-foreshadowed-trump/2020/08/27/6d6f3c5c-dbfe-11ea-809e-b8be57ba616e_story.html">his era’s assault on progressive and left-wing ideals, known as McCarthyism</a>: Where did this extremism come from? </p>
<p>He argued in a <a href="https://theamericanscholar.org/the-pseudo-conservative-revolt/">celebrated essay</a> that even the prosperous, post-Second World War United States was not immune to the radicalism of authoritarian populism. The so-called Red Scare of the 1950s was “simply the old ultra-conservatism and the old isolationism heightened by the extraordinary pressures of the contemporary world.” </p>
<p>Seven decades later, Hofstadter’s words ring true again. Conservative movements are always fighting a rearguard action against modernity by falsely claiming to <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2022/07/19/borders-exclusion-and-the-populist-radical-right-meta-us/">protect society from progressives</a> who trample traditional values and sneer at the forgotten men and women who embrace them. </p>
<h2>Paranoid politics</h2>
<p>With so much money and power behind it, this paranoid style of politics — with its enemies lists, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/before-nemtsovs-assassination-a-year-of-demonization/2015/03/04/dc8f2afe-c11d-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html">demonization of opposition leaders</a> and often violent language — has gone mainstream. </p>
<p>Conspiracy theories are no longer a stigma discrediting those who trade in salacious innuendo. Even mainstream politicians are now peddling them.</p>
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<p>But is there anything to fear from the red-hot rhetoric of the paranoid style of politics? Some argue these circumstances <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12263">are cyclical</a>.</p>
<p>In Hofstadter’s time, after all, American conservative politics turned away from fringe radicalism following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. The following year, Lyndon Johnson <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1964">defeated right-wing Republican insurgent, Barry Goldwater</a> in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history.</p>
<p>But the crisis we face today is bigger in scale <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/books/review/dark-money-by-jane-mayer.html">and scope</a>. It’s been whipped to a frenzy by political leaders who seek to profit from the chaos that it incites via social media.</p>
<p>Populism was supposed to bring government closer to the people, but it actually places the levers of power <a href="https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2023/01/the-shill-of-the-people/">squarely in the hands of authoritarians</a>. Here are four ways populism has turned poisonous and poses existential threats to democracy:</p>
<h2>1. The shrinking middle ground</h2>
<p>Democracy without compromise erodes popular sovereignty by fragmenting the electorate and eliminating meaningful compromise.</p>
<p>We are now in a world of zero-sum political contests, with a shrinking <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/04/us-extremism-portland-george-floyd-protests-january-6/673088/">middle ground</a>. <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-ucp-proposes-referendums-for-all-tax-increases/">Conservative parties often force extreme referendums</a> to maintain their grip on a deeply divided electorate. </p>
<p>Election campaigns have become dangerous contests over <a href="https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/culture-war/">wedge issues</a> designed to deepen cultural divisions using social media.</p>
<p>We saw this with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00208-y">Brexit as Boris Johnson and other populists stoked fears about immigration and Europeans</a>. Donald Trump did it well <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/08/26/fact-check-and-review-of-trump-immigration-policy/">with attacks on immigrants.</a> Republicans are now doubling down on the abortion issue, even though they’re facing pushback from <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2nd-abortion-regulation-bill-vetoed-by-kansas-gov-laura-kelly">some state legislatures and governors</a>.</p>
<p>In Canada, Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith, whose United Conservative Party has been newly re-elected with a majority, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/opinion-ndp-notley-ucp-smith-attack-ads-1.6749431">has focused on demonizing her opponents</a> and has <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-government-attempts-clarification-as-ndp-calls-sovereignty-act-anti-democratic">engaged in anti-democratic conduct</a> in her months as premier.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-itself-is-on-the-ballot-in-albertas-upcoming-election-203817">Democracy itself is on the ballot in Alberta's upcoming election</a>
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<h2>2. The working class isn’t benefiting</h2>
<p>Identity politics isn’t empowering working people because the politics of revenge doesn’t fix structural problems. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, conservative parties around the world are marketing themselves as parties of the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/03/working-class-white-voters-gop-house-agenda/673500/">working class</a>. </p>
<p>Populists recognize the <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/education-polarization-diploma-divide-democratic-party-working-class.html">working class is essential</a> to their success at the national level because of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/opinion/education-american-politics.html">“diploma divide</a>” that now separates right and left. </p>
<p>There is a strong correlation between lacking a college diploma and supporting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/14/who-are-national-conservatives-and-what-do-they-want">nationalist conservative movements</a> at election time.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sea of university graduates in their convocation robes and caps inside an auditorium." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529344/original/file-20230531-21-qxsqe8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Graduates listen during a convocation ceremony at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C., in May 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
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<p>It used to be that working people recognized education as a path to prosperity. But <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities">massive tuition increases in the U.S.</a>, in particular, have betrayed the promise of universal access to a college degree.</p>
<p>Tuition fees are also heading in the wrong direction in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/education-36150276">the U.K., Canada and Australia</a>. Education now reinforces class divisions rather than breaking down barriers to a better life.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-freedom-convoy-protesters-are-a-textbook-case-of-aggrieved-entitlement-176791">The 'freedom convoy' protesters are a textbook case of 'aggrieved entitlement'</a>
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<h2>3. The rich and powerful direct the chaos</h2>
<p>Populism was supposed to empower people outside the corridors of power, but talk of <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/liberal-elites-are-at-war-with-u-s-tradition-of-moral-values/article_ba36235a-8518-5d32-8b6f-b392e1083ccf.html">retribution against liberal elites</a> normalizes calls for political violence — always a bad thing.</p>
<p>In a war of all against all, it’s not the wealthy who lose. It’s ordinary, hard-working citizens. </p>
<p>Furthermore, once a lust for vengeance takes hold in the general public, it’s almost always being directed by elites with money and power who benefit financially or politically from the chaos.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a 'team trump' cowboy hat carries an american flag. Behind her rioters confront police wearing riot gear." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478349/original/file-20220809-16-zsokyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Violent protesters loyal to Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Minchillo)</span></span>
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<h2>4. Assaults on the rule of law</h2>
<p>Authoritarian leaders have gained unprecedented <a href="https://www.oecd-forum.org/posts/spin-dictators-the-changing-face-of-tyranny-in-the-21st-century">institutional legitimacy</a> by building successful movements based on fantasies of blood and soil. The paranoid style of politics has entered a new phase with a full-spectrum assault on the rule of law — from inside government. </p>
<p>Populists are lying when they argue they want to empower the rest of us by divesting judges of their authority to oversee democracy. They really want to breach the strongest constitutional barrier against authoritarianism. </p>
<p>Look at the situation in Israel, where Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition seeks to destroy judicial checks and balances and allow the country’s parliament to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-in-weekend-interview-overhaul-necessary-as-supreme-court-too-powerful/">overrule its Supreme Court</a>, a move that would ease the prime minister’s legal woes.</p>
<p>Netanyahu has been charged with <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/4-corruption-scandals-swirling-around-benjamin-netanyahu-explained">corruption and influence peddling.</a> </p>
<p>Trump’s attempts to undermine the legitimacy of judges are equally self-serving. As he runs again for president, he’s already telegraphing his violent desires, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-pardon-large-portion-jan-6-rioters-rcna83873">promising pardons for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.</a></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sea of blue and white Israeli flags during a protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517761/original/file-20230327-24-yeeq5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem in March 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)</span></span>
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<h2>The road ahead for populists</h2>
<p>The political dial is already spinning. The defeats of Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro don’t represent <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/preserving-democracy/video/martin-wolf-the-crisis-of-democratic-capitalism/">absolute rejections</a> of their movements.</p>
<p>Despite an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/politics/donald-trump-indictment/index.html">indictment for alleged financial crime</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1175071486/jury-finds-trump-liable-for-sexual-abuse-in-e-jean-carrolls-civil-case">being found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case</a>, Trump is still the 2024 front-runner.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-populism-has-an-enduring-and-ominous-appeal-199065">Why populism has an enduring and ominous appeal</a>
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<p>We can’t count on an easy institutional fix, like a grand electoral coalition to push the populists off the ballot. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A grey-haired round-faced man in a suit waves." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529340/original/file-20230531-17-65wxuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban greets cheering supporters during an election night rally in Budapest, Hungary in April 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)</span></span>
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<p>Opponents of Hungary’s Viktor Orban formed a united front to oppose him in the country’s 2022 elections. But Orban was re-elected in a vote <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how-viktor-orban-wins/">widely derided</a> as free but not fair. </p>
<p>Opposing coalitions are an uncertain strategy in most cases, and they don’t work at all in two-party systems. There is in fact no obvious electoral strategy for defeating populism, especially now that the far right has hacked the system.</p>
<h2>Red lights flashing</h2>
<p>We can no longer view elections as contests between the centre-right and centre-left in which undecided voters make the difference between victory and defeat. Nor can we count on the right to step back from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/opinion/democracy-authoritarianism-trump.html">abyss of culture wars</a>. We can’t even say for certain that the populism will recede in the usual cyclical manner.</p>
<p>Only decisive rejection can force the right to abandon anger and grievance, but voters are not yet turning their backs on the paranoid populists. It will take a lot of strategic ingenuity to beat them. And it will get harder to do so as they rig the game with rules designed to disenfranchise people who are young, poor or racialized. </p>
<p>All citizens can do is offer is constant, concerted pushback against the many big lies told by populists. It’s never enough, but for the time being, it’s the only way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206438/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It will take a lot of strategic ingenuity to fight the rise of populism. And it will get harder to do so as politicians rig the game with rules designed to reduce voting.Daniel Drache, Professor emeritus, Department of Politics, York University, CanadaMarc D. Froese, Professor of Political Science and Founding Director, International Studies Program, Burman UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027872023-03-29T14:13:26Z2023-03-29T14:13:26ZIsrael protests: Netanyahu delays judicial reforms over fears of ‘civil war’ – but deep fault-lines threaten future of democracy<p>Despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-at-stake-as-protests-rock-israel-3-essential-reads-on-democracy-security-and-human-rights-202680">decision to delay</a> the planned judicial reforms that have so destabilised Israeli society, the country’s crisis of democracy is far from over. </p>
<p>Protests at Netanyahu’s plan, which have rocked Israel for weeks, redoubled in intensity last weekend after Netanyahu sacked his Likud colleague and defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for calling on him to freeze the reform. </p>
<p>Within hours Netanyahu announced that the plan would be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/israels-netanyahu-rejects-bidens-call-to-walk-away-from-judicial-overhaul">delayed until May</a>. But he ignored advice from the US president, Joe Biden, to “walk away” from the judicial overhaul, insisting he doesn’t make decisions based on pressure from abroad. </p>
<p>The government’s plans to weaken the powers of Israel’s supreme court have been savaged by opponents as a major attack on the checks and balances within Israel’s unwritten constitutional system – an attack in democracy itself. </p>
<p>This forced pause is a significant gain for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/israelis-protest-netanyahu-governments-brutality-and-plans-to-undermine-rule-of-law-201220">mass protest movement</a>, which has seen not merely public demonstrations but also refusals by reservists to participate in training exercises and threatening not to turn up for service generally. In a country where army service is the norm, this has gone to the heart of Israeli identity.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/israelis-protest-netanyahu-governments-brutality-and-plans-to-undermine-rule-of-law-201220">Israelis protest Netanyahu government's brutality and plans to undermine rule of law</a>
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<p>Netanyahu has blamed everyone but himself for delaying the judicial reforms. Listening to him announce the pause, it wasn’t the provocative nature of the changes that his far-right government wanted to steam-roller through the Knesset (parliament) that was to blame for the protests. Rather it was <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2023/03/27/israel-protests-latest/">what he called</a> “a minority of extremists that are willing to tear our country to shreds … escorting us to civil war and calling for refusal of army service, which is a terrible crime”. </p>
<p>The speech was part seduction, part threat. He would consult on the constitutional reform, he would protect human rights, but he insisted that the elected government had a right to implement its programme. </p>
<h2>Power plays</h2>
<p>The speech had been delayed from the morning as the prime minister first needed to secure his coalition’s support. The ultra-Orthodox parties had already fallen behind Netanyahu, but it was his far-right flank that proved more difficult. </p>
<p>In the end, Bezelal Smotrich, the finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionist party caved in, realising that his resignation could end the coalition and with it the far-right’s first taste of power. National security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power Party, held out for more: the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-okay-overhaul-delay-ben-gvir-gets-promise-for-national-guard-under-his-control/">creation of a national guard</a> under his command, something many have described as a “private militia”. </p>
<p>Netanyahu will be hoping that freezing the judicial policy will demobilise the mass protests. His decision comes as Israel is about to enter a holiday period beginning with Passover (or <em>Pesach</em>) on April 5 and culminating in the 75th anniversary of Israel’s creation as a state on April 25. </p>
<p>The prime minister will hope this acts as a distraction. But it is unlikely that the groundswell of opposition will dissipate over the holidays.</p>
<p>Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has called a meeting of the government and opposition leaders to negotiate a way forward. Yair Lapid, who is the leader of Israel’s main opposition party Yesh Atid, and Benny Gantz, a former defence minister and leader of the National Unity Part,y will also attend. </p>
<p>But it seems that the minister of justice, Yariv Levin – the architect of the constitutional changes – has <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-28/ty-article/.premium/herzog-invites-coalition-opposition-for-first-round-of-talks-over-judicial-overhaul/00000187-289a-d833-adbf-fbdea9350000">not been invited</a>. Nor <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-attorney-general-warns-netanyahu-stay-out-push-judicial-changes-2023-02-02/">has Netanyahu</a>, who has been banned from intervening in judicial matters by the attorney-general, due to his ongoing criminal cases. </p>
<p>Long-term Netanyahu confidante, the strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, will represent Likud. How talks with the key figures in the government missing will work is a moot point. Nor is it clear what kind of compromise could be agreed.</p>
<p>The government also hopes to mobilise its own supporters in favour of its constitutional changes. On Monday night, tens of thousands of right-wing and settler demonstrators turned out in Jerusalem and were addressed by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Netanyahu wants to see more of these. </p>
<p>On the surface the constitutional changes look very similar to action taken by populist governments in <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-overhaul-judiciary-unlock-eu-funds/">Hungary</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/polish-president-seeks-review-judicial-reform-bill-needed-eu-funds-2023-02-10/">Poland</a>. But in Israel the conflict combines the populist politics that in many ways Netanyahu pioneered with a fundamental battle over two visions of Israel. </p>
<p>The broadly liberal democratic outlook of the protesters, the opposition parties – even some in Likud – clashes with those who want to see an Israel more in tune with their particular interpretations of Judaism. </p>
<h2>Clash of cultures</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://m.knesset.gov.il/en/about/pages/declaration.aspx">1948 Israeli Declaration of Independence</a> did not create a Jewish theocracy but a democratic civil state with rights for all irrespective of religion or ethnicity. The far right, and some in the religious Orthodox parties, are <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/05f15936-882e-4a4f-a7c4-96870cc39a3e">not comfortable</a> with these values. So, the battle over the supreme court exposes deep fissures in Israeli society.</p>
<p>Netanyahu referred to a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/there-can-be-no-civil-war-full-text-of-netanyahus-announcement-on-overhaul-pause/">possible civil war</a> in his speech on March 27 and many are concerned that changing the constitutional checks and balances disturbs the political and cultural consensus established from 1948.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Netanyahu shelves his plans for judicial reforms.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Israel was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv21hrjmd">created by the left</a>. And international support for its establishment came from the Soviet bloc as well as broadly social democratic politicians in the west. But Israel’s founders, particularly the first prime minister <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Ben-Gurion">David Ben Gurion</a>, were keen to balance their socialist outlook with respect for the religious community. </p>
<p>That balance meant not drafting a constitution. Instead, Israel created a piecemeal approach to constitutional issues and in the process forged a strong legal system and an internationally respected judiciary. This is now imperilled by the proposed reforms. </p>
<p>The tensions in Israeli society that the judicial reform policy has unleashed are unlikely to diminish over the next month. Netanyahu presides over a country which is not only violently confronting its Palestinian neighbour – but is increasingly at war with itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Strawson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mass protests against the government’s plans to weaken the judiciary have exposed the deep divisions in Israel’s civil society.John Strawson, Honorary Professor of Law and director of LLM programs, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2026802023-03-28T12:15:44Z2023-03-28T12:15:44ZWhat’s at stake as protests rock Israel: 3 essential reads on democracy, security and human rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517789/original/file-20230327-26-pao2fz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C4520%2C3006&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIX%20Israel%20Politics/81b873e7160c42609d9a49fd200f5b62?Query=Israel%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=now-24h&totalCount=127&currentItemNo=25">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, after 12 weeks of growing protest against his proposed judicial reforms, said he will order <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/03/27/world/israel-protests-netanyahu/after-unrest-netanyahu-delays-his-plan-to-weaken-israels-judiciary?smid=url-share">a temporary halt to the changes</a> that aimed to rein in the power of Israel’s judiciary and grant virtually unaccountable power to politicians. </p>
<p>Netanyahu’s announcement came after <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-26/ty-article-live/senior-likud-members-hint-at-opposing-judicial-overhaul/00000187-1c81-d4ca-afff-1d89ee5b0000">massive protests had spread</a> throughout the country, turbocharged by his firing the day before of Israel’s defense minister, who had called on the government to postpone the judicial reform. </p>
<p>City services and universities were shut down. The Histadrut, the country’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/03/27/exp-israel-protests-histadrut-032709aseg1-cnni-world.cnn">largest and most powerful labor organization</a>, went on strike. Doctors walked out; Israel’s consul general in New York resigned; planes were grounded at the national airport. And tens of thousands of people demonstrated outside of the Knesset, the country’s parliament, as members of the country’s far-right groups called for violence – using “<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-27/ty-article/.premium/explosives-guns-knives-israeli-far-right-groups-call-for-violence-against-protesters/00000187-2298-d4ca-afff-33988fc40000">gasoline, explosives, tractors, guns, knives</a>” as a member of one group put it – against the protesters.</p>
<p>Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president – a largely ceremonial post – had earlier in the month <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/israeli-president-civil-war-is-within-touching-distance">unveiled a proposed compromise</a> on judicial reform that aimed to protect Israel’s democratic character. At the time, Herzog warned: “Israel is in the throes of a profound crisis. Anyone who thinks that a real civil war, of human life, is a line that we will not reach has no idea. The abyss is within touching distance.” </p>
<p>The Conversation has followed the growing crisis in Israel since the beginning of 2023. Here are three stories that will help you understand what’s at stake.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C32%2C5336%2C3493&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of people carryg signs and flags and shout as a police officer on a horse stands in front of them during the night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C32%2C5336%2C3493&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517785/original/file-20230327-24-nzvld0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A mounted Israeli policeman stands guard at a protest in Tel Aviv on March 27, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mounted-israeli-policeman-stands-guard-as-protesters-attend-news-photo/1249642348?adppopup=true">Photo by Gil Cohen-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>1. ‘A major threat to democracy’</h2>
<p>Political scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K47kws8AAAAJ&hl=en">Boaz Atzili</a> at American University wrote that “<a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">democracy is not just about holding elections</a>. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.” Netanyahu’s far-right-wing government, sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, “presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts,” he wrote.</p>
<p>Atzili described the four ways the new government put Israeli democracy at risk, from “hostility to freedom of speech and dissent” to plans to “allow discrimination against the LGBTQ community and women” to “West Bank annexation and apartheid” and “erasing the separation of powers.” </p>
<p>The courts in Israel, wrote Atzili, “are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties.” The judicial reform would erase that separation of power and, he wrote, “as in Turkey, Hungary or even Russia, Israel could become a democracy in form only, devoid of all the ideas and institutions that underpin a government that is actually of the people and by the people.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">Israel's Netanyahu facing off against the supreme court and proposing to limit judicial independence - and 3 other threats to Israeli democracy</a>
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<h2>2. ‘A very dangerous period’</h2>
<p>Scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pgpEt8MAAAAJ&hl=en">Dov Waxman</a>, an Israel expert at UCLA, said that he initially thought the warnings of an impending civil war or strife “<a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">were exaggerated and unnecessarily alarmist</a>.” </p>
<p>But by mid-February, as the protests grew from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands participating, Waxman changed his mind. “I think now those warnings are well founded. Israel is really entering a very dangerous period.”</p>
<p>The protests, Waxman wrote, “are driven by concerns over this judicial overhaul, but I think they speak to a broader anxiety, a fear among many Israelis about the future of democracy in Israel and the future of the country.” </p>
<p>But while Israelis are taking to the streets to defend their democracy, they have not included Palestinians in their protests. </p>
<p>“I can certainly understand why many Palestinians would be feeling that all of this sudden anxiety and concern for Israeli democracy ignores the fact that almost 50% of the population that Israel effectively rules over lacks equal rights and lacks the ability to vote in Israeli elections,” he wrote. “I think the fact that most Israelis don’t seem to connect these two issues suggests that they only see democracy as this internal domestic issue without any relevance to the Palestinian question.”</p>
<p>The crisis may also harm Israel’s interests outside of the state. “If the perception takes hold that Israel is no longer a democracy or not a liberal democracy,” wrote Waxman, “that could further weaken support for Israel in Congress and in the Democratic Party. It might even make it harder for them to continue to approve U.S. aid for Israel.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-enters-a-dangerous-period-public-protests-swell-over-netanyahus-plan-to-limit-the-power-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-199917">Israel enters a dangerous period – public protests swell over Netanyahu's plan to limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white-haired man looks as if he's thinking, as people around him talk or look at their phones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517791/original/file-20230327-27-p1o4pt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stands on the floor of the country’s parliament as people mass outside to protest his government’s judicial overhaul plan, March 27, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Israel%20Politics/0f3aa28151a3467eaa0e6ba21fdfad5a?Query=Israel%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=now-24h&totalCount=127&currentItemNo=16">AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo</a></span>
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<h2>3. A political crisis could become a security crisis</h2>
<p>American University scholar <a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/arbell.cfm">Dan Arbell</a>, who served in the Israel Defense Forces and as a member of the country’s foreign service, took note of an unprecedented aspect of the demonstrations: “It’s not simply the persistence and size of the protest that is evidence of the crisis,” he wrote. “It’s who is protesting.”</p>
<p>Arbell wrote that while the protests over the past three months have brought together people from a range of professions and interests, among the protesters is “a group of individuals rarely seen at anti-government protests over the country’s almost 75-year history: Israel Defense Forces reservists.” Those reservists, he wrote, “announced they will not volunteer for reserve duty service if the legislation passes in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.” </p>
<p>That’s a sign that “the crisis’s implications extend far beyond the domestic political arena.” That means the crisis doesn’t just have meaning for the civic realm. “Besides threatening to undermine the economy and deepen societal divides,” wrote Arbell, “it threatens to erode Israeli national security and provoke a constitutional crisis that could ensnare the military as well.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-military-reservists-are-joining-protests-potentially-transforming-a-political-crisis-into-a-security-crisis-202487">Israel's military reservists are joining protests – potentially transforming a political crisis into a security crisis</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Three scholars examine the implications of the crisis roiling Israel as hundreds of thousands of people protest across country.Naomi Schalit, Senior Editor, Politics + Democracy, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2024872023-03-26T16:19:02Z2023-03-26T16:19:02ZIsrael’s military reservists are joining protests – potentially transforming a political crisis into a security crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517494/original/file-20230326-3123-5vkuoi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C3240%2C2359&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A member of Israel's military reserves takes part in a protest on March 16, 2023 in Bnei Brak, a city east of Tel Aviv.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/member-of-the-brothers-in-arm-reserve-soldiers-movement-news-photo/1248400470?adppopup=true">Photo by Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>This article was last updated on March 28</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-enters-a-dangerous-period-public-protests-swell-over-netanyahus-plan-to-limit-the-power-of-the-israeli-supreme-court-199917">The judicial overhaul plan</a> of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/levin-unveils-bills-to-weaken-top-court-enable-laws-to-be-immune-to-judicial-review/">introduced in January</a>, has thrown the country into its most severe <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/10/23/the-fog-of-certainty-learning-from-the-intelligence-failures-of-the-1973-war/">domestic crisis since 1973</a>. That crisis intensified on March 26, when <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-26/ty-article-live/.premium/senior-likud-members-hint-at-opposing-judicial-overhaul/00000187-1c81-d4ca-afff-1d89ee5b0000">Netanyahu fired the country’s defense minister</a>, who had – less than 24 hours before – called on the government to delay its plans to reform the judiciary.</p>
<p>The plan has incited an unprecedented wave of controversy among Israelis, as hundreds of thousands of protestors have gathered for <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-25/ty-article/.premium/as-defense-minister-urges-freeze-hundreds-of-thousands-protest-netanyahus-judicial-coup/00000187-1a38-d7c4-ab8f-fe3e48960000">a 12th straight week</a> across the country in opposition to the plan. Yet it’s not simply the persistence and size of the protest that is evidence of the crisis. It’s who is protesting. </p>
<p>The demonstrations <a href="https://time.com/6258288/israel-protests-judicial-reforms/">have brought together</a> groups representing almost all sectors of Israeli society. But among protesters is a group of individuals rarely seen at anti-government protests over the country’s almost 75-year history: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/elite-officers-in-israels-military-plan-walkout-on-sunday-in-protest-of-judicial-system-overhaul">Israel Defense Forces reservists</a>. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165766363/why-some-military-reservists-are-not-reporting-for-duty-in-israel">They include</a> former combat pilots, members of elite units and special forces, cyber-security forces and military intelligence, who announced they <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165766363/why-some-military-reservists-are-not-reporting-for-duty-in-israel">will not volunteer for reserve duty</a> service if the legislation passes in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. </p>
<p>Further demonstrating the unprecedented aspect of the response by reservists: Among those protesting are members of Israeli Air Force Squadron 69. All but <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/37-of-40-reserve-pilots-in-fighter-jet-squadron-refuse-to-train-over-judicial-shakeup/">three of the 40 reservist pilots</a> in the squadron announced that they would not conduct training exercises and would instead join anti-government protests, claiming they <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hundreds-elite-israeli-reservists-say-they-are-joining-judicial-protests-2023-03-19/">are not prepared to serve</a> in what they say would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/07/israeli-military-reservists-refuse-train-protest-far-right-government">be a “dictatorial regime</a>.” </p>
<p>“We have no contract with a dictator. We would be happy to volunteer when the democracy is safeguarded,” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hundreds-elite-israeli-reservists-say-they-are-joining-judicial-protests-2023-03-19/">an open letter from the reservists said</a>.</p>
<p>The highly controversial <a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096">judicial reform plan</a> would significantly weaken the Israeli judiciary’s oversight over the legislative and executive branches. </p>
<p>The plan calls for near total control over future laws, constitutional amendments and judicial appointments to be concentrated in the hands of the governing coalition in the Knesset. Critics and protesters say the plan undermines the 75-year delicate balance between <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164565603/israel-protests-intensify-over-judicial-system-overhaul">the three government branches</a>, ends liberal democracy as they know it and pushes Israel <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-17/ty-article/israel-is-hurtling-toward-dictatorship-former-shin-bet-chief-warns/00000186-ec84-df90-a19e-edbf57290000">towards autocratic rule</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the growing protests, Netanyahu has defiantly promised to push <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/23/netanyahu-judicial-overhaul-plan-protests-vote">the reforms through the Knesset</a>. As the country inches closer towards a constitutional showdown between the executive and legislative branches and the judicial branch, the presence of former members of elite military units in these protests is evidence that the crisis’s implications extend far beyond the domestic political arena. </p>
<p>Besides threatening to undermine the economy and deepen societal divides, it threatens to erode Israeli national security and provoke a constitutional crisis that could ensnare the military as well. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with gray hair, wearing a suit jacket and tie, standing in front of a blue wall and blue and white flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517476/original/file-20230326-3363-n8w4up.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for an immediate halt in the judicial overhaul legislation process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-minister-of-defence-yoav-gallant-delivers-a-news-photo/1247942062?adppopup=true">Gil Cohen-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span>
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<h2>‘The people’s army’</h2>
<p>Israel’s military, known as the “IDF,” has been described for decades <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep17014.7.pdf">as the “people’s army</a>.” That’s because young Israeli men and women, when they turn 18, are mandated by law to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Israel-Defense-Forces">serve in the military</a>. Men serve for two years and eight months and women for two years. </p>
<p>Upon completion of their regular military service, men and women are assigned to the reserve forces. The reserves are designed to provide reinforcements during emergencies and maintain preparedness through routine training and security assignments. While the number of Israelis serving as reservists has decreased over the years due to cutbacks and people finding <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/just-a-quarter-of-all-eligible-reservists-serve-in-the-idf/">ways to be exempted</a>, reserve military service has been an integral part of the national ethos and folklore. </p>
<p>The threat to the government articulated by the protesting reservists <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/03/07/israel-faces-unprecedented-revolt-of-army-reservists_6018520_4.html">is unprecedented</a>. It represents a powerful step by former military and intelligence officials who pride themselves on their independence from politics and commitment to protocol.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the reservists’ view is that there is an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hundreds-elite-israeli-reservists-say-they-are-joining-judicial-protests-2023-03-19/">unwritten contract</a> between those who serve and the state: they are willing to risk their lives to defend a liberal democratic Israel. But if Israel becomes a dictatorship, this contract is null and void. </p>
<p>It is possible that other security services like the police or Shin Bet, the internal security service, will take similar actions to protest the reforms. Depending on how long these protests last, the situation could unfold into an uncharted security crisis with high risks of domestic instability and, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/israeli-president-civil-war-is-within-touching-distance">Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned</a>, civil strife.</p>
<h2>Defense of democracy - or insubordination?</h2>
<p>Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, addressing the situation on March 25, 2023, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-25/ty-article/.premium/israels-defense-minister-gallant-publicly-calls-to-halt-judicial-overhaul/00000187-19cd-d4ca-afff-19cd6ae60000">expressed deep concern</a> that the heated political debate is infiltrating the rank and file of the IDF. And that, Gallant said, may undermine and jeopardize Israel’s security at a time when the country <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2023/jan/25/israel-iran-threat-options">faces external threats from Iran</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64757995">Palestinian terrorism</a> and <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/was-hezbollah-behind-the-megiddo-bombing-in-israel-if-yes-its-a-new-escalation/">Lebanese Hezbollah</a>. </p>
<p>“The events taking place in Israeli society do not spare the Israel Defense Forces — from all sides, feelings of anger, pain and disappointment arise, with an intensity I have never encountered before,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/25/israeli-defense-minister-calls-for-halt-to-judicial-overhaul-00088839">Gallant said</a>.</p>
<p>Gallant called for an immediate halt in the judicial overhaul legislation process. Instead, he proposed a dialogue between the two sides in order to reach a broadly agreed reform.</p>
<p>Now, Gallant has been fired for his comments. As a veteran of the IDF, a former Israeli diplomat and a longtime analyst of <a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/arbell.cfm">Israel’s security situation</a>, I believe the crisis poses a profound question of where the line is between legal political activism in defense of democracy and insubordination. </p>
<p>The bigger question is what will happen with the military if the legislation passes in the Knesset, but is then <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-03-17/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/israels-high-court-will-strike-down-the-coup-legislation-top-legal-experts-say/00000186-eb16-df90-a19e-ebbf15960000">struck down by Israel’s supreme court</a>, the <a href="https://versa.cardozo.yu.edu/about-supreme-court-israel">High Court of Justice</a>. Should Netanyahu’s government request that institutions like the IDF act in contradiction to decisions made by the High Court, it is unclear to which authority these institutions would adhere. </p>
<p>For example: if the High Court rules that a Jewish outpost in the West Bank was built illegally and needs to be dismantled, yet the government orders the IDF not to do it, what will the IDF commanders on the ground do?</p>
<p>This tension is starkly displayed by the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165766363/why-some-military-reservists-are-not-reporting-for-duty-in-israel">reservists who are refusing to partake in their usual duties</a>. </p>
<p>In light of Gallant’s call to halt the legislation process, it is unclear whether the voting on the changes in the makeup of the Judges Selection Committee, scheduled for the week of March 26, 2023, will take place as planned. </p>
<p>The reservists’ active participation in the protests and their vocal opposition to the government’s plan have clearly made an impact on the defense minister. But at the same time, Gallant came out strongly against insubordination. Undoubtedly, the coming days will be critical in determining the direction of Israeli democracy. </p>
<p><em>This story has been updated to reflect Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Arbell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has fired the country’s defense minister. That deepened the country’s crisis over proposed judicial reforms that even military reservists have protested.Dan Arbell, Scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israeli Studies, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999172023-02-14T20:18:17Z2023-02-14T20:18:17ZIsrael enters a dangerous period – public protests swell over Netanyahu’s plan to limit the power of the Israeli Supreme Court<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510154/original/file-20230214-14-bez1nv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C8%2C5773%2C3851&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Opposition deputies protest as the first stage of controversial judicial reform is approved by the Knesset Law Committee on Feb. 13, 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/opposition-deputies-protest-inside-the-knesset-during-a-news-photo/1247106087?phrase=knesset&adppopup=true">Photo by Israeli Parliament (Knesset) / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Proposals by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-02-12/ty-article-timeline/israels-democratic-emergency-what-you-need-to-know-ahead-of-a-crucial-week/00000186-4520-d80f-abff-6fa8e8570000">radically diminish the power and independence of Israel’s judiciary</a> sparked demonstrations across the country starting in January 2023. An estimated <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/masses-rally-across-country-against-judicial-overhaul-organizers-claim-over-200000/">200,000 Israelis took part in protests on Feb. 11</a> and another <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-02-13/ty-article-live/as-nationwide-strike-launches-across-israel-protesters-block-airport/00000186-495d-d80f-abff-6bdd90c30000">100,000 in front of the Parliament on Feb. 13</a>, the same day <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/13/israel-netanyahu-protests-judicial-reform/">a general strike took place to denounce the changes</a>. A <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-02-12/ty-article/.premium/18-former-israeli-supreme-court-justices-publish-statement-opposing-judicial-overhaul/00000186-424a-d80f-abff-6aca7f750000">statement signed by 18 former Supreme Court justices</a> asserted that Israeli democracy is at stake in the judicial reform being considered by lawmakers, which “severely threatens the essence of our system of government and our way of life in Israel.”</em> </p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked <a href="https://www.international.ucla.edu/israel/person/2520">political scientist and Israel expert Dov Waxman</a>, the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, for his insights into the current crisis.</em></p>
<h2>What’s your broad view of the situation in Israel?</h2>
<p>What’s remarkable about these protests is not only the size of them, but the fact that they’ve been able to maintain this size over many weeks and that they’re occurring across the country. </p>
<p>I don’t think there’s been any comparable protest movement in Israel’s history in terms of the size and the various social and economic groups that make up this protest. High-tech workers are not normally a segment of the population that are very politically engaged, and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-24/ty-article/.premium/israeli-high-tech-employees-protest-netanyahu-govts-judicial-overhaul/00000185-e2ec-d093-ada5-ebff5a330000">they’ve been very active in these demonstrations</a>. <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-12/ty-article/.premium/hundreds-of-lawyers-ex-judges-protest-judicial-overhaul-across-israel/00000185-a5c2-d68c-a7c5-bdd204020000">Jurists have</a> demonstrated, but also Israeli security figures, including <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/masses-rally-across-country-against-judicial-overhaul-organizers-claim-over-200000/">a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces</a>.</p>
<p>These protests are driven by concerns over this judicial overhaul, but I think they speak to a broader anxiety, a fear among many Israelis about <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/pdfs/101-200/meb150.pdf">the future of democracy in Israel and the future of the country</a>. They fear this will essentially lead to Israel’s shift from being what they perceive to be a liberal democracy <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-02-06/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/a-chilling-lesson-for-israel-from-hungary-poland-and-turkey-democracy-dies-slowly/00000186-21ef-df0e-a9df-3fef24280000">to becoming an illiberal democracy that looks more like Hungary, Poland or Turkey</a> than the United States.</p>
<h2>You barely see Palestinians in these protests. It must be <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/deaths-in-jenin-and-east-jerusalem-draw-new-attention-to-netanyahu">quite an experience for them</a>, hearing Israel described so passionately as a democracy when they don’t have democratic rights.</h2>
<p>There’s been a debate within the protest movement and among its leaders over whether they should address issues beyond the judicial reforms, whether the protests should be linked to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. And the focus was very deliberately to exclude these other issues. If they’d have brought in the Palestinian issue, it would have driven away or deterred many Israelis and shrunk the protest movement.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A protester raises a 'Scales of Justice' symbol while other protesters hold a banner and placards during a demonstration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510166/original/file-20230214-28-8u12ky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A protester raises a ‘Scales of Justice’ symbol during a demonstration on Feb. 11, 2023, in Tel Aviv, where 130,000 people march against Israel’s right-wing government and its controversial legal reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-raises-a-scales-of-justice-symbol-while-other-news-photo/1247124896?phrase=Netanyahu&adppopup=true">Matan Golan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But of course, it is a blind spot. I can certainly understand why many Palestinians would be feeling that all of this sudden anxiety and concern for Israeli democracy ignores the fact that almost 50% of the population that Israel effectively rules over lacks equal rights <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/west-bank/freedom-world/2022">and lacks the ability to vote in Israeli elections</a>.</p>
<p>I think the fact that most Israelis don’t seem to connect these two issues suggests that they only see democracy as this internal domestic issue without any relevance to the Palestinian question. But the government’s desire to weaken the Supreme Court has to be understood against the context in which <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/29/1145952664/benjamin-netanyahus-new-israeli-government-will-make-west-bank-expansion-a-prior">significant elements of the government want to formally annex the West Bank</a>, <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/in-facts-and-figures/">where 2.9 million Palestinians live</a>. The Supreme Court would likely either overrule that decision or say that Palestinians living in the area have to be given equal rights. The reforms Netanyahu’s coalition wants <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/14/israel-judiciary-overhaul-democracy/">would allow lawmakers to, effectively, overrule such Supreme Court decisions</a>.</p>
<h2>Israeli President Isaac Herzog says the state is on the brink of a ‘<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/02/12/israeli-president-powder-keg-about-to-explode-over-judicial-overhaul-plan">constitutional and social collapse</a>.’ Is he overstating it?</h2>
<p>I initially thought that warnings of impending civil war or civil strife were exaggerated and unnecessarily alarmist. But given how quickly events are moving in Israel, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/world/middleeast/israel-judicial-protests-netanyahu.html">the scale of these demonstrations, the massive public strike that took place Monday</a> and the rhetoric that’s coming from both sides, I think now those warnings are well founded. Israel is really entering a very dangerous period. </p>
<p>At least half of the Israeli public see this as a life-or-death issue for Israeli democracy, an existential issue. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-730852">When the stakes are so high, the possibility for violence increases</a>, whether it’s among the protesters or counterprotesters.</p>
<h2>What could adoption of these proposals mean to Israel’s relationships with other countries?</h2>
<p>I don’t think it’s likely to greatly affect Israel’s relations with other states because it’s national interests, not democratic values, that fundamentally underpin these relationships.</p>
<p>I do, however, think it is affecting Israel’s relationship with Jews around the world, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/169-liberal-us-jewish-leaders-sign-letter-expressing-concern-over-israeli-government/">and potentially America’s unquestioning support for Israel</a>. If the perception takes hold that Israel is no longer a democracy or not a liberal democracy, that could further weaken support for Israel in Congress and in the Democratic Party. It might even make it harder for them to continue to approve U.S. aid for Israel.</p>
<p>There’s always been a yawning gap between the public perception of Israel outside of the country, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691168999/trouble-in-the-tribe">especially the view held by many Jewish Americans</a>, and the reality of Israel. The mythic image of Israel was incredibly powerful but never really accurate. Reality has gradually undermined this image. And this judicial overhaul threatens to further undermine the image of Israel as a fellow liberal democracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man marching in a protest wearing a military uniform raises his fist." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510168/original/file-20230214-26-72elpe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Israeli reserve soldier raises his fist as he marches during a demonstration on Feb. 13, 2023, in Jerusalem to protest proposed judicial reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-israeli-reserve-soldier-raises-his-fist-as-he-marches-news-photo/1247124493?phrase=israel%20protest&adppopup=true">Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is there a case to be made for Israeli judicial reform?</h2>
<p>Since the 1990s, Israel’s high court has become very involved in Israeli politics, something it did not do in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It has intervened, overridden and disqualified many government decisions and laws. So the perception, particularly by those on the right, that this is an activist court, that it has been too active, is reasonable.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s as liberal as its critics present it to be. The court has not intervened very much when it comes to protecting the rights of, say, Palestinians in the West Bank. So this perception among the right that the court has really restrained Israeli governments isn’t actually accurate. </p>
<p>I think many people would accept that there could be an argument for some kind of judicial reform, at least passing a law to clarify the role and powers of the Supreme Court. But what’s being presented in this reform is actually a revolutionary attempt to essentially take away the independence and power of the Supreme Court. This goes well beyond improving the present system. </p>
<p>Almost identical measures have been implemented in other countries by authoritarian, populist leaders – by <a href="https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2021/11/30/democratic-backsliding-in-poland-and-eastern-europe/">Orban in Hungary, Duda in Poland and Erdogan in Turkey</a>. You don’t need a wild imagination to see what’s driving this or where this is going – Israel will become an illiberal, or majoritarian, democracy, like Hungary, Poland and Turkey.</p>
<p>I think people have genuinely been taken aback by the speed with which the government’s pushing these huge changes through the Knesset, or Parliament. One interpretation is that they’ve done this so quickly knowing that they will eventually have to make a compromise – basically a shock-and-awe campaign.</p>
<p>But the other way of looking at this speed is that, no, they’re not interested in compromising. That’s why they’ve done this so quickly, and they’re going to push this through. We will likely know soon which one it is. It’s kind of like a game of chicken. I think they will in the end come up with some sort of compromise.</p>
<h2>Does that compromise make anyone happy?</h2>
<p>No, but that’s the nature of compromise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dov Waxman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Huge pro-democracy demonstrations in Israel have taken place for almost two months in protest of new rules for the Supreme Court that Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government is rushing into law.Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1960922023-01-17T13:33:37Z2023-01-17T13:33:37ZNew Israeli power broker seeks to rewrite history to justify violence against Palestinians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504054/original/file-20230111-32622-gmqh9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C8556%2C5717&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Right-wing Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has a long history of anti-Palestinian efforts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IsraelPoliticsUndoingProgress/f99f718548a1496da9e2cc880294717b/photo">AP Photo/Oded Balilty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A right-wing Israeli politician is trying to recast a key part of American history.</em></p>
<p><em>That’s not a usual subject for an Israeli Cabinet member. But Itamar Ben-Gvir is trying to make his anti-Palestinian movement seem less extremist and more appealing to Jews and the international community. A rewrite of American history could help him do it.</em></p>
<p><em>In a November 2022 speech in Jerusalem after the recent Israeli elections, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-11-25/ty-article/.premium/likud-and-otzma-yehudit-sign-agreement-giving-ben-gvir-public-security-ministry/00000184-ad14-dd96-ad8c-efbc35f60000">Ben-Gvir</a> memorialized <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179339/meir-kahane">Rabbi Meir Kahane</a>, an ultranationalist leader from the U.S. who moved to Israel and was both elected to Israel’s Parliament and convicted of terrorism before being assassinated in 1990. Ben-Gvir declared that Kahane and his followers saved Jews from the Soviet Union’s antisemitism during the 1970s and 1980s.</em></p>
<p><em>Kahane is best known in the U.S. as the founder of the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league">Jewish Defense League</a>, which was originally headquartered in New York City. From the 1960s through about 2001, this group was responsible for numerous terrorist and racist attacks against African Americans, Muslims, Jewish academics and public figures, as well as foreign diplomats.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked Curtis Hutt, the executive director of the <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/goldstein-center-for-human-rights/index.php">Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights</a> at the University of Nebraska Omaha – an academic unit supported by donors who fought to free Soviet Jewry – to review Ben-Gvir’s claim and his motivations.</em></p>
<h2>Who is this person?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/11/03/who-is-itamar-ben-gvir-israels-kingmaker">Itamar Ben-Gvir</a> is a newly elected member of the Knesset, Israel’s national legislature. He has also been <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-11-25/ty-article/.premium/likud-and-otzma-yehudit-sign-agreement-giving-ben-gvir-public-security-ministry/00000184-ad14-dd96-ad8c-efbc35f60000">appointed national security minister</a> in the right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who in December 2022 again became Israel’s prime minister, a post he previously held from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021.</p>
<p>Ben-Gvir is a longtime supporter of Israeli Kahanist movements fighting for a theocratic Jewish state. The members of those movements support Israeli dominion over the territory they call “greater Israel,” which includes not only present-day Israel but also the Palestinian territories. </p>
<h2>What role and power does he have in the Israeli government?</h2>
<p>Ben-Gvir is a critical part of the Knesset’s majority coalition led by Netanyahu.
As the new minister of national security with an expanded portfolio, he is now in charge of Israel’s police and border police in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. </p>
<p>Other members of the political party he leads, Otzma Yehudit, or “Jewish Power,” now hold ministry positions charged with expanding Jewish development in the Galilee and Negev regions, as well as overseeing cultural and religious heritage. </p>
<h2>What constituencies does he represent?</h2>
<p>In 1971, Kahane came to Israel from the U.S. and founded the <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/kach/">Kach Party</a> to bring his views to the voting public, but it was disqualified from participating in electoral politics in 1987 when changes to Israeli law banned groups that incited racism.</p>
<p>In 1994, Kach member Baruch Goldstein, who had also been a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170706170942/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/25/newsid_4167000/4167929.stm">member of the Jewish Defense League</a>, massacred 29 Muslim worshippers in a mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. As a result, both Israel and the U.S. declared Kach to be a terrorist organization.</p>
<p>In 2007, Ben-Gvir was <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel/ben-gvir-convicted-of-inciting-to-racism">convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization</a> – Kach. He also once had a <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221027-israel-s-far-right-leader-ben-gvir-wins-adoring-young-fans">portrait of Goldstein</a> hanging in his living room.</p>
<p>In the 2009 election that brought Netanyahu back into power from the opposition, Kahanist disciple <a href="https://www.jpost.com/opinion/otzma-party-is-dangerous-i-know-because-i-banned-its-leader-from-the-us-581759">Michael Ben-Ari</a> was elected to the Knesset for the first time. Four years later, he formed a new Kahanist party, Otzma Yehudit, which didn’t win any Knesset seats in the 2013 elections. In 2019, Ben-Ari was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/3/18/israel-top-court-bans-jewish-powers-michael-ben-ari-from-polls">banned from running for public office</a> because of his alleged extremist activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man points toward another man as they are separated by police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504283/original/file-20230112-21-5qrxw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In the Palestinian-dominated Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, with arm extended, argues with demonstrators objecting to forced evictions of Palestinian residents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/may-2021-israel-jerusalem-right-wing-knesset-member-itamar-news-photo/1232806654">Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>At that time, Ben-Gvir, who was seen as <a href="https://tomerpersicoenglish.wordpress.com/2022/08/30/ben-gvir-and-the-danger-of-kahanism-in-israel/">being more moderate</a> and more politically skilled than Ben-Ari, took over party leadership.</p>
<p>In 2022, an alliance between Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2019-01-15/ty-article/.premium/radical-settler-proud-homophobe-and-wunderkind-new-leader-of-israels-far-right/0000017f-e499-d7b2-a77f-e79fce7e0000">Bezalel Smotrich</a>’s messianic Religious Nationalists resulted in their candidates’ winning 15 Knesset seats, becoming the third-largest political bloc in Israel and Netanyahu’s primary coalition partner. </p>
<p>Ben-Gvir’s position as co-leader of this extreme right-wing alliance is so strong that his agreement to join Netanyahu’s coalition government includes a commitment to remove the clause in Israel’s Basic Law disqualifying a person from serving in the Knesset <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-netanyahu-said-planning-end-to-ban-on-mks-who-are-racist-reject-democracy/">for inciting racism</a> – for which Kahane was first banned, and of which Ben-Gvir has also been convicted. </p>
<h2>What is Ben-Gvir saying about Rabbi Kahane and his activity?</h2>
<p>In his November 2022 speech in honor of Kahane, Ben-Gvir credited Kahane and the Jewish Defense League for leading the successful fight against antisemitism and, specifically, in freeing Jews from the USSR. </p>
<p>During the Cold War, it was extremely difficult for Soviet citizens to leave the country. This put religious minorities like Jews, Protestants and Roman Catholics – all of whom were persecuted by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhz047">atheist regime</a> – at great risk. In the 1970s and 1980s, Jewish communities across the U.S. <a href="https://ajhs.org/holdings/archive-of-the-american-soviet-jewry-movement/">mobilized</a> on behalf of Soviet Jews, seeking to get them safely out of the country, often to Israel.</p>
<p>Throughout this period, the Jewish Defense League <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/08/14/ex-jewish-league-leaders-plead-guilty-in-bombings/44542d46-be49-42d2-bd0f-b1ff0ec1d825/">repeatedly physically attacked Soviet officials and cultural figures</a> in the U.S. The group took over a New York City synagogue to demonstrate against Soviet diplomats whose offices were across the street. </p>
<p>Members <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league">poured blood on a Soviet official</a> in Washington, D.C. They also <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-03-mn-13199-story.html">set off an explosive device</a> during a performance by a Soviet dance troupe. A bomb planted in the office of an agent finding work for Soviet entertainers killed the secretary, <a href="https://forward.com/news/131489/when-violence-overcame-a-freedom-struggle/">Iris Kones</a>. </p>
<p>In my view – and the <a href="https://www.jta.org/archive/goldmann-jdl-tactics-a-catastrophe-soviet-jews-differ-on-jdlers-indicted">views of many Jewish leaders</a> at the time – these efforts did not encourage the Soviet Union to change its policies or to release imprisoned dissidents. They were also exclusively focused on Russian Jews, rather than other religious minorities in the USSR, who were in a similar position as Roman Catholics and evangelicals. For the Jewish Defense League and others in Israel like new Israeli Cabinet member <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/he-campaigned-for-soviet-immigration-now-avi-maoz-is-poised-to-fight-against-it/">Avi Maoz</a>, it was a battle to protect Jews from threats, not a struggle to <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">improve human rights</a> for all.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a tie and a woman holding a folder speak to each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=866&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503635/original/file-20230109-9391-92ygc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sen. Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson, a Democrat from Washington, and Shirley Goldstein, an advocate for Jewish and human rights, speak while working on a federal law aimed at freeing Soviet Jews from oppression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/goldstein-center-for-human-rights/about-us/goldstein-family.php">Goldstein Family Archives in the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>At the same time, the human rights aspect of the struggle in the USSR was a central focus of a U.S. political movement. A wide range of groups, including the Jewish community and its allies, but also <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/10/reclaiming-human-rights-changing-world-order/7-evangelicals-and-human-rights">Christians in the United States</a> who were likewise aware of abuses against their own churches in the USSR, pushed Congress to act. </p>
<p>In 1975, that effort – not the work of the Jewish Defense League – achieved the enactment of the <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011113-16.html">Jackson-Vanik amendment</a>, which curbed U.S. trade with countries that restricted freedom of movement and other basic human rights. As a result of Jackson-Vanik, by the year 2000, 573,000 refugees, including large numbers of Jews, were able to come to the U.S. Another million Jews made their way to Israel.</p>
<h2>What is Ben-Gvir trying to claim credit for?</h2>
<p>Ben-Gvir wants to rehabilitate Kahane’s terrorist legacy to gain support among the larger Jewish public in Israel and the U.S. For Ben-Gvir, Kahane’s so-called past successes – as exemplified in the fight to free Soviet Jewry – justify contemporary violent Kahanist tactics on behalf of Israeli Jews against Palestinians, political and religious opposition, the LGBTQ community and others. </p>
<p>He claims that the Jewish Defense League’s violence, even against innocent people, freed the Soviet Jews. In doing so, he is seeking to take credit for what was really a human rights effort. In the meantime, Ben-Gvir and his allies claim that <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-says-human-rights-organizations-are-existential-threat-to-israel">human rights organizations and activists are a danger to Israel</a> because of their advocacy for Palestinian rights.</p>
<p>Ben-Gvir wants people to think that Kahanists were responsible for rescuing Jews from the USSR. History shows that this is not true. Kahanists acted at odds with the human rights activists and politicians responsible for the victory. Ben-Gvir and his allies act to only protect the rights of <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-calls-for-revoking-state-recognition-of-reform-conversions/">those they consider to be observant Jews</a> in Israel. In my view, Ben-Gvir, as Israel’s new national security minister, sees Kahane-style aggressions as the best way to protect the Jewish nation-state.</p>
<p>Just as Kahane was uninterested in advocating for the rights of non-Jews in the USSR or elsewhere, I see Ben-Gvir promising aggressive “Jews First” governance for Israel, and a Jewish state expanded at the expense of Palestinians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am the Executive Director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights.</span></em></p>A claim about how persecuted Jews were freed from the Soviet Union decades ago relates to how Palestinians might be treated today.Curtis Hutt, Executive Director, Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Center for Human Rights, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928342022-11-02T03:29:25Z2022-11-02T03:29:25ZNetanyahu on track to win in Israeli election – but there are many challenges ahead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492922/original/file-20221102-12-4go2v2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abir Sultan/EPA/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 71% of Israel’s 6.5 million eligible voters, a 20-year high, cast their votes in Israel’s <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2022/10/28/1385228/israeli-election-explainer-everything-you-need-to-know">November 1 elections</a>. This is the fifth Israeli election in less than four years; during that period, two shaky governments were formed, each of which lasted only a year.</p>
<h2>Exit polls: a majority for the right wing camp</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pro-netanyahu-bloc-now-at-62-seats-in-all-the-exit-polls/">exit polls</a>, former Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu is in a good position to reclaim the prime ministership. Like all four previous elections campaigns since 2019, 2022 was again a referendum on his eligibility to be Israel’s head of government. Entangled in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-corruption-trial.html">a legal battle</a> after being indicted on charges of bribery, corruption and breach of trust – which he vehemently denies – Netanyahu is still popular among most right-wing voters. His supporters largely believe an organised campaign against him is being run by the legal and political elites, promoted by the media.</p>
<p>Netanyahu’s Likud party is set to win around 30 Knesset (parliament) seats, out of the total 120, thereby retaining its status as the biggest party in Israel.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/netanyahu-leaves-behind-a-complex-legacy-in-israel-his-successor-will-need-to-deliver-change-and-fast-162660">Netanyahu leaves behind a complex legacy in Israel. His successor will need to deliver change — and fast</a>
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<p>Senior Likud members have been promising to reform the judicial system, reducing what they consider the judges’ disproportionate power to challenge the authority of elected parliamentarians. Some of the judicial reform laws being proposed, if passed, could either aid Netanyahu in his legal battle or annul the case against him entirely.</p>
<p>The “star” of the elections was extreme right-wing politician <a href="https://aijac.org.au/australia-israel-review/understanding-the-rise-of-itamar-ben-gvir/">Itamar Ben Gvir</a>. Ben Gvir achieved notoriety as a teenage activist for his role in the incitement in the mid-1990s against then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, shortly before Rabin was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/assassination-yitzhak-rabin-never-knew-his-people-shot-him-in-back">assassinated</a> by another right-wing extremist.</p>
<p>Ben Gvir has sought to re-brand himself as more “moderate” in recent months, rejecting some of his most extreme positions of the past. An alliance of Ben Gvir’s party with the Religious Zionism party, headed by Bezalel Smotrich, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-elections/article-721229">appears poised</a> to become Israel’s third largest party, gaining 14-15 seats. </p>
<p>The two will push for expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and rejection of any two-state resolution with the Palestinians. A coalition including Ben Gvir, Smotrich and Israel’s two conservative ultra-Orthodox religious parties (Shas and UTJ, 17-18 seats collectively) would be bad news for advocates of LGBTQI+ rights in Israel and abortion rights for women.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492914/original/file-20221102-26784-ram7jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Itamar Ben Gvir, far-right Otzma Yehudit party, has sought to re-brand himself as more ‘moderate’ in this election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Abir Sultan/EPA/AAP</span></span>
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<p>The picture for the centre-left anti-Netanyahu camp is a mixed bag. <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-1-2022/">Yesh Atid</a>, the party of outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, is set to be second in several seats to Likud with 22-24. Meanwhile, the National Unity Party, led by Defence Minister Benny Gantz, gained 12-13 seats. Both these parties increased their strength but apparently failed in their bid to remain in government.</p>
<p>The left-wing Meretz and Labour parties polled poorly, winning a predicted 4-5 seats.</p>
<p>Right-wing secularist Avigdor Lieberman, a Netanyahu ally turned opponent, and his Yisrael Beitenu (“Israel our home”) party, barely made it to the Knesset, winning 4-5 seats.</p>
<p>Engulfed in bitter internal fighting, non-Zionist, mainly Arab-supported Israeli parties crashed after splitting their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_List">Joint List</a>, which gained 15 seats in 2020, into three parties. Hadash-Ta’al, the central component of the former Joint List ended up with just four seats.</p>
<p>Another component of the former Joint List, the Arab Islamist party <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-1-2022/">Ra’am</a>, headed by Mansour Abbas at the party’s helm, has gained five seats, up one from last election. </p>
<p>This is significant, as Abbas took a bold and unprecedented step by joining a Zionist-led government in 2021 – the first time a majority Arab party has done this. Ra’am’s success among Arab Israeli voters suggest they want their representatives to enter governing coalitions to gain services and other policy priorities for Israeli Arab communities, rather than take an ideological stand against Zionism.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492918/original/file-20221102-26-1a85sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Led by Mansour Abbas (voting in 2021), Ra'am appears to have achieved great success in the 2022 election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mahmoud Illean/AP/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>What happens now?</h2>
<p>The big parties will immediately start the difficult rounds of consultations, trying to attract enough Knesset members to join their coalition and pull together the magic number of 61. </p>
<p>If exit polls are accurate, Netanyahu’s task is easier than anyone else’s, but nothing is assured. He has at least one major mine to defuse: many in Israel, the Jewish diaspora (including in Australia) and among Israel’s important allies, specifically the US, have warned against granting Ben Gvir a major role in a Likud-led government. Yet without Ben Gvir’s support, Netanyahu appears to have no government.</p>
<p>Lapid will aim at assembling a bloc that would prevent a Likud-led coalition and, if he succeeds, will likely send Israel to yet another election in a few months.</p>
<p>Israeli citizens are fed up with the chronic instability of the political system. They face the same rising costs of living challenges experienced worldwide at the moment. Since the collapse of the Oslo peace process in 2000, and the Palestinian rejection of a two-state peace offer in 2008, the belief the Palestinians can be a partner for peace is low among most Israeli Jews. According to <a href="https://mitvim.org.il/en/publication/the-israeli-foreign-policy-index-of-2022/">surveys</a>, Israelis still dream of peace based on a two-state solution, but think there is little chance of this happening soon.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1587537999901892608"}"></div></p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Palestinian arena is far from stable, with ongoing Palestinian terror, a bloody succession battle on the horizon after the 86-year-old Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally goes, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13331522">Gaza governed by</a> the Islamist terror gang of Hamas.</p>
<p>In the background, <a href="https://aijac.org.au/featured/iranian-lies-matter-2/">Iranian</a> regional aggression, siding with Russia and relentless drive for nuclear weapons capability is casting a black shadow on Israeli security. Whoever becomes Israel’s next PM, these challenges will be at the centre of the government’s agenda, along with trying to heal the great divides within Israel’s society.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/benjamin-netanyahu-was-on-the-brink-of-political-defeat-then-another-conflict-broke-out-in-gaza-161087">Benjamin Netanyahu was on the brink of political defeat. Then, another conflict broke out in Gaza</a>
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<h2>Everything may change</h2>
<p>It’s going to be days before the final vote counting is concluded. A few hundred votes each way could lead to dramatic changes that will determine if Israel is going to another election, or a Netanyahu-led government is on the cards. </p>
<p>For example, according to latest real vote counting, non-Zionist Arab nationalist party Balad is polling just under the minimum four-seat threshold, while Yisrael Beitenu and Mertez both risk failing to get into the Knesset.</p>
<p>Despite the recurring elections of recent years, Israel has remained a vibrant and strong democracy, an economic success story and a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-israeli-universities-feature-among-top-50-producers-of-entrepreneurs/">hi-tech powerhouse</a>, with increasingly <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/two-years-what-state-abraham-accords">good relations</a> across the Arab Middle East. The vote count over the next few days will be crucial in determining if Israel will have a stable new government or not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ran Porat is a Research Associate for the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC)</span></em></p>The Likud leader looks set to return as Israeli prime minister after a period of political instability in the country – and five elections in less than four years.Ran Porat, Affiliate Researcher, The Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1625472021-06-15T12:26:29Z2021-06-15T12:26:29ZIt wasn’t just politics that led to Netanyahu’s ouster – it was fear of his demagoguery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406250/original/file-20210614-128076-15gmd07.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C3623%2C2406&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Benjamin Netanyahu sits in the Knesset before parliament voted June 13, 2021, in Jerusalem to approve the new government that doesn't include him, </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-look-thoughtful-news-photo/1323383884?adppopup=true">Amir Levy/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is something Shakespearean about Benjamin Netanyahu’s downfall.</p>
<p>As in a scene from “Julius Caesar,” who was assassinated by Roman senators, Netanyahu was deposed by his former underlings, the leaders of the three right-wing parties that have joined the new government – <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/14/whos-who-in-israels-new-patchwork-coalition-government">Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman and Gideon Sa’ar</a>, all of whom once worked for Netanyahu.</p>
<p>If two of these men had remained loyal to Netanyahu, as they had been for years, then he would still be in power today.</p>
<p>Instead, Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/EXT-LIVE-israel-s-new-government-set-to-be-sworn-in-today-ending-netanyahu-s-12-year-rule-1.9899971">has finally been dethroned</a>. “King Bibi,” as his devoted supporters hail him, ruled Israel for a total of 15 years, including a short stint in the 1990s. He returned to power in 2009, and for the past 12 years he dominated Israeli politics and came to personify Israel in the eyes of the world.</p>
<p>But while personal grudges and political rivalries largely due to Netanyahu’s preening personality have no doubt played a key role in his ouster, they do not fully account for the unyielding opposition he has engendered.</p>
<p>It is not simply a result of individual grievances and political ambitions that Netanyahu can no longer appease or politically buy off his rivals. Nor is it just because <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-bibi-raised-and-betrayed-a-generation-of-politicians-today-they-dethroned-him-1.9863827">they no longer believe any of his promises</a>. <a href="http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pgpEt8MAAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar of Israeli politics</a>, I think that it is also, even primarily, because Netanyahu has come to be seen as a danger to Israeli democracy itself, just as former <a href="https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/democrats/2019/12/10/trump-and-the-threat-to-democracy/">President Donald Trump was in the United States</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Thousands of people dancing in a public square in Tel Aviv, Israel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406248/original/file-20210614-132348-sd2ug9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of people take part in spontaneous celebrations in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, after the Knesset voted on June 13, 2021, to oust longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/thousands-of-people-take-part-in-spontaneous-celebrations-news-photo/1323388597?adppopup=true">Guy Prives/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Becoming a demagogue</h2>
<p>In recent years, particularly since he was indicted on <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47409739">corruption charges</a> in several cases involving bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu has become increasingly autocratic.</p>
<p>During a period <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/freedom-houses-report-shows-democracy-in-trouble/618173/">when democracies around the world have been challenged by “authoritarian populists” </a>such as Trump, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/04/europe-hungary-viktor-orban-coronavirus-covid19-democracy/609313/">Hungary’s Viktor Orbán</a>, Turkey’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/business/west-democracy-turkey-erdogan-financial-crisis.html">Recep Tayyip Erdoğan</a>, India’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/donald-trump-narendra-modi-autocrats/607042/">Narendra Modi</a>, Brazil’s <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/14/bolsonaro-brazil-trump-anti-democracy-elections/">Jair Bolsonaro</a> and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kp79x/duterte-sona-authoritarian-death-penalty">Rodrigo Duterte</a> of the Philippines, Netanyahu has eagerly joined this <a href="https://peterbeinart.substack.com/p/benjamin-netanyahu-father-of-our?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMTY1MzI1NiwicG9zdF9pZCI6Mzc1NjMwNjIsIl8iOiJrMEtDMiIsImlhdCI6MTYyMzY5MzU2MywiZXhwIjoxNjIzNjk3MTYzLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMTA1MjYwIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.dgH82tMsAhpg_pmHsURvFDLlP49qYMWazI3guak44gI">global club of illiberal strongmen and publicly embraced these controversial leaders.</a></p>
<p>Domestically, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/08/22/benjamin-netanyahu-and-the-politics-of-grievance/">he adopted many of their tactics</a>, trying to undermine the independence of the judiciary, neuter regulators, control or muzzle the media and use the power of patronage to reward loyalists and punish critics.</p>
<p>Netanyahu has also frequently employed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/06/netanyahu-says-israeli-coalition-is-result-of-election-fraud">populist rhetoric,</a> railing against the supposedly leftist elite, the “deep state” and the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-09/netanyahu-slams-israeli-media-as-fake-news-in-defiant-speech">“fake news” media</a>, all of whom he has alleged are conspiring against him.</p>
<p>He has portrayed himself as the victim of sinister, shadowy and powerful groups <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/world/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-prime-minister.html">who are the enemies of the “people.”</a> In classic populist fashion, Netanyahu has claimed that only he represents the “people,” specifically, Israeli Jews, since Arab citizens of Israel are cast as dangerous Others. He demonizes his political opponents as threats to the nation, even traitors.</p>
<p>By deftly manipulating the fears and prejudices of the Israeli public, Netanyahu became, essentially, a demagogue.</p>
<h2>Personal becomes political</h2>
<p>The purpose of Netanyahu’s assault on the pillars of Israeli democracy was simple: for him to remain in power and stay out of jail.</p>
<p>To achieve this, he was willing to delegitimize <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-how-israel-s-supreme-court-ended-up-on-the-ballot-in-tuesday-s-election-1.9632792">not only his political opponents, but also state institutions</a> like the Supreme Court, the attorney general’s office and the police.</p>
<p>In a desperate attempt to evade his corruption trial for bribery and fraud and a possible lengthy prison sentence, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/world/middleeast/netanyahu-on-trial-israel.html">Netanyahu sought to gain immunity from prosecution as a sitting prime minister</a> while denying he was doing so.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Benjamin Netanyahu stands in front of a large photo showing him and U.S. President Donald Trump." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/406252/original/file-20210614-102344-ssdh2o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Netanyahu, here at a 2020 campaign rally, made much of his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump – emulating much of his authoritarian rhetoric.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-stand-near-a-news-photo/1195197148?adppopup=true">Amir Levy/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/netanyahu-pleads-not-guilty-trial-resume-00acff1fc1f26aa7aa722e296b732f7f">His stubborn refusal to resign</a>, even after his criminal trial began – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/netanyahus-corruption-trial-opens-with-a-sitting-israeli-premier-in-the-dock-for-the-first-time/2020/05/22/14f2b206-9ab9-11ea-ad79-eef7cd734641_story.html">the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister was in the dock</a> – appeared to be driven by his desire to use his position as prime minister to gain legal immunity or at least intimidate the lawyers and judges he might face, and convince the public that he was being persecuted.</p>
<p>It wasn’t only his political survival and personal freedom, however, that motivated Netanyahu. He seems to sincerely believe that Israel will be endangered without his leadership. His long tenure in power apparently convinced him that only he can steer the ship of state, especially given the treacherous waters it must navigate.</p>
<p>“Try to damage as little as possible of the magnificent economy we are handing over to you, so that we can fix it as fast as possible when we return,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/13/world/israel-knesset-bennett-lapid-netanyahu">he said as power was handed over</a> to the coalition.</p>
<p>Like other longtime leaders, Netanyahu came to <a href="https://time.com/6072010/benjamin-netanyahu-legacy-israel/">equate his own personal and political interests with those of Israel.</a> What was good for him was good for Israel; what harmed him, harmed Israel. Netanyahu also convinced his supporters of this equation, just as many of his critics became convinced that the opposite was true.</p>
<p>Thus, Netanyahu managed to divide Israelis into two antagonistic camps: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-coalition-netanyahu-bennett-lapid/2021/06/01/614bb632-c2c9-11eb-89a4-b7ae22aa193e_story.html">pro-Netanyahu versus anti-Netanyahu</a>. This division replaced the <a href="https://www.israel-peace.com/about/">traditional left-right ideological divide</a> that had dominated Israeli politics for decades – and which is why the new government spans the ideological spectrum.</p>
<p>[<em>Explore the intersection of faith, politics, arts and culture.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-explore">Sign up for This Week in Religion.</a>]</p>
<h2>Surviving without Netanyahu</h2>
<p>It is premature to write Netanyahu’s political obituary – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/world/middleeast/netanyahu-naftali-bennett-israel-vote.html">he remains the leader of Likud, by far the largest party in the Knesset</a>, Israel’s parliament. He has vowed to bring down the newly installed “change government” and swiftly return to power.</p>
<p>He could well accomplish this task given his Machiavellian political skills and the inherent fragility of Israel’s new governing coalition, which is composed of no fewer than eight different parties ranging across the political spectrum. Since it depends on a razor-thin parliamentary majority of 61 of the 120 Knesset seats, the government will be extremely vulnerable to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-parliament-speech.html">Netanyahu’s relentless efforts to topple it.</a></p>
<p>But however short-lived Israel’s fledgling government turns out to be, its mere formation is not only something of a political miracle – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/whos-who-israels-new-patchwork-coalition-government-2021-06-13/">bringing together religious and secular ultranationalist right-wingers, liberal centrists, secular leftists and Arab Islamists</a> – but also a stunning repudiation of Netanyahu.</p>
<p>Ultimately, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-12-netanyahu-years-transfer-of-power-crucially-affirms-israeli-democracy/">the rule of law and democratic process in Israel have survived Netanyahu’s attacks</a>. A peaceful transition of power has occurred, despite angry protests and violent threats against some of the members of the incoming government.</p>
<p>The mere fact that Israel has a new prime minister will now demonstrate to many Israelis that the country can survive without Netanyahu’s leadership. Even if the new government accomplishes very little, this alone will be an important achievement.</p>
<p>By rejecting Netanyahu’s demagoguery, Prime Minister Bennett can also begin to heal some of the divisiveness that Netanyahu stoked and exploited, <a href="https://theconversation.com/netanyahu-may-be-ousted-but-his-hard-line-foreign-policies-remain-162580">even if his government continues many of Netanyahu’s policies, as seems likely</a>. This, if nothing else, will be the “change” it promises.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162547/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dov Waxman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t ousted just for typical political reasons, such as other politicians’ ambitions or grievances. He was thrown out because he was seen as a threat to democracy.Dov Waxman, Director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Israel Studies, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624612021-06-11T12:39:43Z2021-06-11T12:39:43ZHistoric change: Arab political parties are now legitimate partners in Israel’s politics and government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405676/original/file-20210610-19-1ibfn4g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C10%2C6669%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mansour Abbas, Israeli Arab politician and leader of the Ra'am Party, in a meeting at the Israeli president's residence in Jerusalem on April 5, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-arab-politician-leader-of-the-united-arab-list-news-photo/1232132109?adppopup=true">Abir Sultan/Pool/ AFP/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The next government is not going to be a typical one for the citizens of the state of Israel, and especially for members of the Palestinian Arab minority, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/13/arab-israeli-faq/">who are 20% of Israel’s population</a>. This is the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-israeli-raam-party-makes-history-by-joining-bennett-lapid-coalition/">first time the Zionist political parties forming the government are including an Arab party</a>. </p>
<p>It is ironic that the prime minister of this government would be Naftali Bennett. Bennett is the leader of the radical right-wing political party Yamina, whose ideologies and interests contradict the Arab party’s interests, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/world/middleeast/naftali-bennett-israel.html">and which has opposed Arab participation in the coalition or government</a>. His national-religious political movement, which represents many Jewish settlers, signed the coalition agreement with Ra’am, the Islamic Arab party.</p>
<p>In the 73-year history of Israel, it was an unwritten rule that any government <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/07/an-islamist-party-is-part-israels-new-coalition-government-how-did-that-happen/">coalition would be formed only by the Jewish Zionist parties</a>. There was only one exception, when the late Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/world/middleeast/arab-party-raam-coalition.html">Yitzhak Rabin relied on the support of an Arab party</a> in the wake of the Oslo Peace Accords in the 1990s. The agreement, however, did not formalize that party’s entry into the ruling coalition. </p>
<p>The chain of events Rabin triggered was considered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/assassination-yitzhak-rabin-never-knew-his-people-shot-him-in-back">an unforgivable sin by the Israeli right, which depicted Rabin as a traitor</a> – as they do now with Bennett – and which ultimately led to Rabin’s assassination.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A campaign billboard for Arab parties in Arabic with pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli far-right leader Itamar Ben Gvir." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405684/original/file-20210610-13-ledl0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A campaign billboard for the Joint List of Arab parties mocked Netanyahu’s promise of a ‘new approach.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-election-campaign-billboard-in-arabic-showing-israeli-news-photo/1231734325?adppopup=true">Amir Levy/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Changing Israeli politics</h2>
<p>What drove the first Arab party into a ruling coalition now was not the desire for a peace agreement. It was <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/israel-voters-take-fourth-shot-at-deciding-netanyahu-s-fate-01616465706">the poor state of Israeli politics after four election rounds in two years</a> without a clear winner, combined with the strong desire of the opposition, called the “<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210530-israeli-change-bloc-steps-up-effort-to-oust-netanyahu">Change Bloc</a>,” to oust longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. </p>
<p>The Arabs did not forget Netanyahu’s hostile remarks during the previous elections. That’s when he urged the settlers to cast their votes against the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/03/17/on-israeli-election-day-netanyahu-warns-of-arabs-voting-in-droves/">Arabs who “are voting in droves</a>.” </p>
<p>After failing in the latest election to both discourage the Arab vote and ensure a majority of his own, it was Netanyahu who first understood the potential need to cooperate with the Arab parties. After all other efforts to form a ruling coalition failed, he <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-holding-talks-with-netanyahu-first-legitimized-raam-among-all-parties/">tried to lure Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas to his side</a> even before Bennett did, but to no avail.</p>
<p>For his part, Abbas proposed to change the way Arab parties deal with the Jewish parties and politics in Israel. </p>
<p>“I say here clearly and frankly: When the very establishment of this government is based on our support … we will be able to influence it and accomplish great things for our Arab society,” <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2021/0603/In-a-first-for-Israeli-politics-Arab-party-to-join-government">Abbas said</a>. </p>
<p>For decades, Palestinian Arab political parties <a href="https://www.idi.org.il/articles/4340">would not join Israeli governments</a> that continued to support the occupation of their Palestinian brothers, oppressed them and denied their basic rights. And they were <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/07/how-netanyahu-learned-to-love-israeli-arab-parties/">kept out of leadership coalitions</a> by the Jewish parties’ fear of cooperating with them. </p>
<p>Abbas’ call for <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/here-we-go-again-tois-guide-to-the-38-parties-still-seeking-your-vote/">pragmatism means</a> that he will support political coalitions committed to meeting the immediate and urgent demands of the Arab minority in Israel. Chief among those demands is addressing the issues of violence, house demolitions, planning in new Arab villages and towns, education and equality.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people sit at a large table with white tablecloth and Israeli flags in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405688/original/file-20210610-21-f3m5un.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra'am Party, second from right, and fellow Arab politician Mazen Ghanayem, right, discuss with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin who might form the next coalition government, at the president’s residence in Jerusalem on April 5, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IsraelPolitics/9c897944ede749da82c28b96a519cd3f/photo?Query=Mansour%20AND%20abbas&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=40&currentItemNo=5">Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Significant promises made</h2>
<p>Abbas’ approach was rejected by the rest of the Palestinian political parties, and thus <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-arab-joint-list-split-march-election">split up the Joint List</a>, which was a political alliance of four of the Arab political parties in Israel: Balad, Hadash, Ta'al and Ra'am, that they had formed for the previous elections.</p>
<p>The February 2021 election results meant Ra’am entered Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, with four members. Those four can prove decisive in this politically fractured situation. </p>
<p>For now, it appears that Abbas achieved what he wanted. Despite the serious disagreement among the Arabs over his approach, he is convinced that his party’s governing responsibilities will change the face of Israeli politics in all matters related to the Arab minority and will show positive results for the rights and status of Arab citizens in Israel. </p>
<p>“We have reached a critical mass of agreements in various fields that serves the interest of Arab society and that provide solutions for the burning issues in Arab society – planning, the housing crisis, and of course, fighting violence and organized crime,” <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-israeli-raam-party-makes-history-by-joining-bennett-lapid-coalition/">Abbas said</a>.</p>
<p>To help the Arab sector, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-israeli-raam-party-makes-history-by-joining-bennett-lapid-coalition/">among the promises he got from his new partners in the incoming government</a> are the adoption of a five-year economic development plan for the Arab community with a budget of 30 billion shekels, or $US9.3 billion, as well as plans to combat crime and violence in the Arab community, to improve infrastructure, to advance Arab local authorities, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/unlikely-trio-put-aside-huge-differences-one-goal-oust-netanyahu-n1269459">to reconsider the Kaminitz Law, which has led to increased demolitions of, and evictions from, Palestinian property</a>. </p>
<p>The agreement also includes recognition of several Bedouin villages in the Negev, the southern district of Israel where a majority of the country’s Bedouins live. </p>
<h2>Historic achievement</h2>
<p>Many in the Arab community, and especially among the Bedouins, see Abbas emerging from this election as a victorious leader. He has recorded for himself and the Islamic movement several historical achievements on many important levels. </p>
<p>On the material level, he has secured programs, budgets and decisions that support needs of the Arab minority. </p>
<p>But the most important achievement is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/07/an-islamist-party-is-part-israels-new-coalition-government-how-did-that-happen/">fundamental change signaled by the acceptance of Arab parties</a> into Israeli politics and the recognition of Arab political parties as legitimate partners in the politics and power-sharing in Israel. </p>
<p>This is a paramount goal the Arab parties have failed to achieve since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. After two years with four elections, it’s not certain that this government will last either, but, regardless of what happens, this is a historic change.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-important">The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a>.</em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162461/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Morad Elsana does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An unwritten rule in Israeli politics kept Arab political parties out of ruling government coalitions – until the latest election.Morad Elsana, Adjunct Professorial Lecturer Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies (CRGC)., American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275842019-11-22T03:51:46Z2019-11-22T03:51:46ZA major democracy fights to maintain the rule of law – this time, it’s Israel<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303060/original/file-20191122-113018-gq8efc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Politics/5de0546e1a7e4bc99f4a166b9203fa3c/11/0">AP/Oded Balilty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-indicted.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage">charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu</a> with three counts of corruption on Nov. 21.</p>
<p>At the same moment, former White House Russia expert <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/us/politics/fiona-hill-impeachment-ukraine.html">Fiona Hill was testifying</a> before the House Intelligence Committee about the Trump Administration’s efforts to influence Ukraine to seek investigations into his political opponents. </p>
<p>The speech and actions of Mandelblit and Hill demonstrated that the two democracies were fighting to maintain the rule of law.</p>
<p>“The public interest requires that we live in a country where no one is above the law,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-indicted.html">Mandelblit said</a> when announcing the indictment.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://honors.uoregon.edu/david-frank">rhetoric scholar</a>, I noticed immediately that the announcement echoed House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring the start of the formal impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump by saying “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000006734732/pelosi-impeachment-trump.html">No one is above the law</a>.”</p>
<h2>Trouble for Bibi</h2>
<p>Netanyahu, called “Bibi,” has a history of successfully fighting off charges of corruption. He has long been known as “<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-they-say-netanyahu-is-a-magician-he-s-much-more-than-that-1.7108377">the magician</a>” in Israel for his political skills and ability to survive challenges.</p>
<p>Netanyahu is expected to request that the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-netanyahu-was-just-indicted-can-he-remain-pm-after-charges-and-get-immunity-1.8161110">Israeli parliament grant him immunity</a> from the prosecution.</p>
<p>While it is possible he could remain prime minister, there are potential legal and political challenges that might prevent him from retaining power.</p>
<p>He could <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israeli-parliament-netanyahu-gantz-1.5367653">simply lose support</a> from his political allies – including the country’s president – for his continued leadership. He has already been threatened by fellow party member Gideon Saar with a <a href="https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/israeli-pms-rival-calls-party-primary-elections">leadership challenge within their party, Likud</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303062/original/file-20191122-113006-11q37mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different scandals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Politics/9dc3fde60eca47478d666c8b7b991f3e/7/0">AP/Ariel Schalit</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Or his tenure could be limited by another factor. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-indicted-on-charges-of-bribery-fraud-breach-of-trust/2019/11/21/ef396fee-0bc2-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html">Israel may face yet another general election</a> in light of repeated <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/20/781260650/israel-may-hold-new-elections-after-netanyahus-rival-fails-to-form-government">failures since April by Netanyahu and his rival</a>, Benny Gantz, to form a coalition government. The day after Netanyahu was indicted, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin informed the parliament, called the Knesset, that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/21/israeli-president-tells-parliament-to-find-new-pm-or-face-election-benjamin-netanyahu-benny-gantz">if a new prime minister wasn’t named in 21 days</a>, elections would be called.</p>
<p>Similarly, President Trump faces an uncertain future because of Democrats’ efforts to hold him to account in their impeachment investigation. </p>
<p>He may be impeached by the House, declared not guilty by the Senate and reelected – or voted out of office – in 2020. </p>
<p>He could be re-elected <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-president-trump-be-impeached-and-convicted-but-also-reelected-124384">even if the Senate convicted him</a> and removed him from office.</p>
<h2>Stability for democratic systems</h2>
<p>Israel, like the United States, has an imperfect democracy, <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/israel">rated at 78 out of 100</a> by democracy advocate Freedom House. </p>
<p>Minorities and Palestinians face <a href="https://www.english.acri.org.il/">restrictions on their rights</a> in Israel, while the rest of the population enjoys <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/israel">free speech, a free press and social media that offer many different points of view</a>. </p>
<p>Among the gatekeepers of Israel’s democracy are Attorney General Mendelblit, a <a href="https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/435238/benjamin-netanyahu-bribery-fraud-israel/">member of the executive branch</a>, who was willing to indict a sitting prime minister. </p>
<p>Israel’s 22 newspapers, representing the spectrum of opinions held by Israelis, are likewise gatekeepers and trustees of Israeli democracy. </p>
<p>A recent editorial in the leading newspaper, Haaretz, about who should head the government was headlined “<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/anyone-but-bibi-1.8139620">Anyone but Bibi</a>.” </p>
<p>Haaretz’ editorial board wrote, “the possibility of a national unity government that includes Benjamin Netanyahu, who is fueled by incitement, is the worst option of all. To Netanyahu’s ‘credit’ it should be said that he is doing everything in his power to remind the public of who he is and the poisonous materials from which another government headed by him would be composed.”</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303064/original/file-20191122-112971-k9bgdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump and Netanyahu have long supported each other. They’re shown here after Trump signed a proclamationat the White House, March 25, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Trump-US-Israel/c29d2259e4b24370918cce470fffddd8/38/0">AP/Susan Walsh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Polarized Israel</h2>
<p>Netanyahu is charged with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/21/charges-against-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-explained/">engaging in breach of trust, fraud and bribery</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/netanyahu-is-given-four-days-in-pretrial-hearing-to-fend-off-formal-charges-11569773428">four-day pre-trial indictment hearing</a> that preceded the filing of charges was well-covered by the Israeli and international media. </p>
<p>In his defense, Netanyahu has used the same language <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/01/donald-trump-claims-impeachment-inquiry-coup-against-him/3836622002/">used by Donald Trump</a>: The gatekeepers are <a href="https://www.axios.com/netanyahu-indicted-for-bribery-fraud-breach-of-trust-7d1453b4-69ad-446d-921f-878870d0b755.html">attempting a “coup</a>.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-left-rift-now-top-source-of-tension-in-polarized-israel/">Israeli society is polarized</a>, which poses <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FP_20190318_israel_decline_wittes_mizrahi-arnaud.pdf">a serious challenge to the gatekeepers and systems</a> of Israeli democracy. </p>
<p>A poll conducted one month before the October 2019 Israeli election showed that Netanyahu was backed by <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/28341">a majority</a>, with 60% saying he improved Israel’s international standing. They see him as a canny politician who <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/bibi/">biographer Anshel Pfeffer</a> says has developed a careful foreign policy that does not favor military action, and an economic policy that has created a flourishing Israeli marketplace. </p>
<p>The same poll said <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/articles/28341">49% of Israelis</a> saw him as lacking integrity. </p>
<h2>New factors</h2>
<p>Mandelblit was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/world/middleeast/israel-attorney-general-mandelblit-netanyahu.html">appointed attorney general by Netanyahu</a>. His decision to indict a sitting prime minister is evidence that he resisted and escaped the powerful gravity of polarization. </p>
<p>Mandelblit moved forward with the indictment the day after Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz, the head of the Blue and White party, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/11/21/israels-netanyahu-is-indicted-amid-political-gridlock/">failed to form a government</a>. </p>
<p>The indictment introduces new and tricky legal and political questions that were in the distance, but not an immediate issue, in the first two 2019 elections. If Netanyahu asks the Knesset for immunity from prosecution, will the members grant the request? Should the indictment influence how voters assess the candidates? </p>
<p>In the U.S., voters may well cast their votes next year for a president who has been impeached by the House.</p>
<p>Trump has called the investigation a “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/president-trump-calls-public-impeachment-testimony-joke-n1081871">joke</a>” and a “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-trump-moves-to-bully-witnesses-and-derail-impeachment-democrats-see-obstruction/2019/11/01/0ee6edb2-fbec-11e9-8190-6be4deb56e01_story.html">scam</a>” and said it was supervised by “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-trump-moves-to-bully-witnesses-and-derail-impeachment-democrats-see-obstruction/2019/11/01/0ee6edb2-fbec-11e9-8190-6be4deb56e01_story.html">a totally compromised kangaroo court</a>.”</p>
<p>Netanyahu said his indictment was the product of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-kicks-off-final-3-week-window-before-elections-called/2019/11/21/7ecb8ec4-0c56-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html">“false accusations” and a systematically “tainted investigation</a>.”</p>
<p>Whether attempts by gatekeepers and citizens to hold the two leaders accountable – either by law or elections – will be effective is an open question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David A. Frank does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on corruption charges Wednesday, both the charges and Netanyahu’s response to them were reminiscent of the situation President Trump is in.David A. Frank, Professor of Rhetoric, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233172019-09-18T10:50:17Z2019-09-18T10:50:17ZThe 4 big questions that the next Israeli government will decide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292878/original/file-20190917-19035-1i7054p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ultra orthodox Jews watch Rabbi Israel Hager vote in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 17, 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Elections/498b7a01563d4e50b329a1b3034050d3/8/0">AP/Oded Balilty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 17, <a href="https://beta.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israelis-head-to-the-polls-with-one-question-in-mind-should-netanyahu-stay-or-go/2019/09/17/e72cd5e4-d886-11e9-a1a5-162b8a9c9ca2_story.html">Israelis went to the polls</a> for the second time in less than six months. </p>
<p>They were voting again because – for the first time in the country’s history – a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2019/may/30/israel-faces-new-election-as-netanyahu-fails-to-form-coalition-video">coalition government could not be assembled</a> after the last election took place on April 9. To everyone’s surprise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – long renowned for his political skills and deals – failed to form the right-wing governing coalition he wanted. He was one seat short of securing a majority in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. </p>
<p>Netanyahu did not want to give his rival, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/world/middleeast/benny-gantz-israel-netanyahu.html?module=inline">Benny Gantz, of the centrist Blue and White party</a> – which received the same number of Knesset seats as Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party – the chance to form a government, as is customary. Instead, he pushed the newly elected parliament to dissolve itself and trigger another national election. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292883/original/file-20190917-19030-1b6zdbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks after he voted in Rosh Haayin, Israel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Elections/c7c42be03d9145a3a2f79dabec322757/10/0">AP/Sebastian Scheiner</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A referendum on Netanyahu</h2>
<p>The campaign for this second, “do-over” election has been largely devoid of substance. The many issues facing the country have been mostly ignored as politicians, particularly Netanyahu, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-israel-election-2019-leaders-harness-fear-factor-to-fight-voter-fatigue-1.7854041">have focused on personal attacks and scaremongering</a>. </p>
<p>The most notable features of the election campaign were <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/Bibis-Arab-problem-602010">Netanyahu’s incitement against Israel’s Arab minority,</a> his transparent attempt to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-tells-media-it-installed-cameras-outside-arab-polling-stations/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">suppress the turnout of Arab voters</a> and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-election-arabs.html">unsubstantiated accusations of electoral fraud</a>. </p>
<p>More than anything else, this do-over election, like the April election, has been about Netanyahu, who is now Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Once again, the biggest issue for Israeli voters has been whether they’re for Netanyahu or not. </p>
<p>This time around, however, Netanyahu is more politically vulnerable than he has been since he was defeated in the 1999 election.</p>
<p>Netanyahu desperately needs to stay in power so that he can try to secure his immunity from prosecution in <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/look-corruption-scandals-facing-israels-163755505.html">three cases of corruption</a>. Yet while the vote was to a large extent a referendum on Netanyahu, his political future and personal freedom are not the only things on the line.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more at stake.</p>
<p>The next Israeli government will have to decide at least four major questions. The decisions it reaches will significantly shape the future of the country and the relations among its citizens. The lives of non-citizen Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who, of course, don’t get to vote in Israel’s national elections, will also be affected in many ways. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292884/original/file-20190917-19040-6p9kmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A campaign poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Elections/99957c3423724a8b85a27d45b34a8c08/33/0">AP/Oded Balilty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Will Israel annex parts of the West Bank?</h2>
<p>Netanyahu has spent years procrastinating about the future of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Now he has promised to annex some areas currently under full Israeli control, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-west-bank.html?module=inline">such as the settlement blocs and much of the Jordan Valley</a>. </p>
<p>Gantz, Netanyahu’s main challenger for the position of prime minister, also insists on retaining Israel’s control over the settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gantz-no-2nd-disengagement-the-public-will-decide-on-any-diplomatic-deal/">but he hasn’t committed to annexing these areas</a>. </p>
<p>The difference may seem merely semantic (or cosmetic), but proceeding with formal annexation would end any slim prospect for a <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/09/israel-palestine-netanyahu-plan-annex-jordan-valley.html">two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict</a>. It might also trigger a chain reaction that could lead to <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-declaration-of-war-on-the-two-state-solution-601399">escalating violence in the West Bank and the dissolution or collapse of the Palestinian Authority</a>. A Palestinian state probably won’t come about under a Gantz-led government, but it will at least remain a possibility.</p>
<h2>2. Will Israel’s judiciary maintain its independence?</h2>
<p>A narrow right-wing government is likely to enact judicial reforms aimed at neutralizing the Israeli Supreme Court’s ability to overturn laws and government practices it deems unconstitutional. Netanyahu himself supports a bill that would <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-would-a-broader-high-court-override-bill-help-netanyahu-1.7237773">enable the parliament to “override” Supreme Court rulings</a> – which could help him stay out of jail. </p>
<p>By contrast, a more centrist “national unity” government, involving the Blue and White party and Likud (probably without Netanyahu), is much more likely to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/opposition-slams-pms-reported-plan-to-override-supreme-court-in-immunity-bid/">preserve the independence and powers of the judiciary</a>. </p>
<p>The future of Israel’s judicial system – which has been assailed by right-wingers in recent years <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/23/israel-appoints-three-conservative-judges-to-supreme-court">for its allegedly liberal bent</a> – will in turn determine the quality, if not the very existence, of Israeli democracy.</p>
<h2>3. Will ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews keep their privileges and powers?</h2>
<p>Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up roughly <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/latest-population-statistics-for-israel">12% of Israel’s population</a>. Under a new government, will they continue to be largely exempt from mandatory military service? Will ultra-Orthodox rabbis maintain their near-monopoly over Jewish marriages, divorces and burials in Israel, even for staunchly secular Jews who, for example, cannot have a civil wedding in Israel?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-15/how-ultra-orthodox-perks-set-israel-election-agenda-quicktake">This perennial issue</a> returned to the political agenda <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/world/middleeast/israeli-election-religious-secular.html?module=inline">after the April election</a>. That’s when Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of a small, secular right-wing party, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-wont-budge-on-haredi-draft-likens-pro-pm-daily-to-stalins-pravda/">insisted that ultra-Orthodox men be drafted into the army</a>. That in turn prevented Netanyahu from forming another right-wing government that included the ultra-Orthodox parties, with whom Netanyahu has forged a long-term political alliance. </p>
<p>Lieberman wants a secular coalition government without the ultra-Orthodox parties, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-16/netanyahus-former-top-aide-trying-to-bring-him-down">in which he would be a kingmaker</a>. This is a real possibility, especially if Netanyahu is deposed as Likud’s leader. </p>
<p>Such a secular government could well pass popular legislation transforming the relationship between religion and state, and dramatically reduce the long-running, disproportionate influence that the ultra-Orthodox have had over the lives of other Israeli Jews.</p>
<h2>4. Will Israeli Arabs be accepted as political equals?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-status-of-arabs-in-israel">Israel’s Arab citizens – 21% of the population</a> – have the same democratic rights as its Jewish citizens. But their political parties have always been marginalized and ostracized, except, briefly, <a href="https://972mag.com/rabins-legacy-a-government-inclusive-of-all-citizens-not-only-jews/113375/">in the early 1990s when Yitzhak Rabin was prime minister</a>.</p>
<p>An unofficial rule has <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/09/10/why-bibi-fears-arab-voters/">kept Arab parties out of Israeli governing coalitions</a>. So they’re unable to wield serious influence or extract significant benefits for their constituents as, say, the ultra-Orthodox can. </p>
<p>There’s still little chance that the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Arab-parties-agree-to-run-under-joint-list-in-upcoming-elections-596920">Joint List – a union of four Arab parties</a> – will be invited to join the next government. Nor is it <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/blue-and-white-mks-rule-out-center-left-coalition-with-arab-lawmakers/">likely to accept such an invitation</a>. </p>
<p>But the government could signal in a host of ways to Arab citizens that they belong in Israel, that their communal concerns and needs matter and that their elected representatives in parliament are legitimate. </p>
<p>In short, the next government could pursue a much more conciliatory approach toward Israel’s Arab minority than recent right-wing governments have done. </p>
<p>Although <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-okays-nis-15b-upgrade-plan-for-arab-communities/">Netanyahu has greatly increased government spending on the Arab community</a>, he has also repeatedly engaged in incitement against Arabs, and he oversaw the passage of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-new-nation-state-law-restates-the-obvious-100310">controversial Nation-State Law</a> that Israeli Arabs regard as formally relegating them to the status of second-class citizens.</p>
<h2>Coalition talks will determine the winner of this election</h2>
<p>The composition of the next Israeli government will ultimately be determined not at the ballot box, but in the coming coalition negotiations. Whichever party wins the most seats will have the first opportunity to try to cobble together a coalition. But the real winner of this do-over election will be whoever succeeds in assembling a majority of at least 61 seats in the Knesset. </p>
<p>Will it be Netanyahu or Gantz? Another right-wing and religious government or perhaps a national unity secular government? At this early stage, it’s impossible to predict. But whatever the eventual makeup of the next Israeli government, one thing is clear: It will decide a lot more than just Netanyahu’s future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123317/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dov Waxman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The winner of Tuesday’s Israeli election must form a government and tackle four problems that will shape the future of the country and the relations among its citizens and Palestinian non-citizens.Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs and Israel Studies, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1153862019-04-12T14:15:10Z2019-04-12T14:15:10ZIsrael election: four key factors that led to Netanyahu’s historic victory<p>If someone had said in 1996 that Benjamin Netanyahu would still be prime minister 23 years in the future, nobody would have believed it. Yet he has managed to obtain what until recently seemed almost impossible in Israel – a fourth consecutive electoral victory. With this, he has become the second longest serving prime minister in the history of the country.</p>
<p>This is not, however, the only reason why this election can be considered one of the most important in Israel’s political history. Indeed, Netanyahu might have finally found <a href="https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/who-benny-gantz-netanyahus-main-opponent-22765?fbclid=IwAR0xU8YdtW1bPcEfa9DGQgJ62DzdxjP9Fn0pVUYJMgV5Zg4Ik8BJmAUZUJo">his nemesis in Benny Gantz</a> who, with his newborn electoral alliance (Kahol Lavan), won just as many parliamentary seats as Netanyahu’s Likud party. Still, despite expectations about a massive political change, Netanyahu will continue as prime minister in what will perhaps be the most extreme right-wing government ever to run the country. Here are some key components to his success. </p>
<h2>1. No leftists left</h2>
<p>Netanyahu’s victory was not driven by ideology, but a profound shift to the right is nevertheless visible among the Israeli electorate. It is slowly abandoning the founding ethos of <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/labor-s-collapse-proves-liberal-zionism-is-facing-an-existential-crisis-1.7108904">Labor Zionism</a>.</p>
<p>This is particularly clear when you examine the balance between the two main blocs. Apart from the Arab groups, there are only two parties remaining on the left – Meretz and Labor. Meanwhile, on the right, you can count up to five different political groupings in addition to Likud – HaYamina HeHadash, the United Right, Zehut, Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu.</p>
<p>This imbalance tells us a lot about the left’s current lack of appeal in Israel, mainly due to its inability to engage people with a strong vision. On the contrary, the right provided voters with many political choices representing a strong ideology.</p>
<h2>2. Small parties hold the balance of power</h2>
<p>Netanyahu will be able to retain the premiership thanks to the presence of a number of small right-wing parties. However, it’s important to note that each of these small parties won the bare minimum number of seats required to even secure parliamentary representation.</p>
<p>Ysrael Beitenu and United Right each have five MPs and Kulanu has only four. That means that the political outcome of this election has been determined by a minority of voters who chose to support extreme right parties.</p>
<p>Netanyahu’s government will therefore have to be particularly attentive to the requests of his allies who, together with the religious parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (both of which have eight MPs), will be eager to remind the prime minister about the importance of their <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-netanyahu-s-next-coalition-annexation-for-immunity-from-indictment-1.7107757">support</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Low Arab turnout</h2>
<p>The decision of Arab-Israeli citizens to boycott the elections also helped to magnify the dynamics of this election. <a href="https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/crucial-vote-israels-arab-citizens-22768">Only 44%</a> of eligible Arab-Israeli voters turned out to vote. This certainly provided a boost for the right-wing parties, making it easier for them to obtain the 3.25% share of the vote they effectively needed to make it into parliament.</p>
<p>Arab citizens abstained because they felt attacked by Netanyahu and abandoned by Gantz. But their decision could also prove very costly for the Arab community in Israel. Netanyahu’s new government is expected to introduce restrictions on their status as citizens.</p>
<h2>4. A highly personal campaign</h2>
<p>Key to Netanyahu’s electoral victory was his ability to set the ground rules of the campaign. He established a narrative that placed him as the irreplaceable “king”, under constant attack by enemies in politics, the media and even the judiciary. None of Netanyahu’s adversaries were able to disentangle themselves from this narrative.</p>
<p>The election was seen as a <a href="https://israelpolicyforum.org/2019/04/04/the-bibi-election/">referendum</a> on Netanyahu, especially because of <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-explained-what-happens-now-ag-says-netanyahu-should-be-indicted-pending-hearing-1.6979282?fbclid=IwAR2D5mQF7HFAxBlavgDikYlkMPEmODFfrXAoPdVWIVaV45roHkexl1sr8d8">his recent indictment</a> for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Ultimately that meant there was very little debate about anything else on the campaign trail. There was no discussion about the economy, welfare or, even more importantly, the Palestinian question. Netanyahu’s strategy, described by The Economist as a <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/03/30/binyamin-netanyahu-a-parable-of-modern-populism">“parable of modern populism”</a>, seems to have worked once again. </p>
<p>This election could be considered one of the most critical in the history of the country. The political discourse adopted by Netanyahu and his allies demonstrated the will of the nationalist right-wing bloc to change the rules that define Israel as a democratic state. The party system seems to have entered a new phase and electoral behaviours seem to be changing.</p>
<p>Despite Netanyahu’s victory, the political future of Israel is not yet written. He may still face prosecution, and with such a narrow gap between his government and the opposition, there may still be significant political change for Israel in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A major swing to the right and the abstention of a key demographic have bolstered the Israeli leader’s position.Anna Bagaini, Visiting Research Fellow, Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy, University of NottinghamFernando Casal Bértoa, Associate Professor (Politics), University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1003102018-07-23T10:23:51Z2018-07-23T10:23:51ZIsrael’s new nation-state law restates the obvious<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228718/original/file-20180722-142438-s7wkqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C23%2C2788%2C2050&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Iraeli Arab Knesset member Jamal Zahalka is removed after protesting the bill's passage</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/Olivier Fitoussi</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early last Thursday, July 19, while most Israelis were sleeping, Israel’s right-wing coalition government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/middleeast/israel-law-jews-arabic.html">narrowly passed a highly controversial law that had been years in the making</a>. </p>
<p>The so-called “nation-state law” legally enshrines Israel’s Jewish character and makes it one of the state’s guiding judicial principles, akin to a constitutional amendment in the United States.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-text-of-jewish-nation-state-bill-set-to-become-law/">new law declares</a> that Israel is “the national home of the Jewish people,” that only Jews have a right to national self-determination in Israel, that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and that Hebrew is the only official language – downgrading the official status of Arabic. </p>
<p>Among its other provisions, the most contentious one says that “the state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.” Critics fear this deliberately vague language could be used to legitimize <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-compromise-reached-on-jews-only-communities-clause-1.6271813">Jewish-only communities and even exclusive towns</a>.</p>
<p>The one thing that proponents and opponents of the nation-state law agree on is that its passage is of profound and historic importance – representing a milestone in Israel’s 70-year history. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228712/original/file-20180722-142426-5ilfr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knesset officials celebrate the bill’s passage with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/Olivier Fitoussi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proudly hailed it as <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-hails-jewish-state-law-as-a-pivotal-moment-in-zionist-history/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=abb9578673-">“a pivotal moment in the annals of Zionism and the State of Israel</a>.” </p>
<p>On the other side of the political spectrum, Ahmad Tibi, an Arab Knesset member who belongs to the Joint List party – a coalition of primarily Arab parties – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/middleeast/israel-law-jews-arabic.html">bitterly denounced the law</a> as “the end of democracy,” and “the official beginning of fascism and apartheid.”</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pgpEt8MAAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar</a> of Israeli society and politics, I think that both sides have overdramatized the new law’s significance, for their own political purposes. It is largely a declarative and symbolic measure, with no immediate, practical application.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the law could eventually have far-reaching implications for Jewish-Arab relations within Israel and for Israeli-Palestinian relations. </p>
<h2>From the beginning</h2>
<p>Most of the new law’s provisions will have no impact because they are already contained in other laws. </p>
<p>There are, for example, numerous laws that codify and express Israel’s Jewish identity. The most famous is <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1950-1959/pages/law%20of%20return%205710-1950.aspx">the Law of Return, passed in 1950</a>, which automatically grants citizenship to any Jew emigrating to Israel. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228709/original/file-20180722-142411-q3gir5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israel’s Independence on May 14, 1948.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since its <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/declaration%20of%20establishment%20of%20state%20of%20israel.aspx">founding in 1948</a>, Israel has declared itself a Jewish nation-state. Whereas most states see themselves as serving only the interests of their citizens, Israel’s Jewish identity means that its primary mission is to serve the Jewish people, wherever they live. </p>
<p>Consequently, Israel’s non-Jewish citizens – <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html">one in four Israelis</a> – are of lesser importance. This has been most consistently apparent in the treatment by Israel’s governments of the country’s Arab minority, which <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/israel-population/">comprises 21 percent</a> of Israel’s population. </p>
<p>The Arab minority has long been discriminated against and <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/eastern-mediterranean/israelpalestine/identity-crisis-israel-and-its-arab-citizens">neglected by the state</a>. That fact was officially acknowledged in a groundbreaking report issued in <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-official-summation-of-the-or-commission-report-september-2003">2003 by the Orr Commission</a>, an Israeli government-appointed body headed by a former Supreme Court justice. </p>
<p>Although Arab citizens of Israel – <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/middle-east-government-politics-and-policy/israels-palestinians-conflict-within?format=PB">most of whom also identify as Palestinian</a> – have the same democratic rights as Israeli Jews, they have generally been treated as <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2016-06-08/israel-s-second-class-citizens">second-class citizens</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the fact that Arabs have become more successful, more visible and more outspoken in recent years, they remain marginalized in Israeli society and politics, and there are still large inequalities between Arabs and Jews in many areas of life such as <a href="https://www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/upfiles/2011/Adalah_The_Inequality_Report_March_2011.pdf">education, housing and employment</a>. Worse, Arabs must contend with <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/this-is-our-land-protests-at-plan-to-remove-bedouins-from-ancestral-villages-8748966.html">land confiscations</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/08/israel-stop-discriminatory-home-demolitions">home demolitions</a>, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/25/most-israeli-jews-do-not-see-a-lot-of-discrimination-in-their-society/">municipal underfunding, and both formal and informal discrimination</a>. They are <a href="https://www.acri.org.il/en/2015/03/15/acris-petition-against-discriminatory-screening-procedures-at-israeli-airports/">still treated</a> and <a href="https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PW67_Arab-Jewish_Relations_in_Israel.pdf">widely perceived as a demographic and security threat</a>, a potential “fifth column” in Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. </p>
<h2>Enshrining inequality</h2>
<p>Israel, therefore, has never been a truly liberal democracy that treats all its citizens equally regardless of their ethnicity or religion. </p>
<p>Instead, from the outset it has been an <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/179117">“ethnic democracy”</a> or <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8675.00151">“ethnocracy”</a> as scholars have labeled it, serving Jews first and foremost. </p>
<p>While Arab living standards have certainly risen over the years, Israel has never fully lived up to the promise contained in its <a href="https://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/eng/megilat_eng.htm">Declaration of Independence</a> to “foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants,” and “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228711/original/file-20180722-142432-9e7ob1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators protest jailing without trial or charges of a Palestinian journalist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/Ariel Schalit</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most Arab citizens of Israel have come to believe that they will never attain full equality with Israeli Jews as long as Israel defines itself as a Jewish state. Hence, they have increasingly advocated for Israel to redefine itself as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/world/middleeast/08israel.html">“state for all its citizens</a>.” </p>
<p>The new nation-state law was primarily intended to counter such demands. </p>
<p>Avi Dichter, the Likud Knesset member who first proposed the bill and was one of its main sponsors, made that clear during the stormy Knesset debate over it. </p>
<p>Dichter said, “We are enshrining this important bill into a law today to prevent even the slightest thought, let alone attempt, to transform Israel <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5312792,00.html">to a country of all its citizens</a>.” </p>
<p>In other words, the new law is aimed at preserving the status quo, not radically changing it. Rather than transform Israel into an undemocratic “apartheid state,” <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-newly-passed-jewish-state-law-legalizes-apartheid/">as some of its critics charge</a>, the nation-state law is more likely to ensure that Israel cannot be easily transformed into a liberal democracy or a bi-national state.</p>
<p>The fact that the words “democracy and "equality” do not appear at all in the law is telling. Nor is there any recognition of the presence of a Palestinian-Arab minority in Israel. On the contrary, the new law implicitly denies their very existence as an indigenous national minority that also has a legitimate claim to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/Minorities.aspx">national self-determination, or at least collective rights</a>. </p>
<p>In doing so, the nation-state law will only anger, and further alienate, Israel’s Arab citizens. The message the law sends to them is unequivocal: This state is not yours and this land does not belong to you.</p>
<p>The law also delivers a clear message to Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, who are now considering giving up their demand for a separate Palestinian state in favor of seeking <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/world/middleeast/israel-palestinians-state.html">equal citizenship within an expanded Israel</a> – a “one-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. </p>
<p>By legally entrenching Israel’s Jewish character, and potentially legitimizing Jewish privileges when they are challenged in court, the law could be used to ensure that Israel remains a Jewish state and continues to give preference to Jews even if – or perhaps when – Israel officially annexes much of the West Bank and Jews become a minority within its borders.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the nation-state law’s long-term impact will depend upon how Israeli policymakers apply it, how judges interpret it, and how Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories respond to it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dov Waxman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rather than transform Israel into an undemocratic ‘apartheid’ state, the new nation-state law is more likely to ensure that Israel can’t be transformed into a liberal democracy or binational state.Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs and Israel Studies, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/731902017-02-16T23:35:34Z2017-02-16T23:35:34ZNetanyahu visit historic – and potentially fraught – for Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157235/original/image-20170216-32722-12rk2y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US president Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Washington.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Carlos Barria</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the history of Australia’s relationship with Israel, which <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2731883">goes back to</a> Labor Foreign Minister Herbert Vere Evatt’s role in drafting the partition plan that created a Jewish homeland, no Israeli leader has visited Canberra.</p>
<p>That will change with a long-planned visit next week of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p>For policymakers in Canberra, the timing of the Netanyahu visit is awkward given that it will focus attention on <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-07/israel-legalises-settler-homes-on-private-palestinian-land/8246920">a repugnant law</a> passed through the Knesset by the Netanyahu government that retroactively approved the expropriation of Palestinian land.</p>
<p>In response, the Australian government remained silent.</p>
<p>In contrast, the European Union, for example, has postponed a high-level dialogue with Israel in protest over what it regards as a flagrant violation of international law, and various United Nations resolutions and conventions.</p>
<p>In light of the EU’s action and that of others, it would have been better if the Netanyahu visit had not gone ahead until matters had been resolved by Israel’s Supreme Court, which has shown commendable independence over the years.</p>
<p>But that will take time. Such action might be stillborn in any case if an <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/224789">even more repugnant measure</a> passes the Knesset that would curb Supreme Court powers.</p>
<p>In its valid claims to be regarded as a country that respects the rule of law, Israel is now at risk of demeaning that reputation if Netanyahu’s settler supporters are allowed to have their way.</p>
<p>Canberra needs to not be seen as aligning itself with forces in Israel that disrespect the rule of law, are antagonistic to international conventions and believe in a policy of territorial expansion.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, policymakers need to make it clear to Netanyahu that whatever legitimate reservations might be held about Palestinian willingness to engage in the peace process, no purpose is served by disregarding basic principles of international law. These are enshrined in UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, which rest on the principle of the inadmissibility of the seizure of territory by force.</p>
<p>Those resolutions passed in the wake of the 1967 war called for a peace settlement based on pre-war boundaries.</p>
<p>Australia should tell Netanyahu that irrespective of obfuscations that he might employ about his commitment, or otherwise, to a two-state solution to the Palestine issue, Canberra remains committed to such an outcome, and not just committed it cannot see any other reasonable alternative.</p>
<p>This is despite strangely cryptic remarks by President Donald Trump this week, in which <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/trump-avoids-commitment-to-two-state-solution-with-netanyahu/8275058">he appeared to step away</a> from America’s own commitment to a two-state solution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m looking at two state and one state, and I’d like one that both parties like.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australian Foreign Minister <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/australia-hints-at-openness-to-two-state-solution-alternatives/">Julie Bishop echoed</a> Trump’s formula in an interview with Sky News. This might be regarded as a concerning sign that Australia is preparing to sidle away from its longstanding commitment to a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.</p>
<p>One might interpret Trump’s remarks – seemingly endorsed by Bishop – as reflecting a desire that a Middle East-wide Arab peace proposal be dusted off to break an impasse, but that interpretation would be generous.</p>
<p>A less charitable explanation would be that Trump simply doesn’t comprehend the complexities of the dispute that has defied sincere efforts over many years to achieve an historic compromise going back to the unfairly-criticised Oslo Accords of 1993.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that at that Washington press conference – as was the case a week or so earlier, when Netanyahu went to London to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May – Israel’s prime minister avoided committing himself to a two-state solution in order not to antagonise his settler base.</p>
<p>Asked for his views in Washington, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/02/15/514986341/watch-live-trump-netanyahu-hold-joint-press-conference-at-white-house">Netanyahu blustered</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A state that doesn’t recognize the Jewish state! A state that is basically open to attack against Israel! You know what we are talking about? Are we talking about Costa Rica? Are we talking about another Iran?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Given the fragility of his coalition, Netanyahu has difficulty detaching himself from the impulses of his partners. These include the likes of Naftali Bennett of the <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/jewish-home-party/">pro-settler Jewish Home Party</a>, who advocate annexation of a chunk of the West Bank occupied in the 1967 war.</p>
<p>Netanyahu tolerates Bennett in the interests of maintaining his coalition, however antagonistic that might be to international opinion and prospects for Middle East peace, and for that matter, to many Israelis themselves.</p>
<p>Canberra does not have to indulge such a state of affairs. This is Netanyahu’s problem, and significantly one of his own making over many years since his prime minister-ship has enabled the rise of the settler right.</p>
<p>Let us be absolutely clear: Benjamin Netanyahu’s contributions to peacemaking have, for the most part, been half-hearted, and on occasions downright obstructive.</p>
<p>Readers might note <a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-indefensible-law-that-weakens-israel/">a contribution to the debate</a> about the Settler Law from former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General Irwin Cotler, now emeritus professor at McGill.</p>
<p>In this commentary, Cotler, a supporter of Israel over many years, describes the Knesset expropriation bill as “indefensible”, and an affront to Israel’s founding principles.</p>
<p>He quotes former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin as saying the following: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yesh shoftim b’Yerushalayim – there are judges in Jersusalem.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was Begin’s way of reminding Israelis that the Supreme Court should be respected as an arbiter beyond the grubby world of politics.</p>
<p>It is be worth noting that Netanyahu will come to Australian with several police investigations hanging over his head, including <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/police-questioning-netanyahu-israeli-press-says-1483387653">allegations</a> that he might have accepted gifts in an unauthorised manner.</p>
<p>These investigations are separate from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/23/israel-police-to-probe-alleged-netanyahu-submarine-scandal">allegations</a> about inappropriate tender procedures for Israel’s purchase of German submarines.</p>
<p>Australia does not need to have a view about these matters, but such allegations might give political leaders pause in their enthusiasm for a Netanyahu-led administration.</p>
<p>As Labor leader Bill Shorten prepares to meet Netanyahu in Canberra and seeks to navigate an awkward (for him) route as a leader of the pro-Israel faction in his party, he will not have welcomed interventions over recent days from <a href="http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/time-to-recognise-the-state-of-palestine-20170213-gubr84">former Prime Minister Bob Hawke</a>, among others.</p>
<p>Hawke, and former Labor Foreign Ministers Gareth Evans and Bob Carr have called on Australia to join 137 other countries, including the Scandinavians, in recognising Palestine.</p>
<p>Shorten can’t ignore these interventions, nor should he. He should make it clear to Netanyahu that Labor will recognise Palestine if the settlement process – and the expropriation of land in defiance of international law – continues unabated.</p>
<p>It should go without saying such a Labor position would constitute a matter of principle.</p>
<p><em>This article has been corrected. The fourth and fifth paragraphs originally said the Australian government had described the Settlements Bill as “concerning”.This is incorrect, and has been amended accordingly.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In its valid claims to be regarded as a country that respects the rule of law, Israel is now at risk of demeaning that reputation.Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/387642015-03-16T15:12:22Z2015-03-16T15:12:22ZCan Israel’s minorities bring about a change in government?<p>There are <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4624761,00.html">5.3 million eligible voters</a> living in Israel today (votes may be not cast abroad). Among these voters there are three main minority (non-dominant) groups. Their numbers break down, according to my own estimates, as follows: Palestinian Arabs are 15%, Mizrahim or “Oriental” Jews (who immigrated from Muslim countries) are 30%, and Russian-speakers who arrived after 1989 are 12%. </p>
<p>These three groups differ markedly in their political outlook and their voting behavior. But they may all contribute their share to ousting the present prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from power.</p>
<p>Here’s why. </p>
<h2>Palestinian-Arab Israelis: forced into a better position</h2>
<p>In the last Knesset elections in January 2013, 77% of the Arab vote went to two Arab national parties and to the left-wing Arab-Jewish <a href="http://hadash.org.il/english/">Hadash</a>. Significantly, Arab <a href="https://www.academia.edu/11368309/Bayan_The_Arabs_in_Israel_no._4_Special_Elections_Issue_February_2015">turnout</a> was 56%, much lower than the 68% national average. </p>
<p>The newly elected Knesset decided to reduce the number of small political parties. In 2013 there were 33 parties to choose from; 10 were elected. In this election the minimum share of the vote needed by any party to enter parliament has been raised from 2.5% to 3.25%. The overall number of parties in the running is now down to 25 but it’s no coincidence that this rightwing move has hit the Arab parties particularly hard. </p>
<p>What this has forced the Arab politicians to do – for <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israels-sparring-arab-political-parties-have-united-for-the-first-time/2015/03/09/6f6c021a-c660-11e4-bea5-b893e7ac3fb3_story.html">the first time</a> in the history of Arab Israeli politics – is to form a joint party list that combines communists, nationalists and Islamists. </p>
<p>An alliance between Arab parties may unfairly cut down the number of options offered to the Arab voter but it’s expected to raise turnout from 56% to 65%. This, in turn, may well increase the representation of Arab parties – from 11 to a projected 13 Knesset members.</p>
<p>All Arab parties, Hadash included, are permanent opposition parties. This reflects the actual and perceived status of Palestinian-Arab citizens as an ideologically dissident and enemy-affiliated minority. </p>
<p>Public opinion polls, however, <a href="http://en.idi.org.il/analysis/idi-press/publications/hebrew-books/still-playing-by-the-rules-the-index-of-arab-jewish-relations-in-israel-2012-hebrew/;%20http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_15350-1442-2-30.pdf?150315131309">show</a> that most Arab voters are interested less in changing Israel’s Jewish-Zionist character and in the creation of an independent state of Palestine than they are in education, housing, employment, health and crime prevention. They do not trust their Israeli political leaders. They want their politicians to deal with Arab daily concerns, and are in favor of Arab parties joining Jewish coalition governments if that will improve their living conditions.</p>
<p>If the result of the elections is that there is a national unity government (defined as being headed by the two largest parties with the prime minister rotating after two years), then the Arab alliance could lead the parliamentary opposition for the first time in history. </p>
<p>The other possibility is that a left-center coalition government will take power with the support of the Arab parties from outside the coalition in exchange for favorable policies toward the Arab minority as was the case of the 1992-95 <a href="https://www.academia.edu/8567588/Public_silence_and_latent_memories_Yitzhak_Rabin_and_the_Arab-Palestinian_citizens_of_Israel">Yitzhak Rabin government</a>. </p>
<p>The latter option may be less likely given the Netanyahu camp’s explicit campaign against what they describe as the grave “danger” of an “anti-Zionist,” “leftist” government supported by “Arabs” coming to power. </p>
<p>This accusation is serious. The assassination of Prime Minister Rabin in 1995 by an Israeli ultra-nationalist was preceded by a Likud campaign <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/This-Week-in-History-Rabin-assassinated-380652">denouncing</a> the Rabin government as “[not having] a Zionist majority” and the Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as not legitimate. </p>
<p>Whatever happens after March 17, however, the fact remains that through greater turnout the Arab minority will have been empowered in this election. </p>
<h2>Mizrahi Jews feeling taken for granted by Netanyahu</h2>
<p>Most Mizrahi Jews <a href="http://d-nb.info/982755937/04">back the right.</a> Historically, they have tended to vote for Netanyahu’s Likud party, the national-religious Habayit Hayedudi party, and the ultra-Orthodox Shas (a Sephardic party) and Yahad (a splinter of Shas, on the far right). </p>
<p>With their strong Jewish identity and widespread resentment of Arabs, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13531040801902708#.VQWkao7F-8Q">Mizrahi Jews</a> are attracted to the rightwing parties because of the priority these parties give to Jewish over universal values, Jews’ over citizens’ interests, and a Jewish over a democratic state. The leftwing Labor – and European – establishment holds little attraction because of the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/6910162/_They_Will_Take_the_Country_from_Us_Labor_Zionism_the_Origins_and_Legacy_of_the_Other_in_Israeli_Mass_Media_and_Hegemonic_Narratives">discrimination</a> it meted out to their parents and grandparents in the 1950s and 1960s. </p>
<p>A majority of Mizrahim are still in the working and lower classes – with the establishment European Ashkenazim being in the middle class and up. Many attribute their lower position in society to past Labor policies. </p>
<p>Israel’s recent social justice protests that kicked off in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/04/israel-protests-social-justice">summer of 2011</a> resulted in massive street demonstrations demanding better public services and opposing neo-liberal capitalism. The movement also raised awareness across society. As a result, many Mizrahim feel even more dismayed with the ruling Likud Party for neglecting them and for focusing, instead, on foreign and security policy. Consequently, they feel less motivated to make the effort to vote. </p>
<p>The emergence of the social justice movement also favors the new parties in the center. </p>
<p>One of these parties, Kulanu (or “all of us”) broke away from Likud in November 2014. Its leader is a Mizrahi Jew (whose family was from Tunisia), Moshe Kahalon. </p>
<p>Kahalon presents himself as a pragmatist. His aim is to become Minister of Finance in order to support the ailing welfare state and break up corporate monopolies. </p>
<p>The Kulanu party claims to be non-aligned with any political block: it aspires to play the role of the king-maker in the election. What its existence has also shown is that it is possible to move Mizrahi voters from the right to the center. </p>
<h2>Drifting Russians</h2>
<p>The Russian-speaking voters are relatively recent arrivals. They poured into Israel after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They are pragmatic but also strongly lean to the right. </p>
<p>In general, <a href="http://en.idi.org.il/media/1354408/Index2009-Eng.pdf">they are against</a> anything that smells left, sounds overly democratic and looks pro-Arab. In the past, they have voted for ethnic Russian parties that have promised to protect their interests as newcomers. </p>
<p>In the last election, <a href="http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/63246-150305-the-heart-of-the-russian-speaking-voters-still-belongs-to-lieberman">over half</a> of Russians voted for the Yisrael Beytenu (“our home”), a Russian party led by the controversial Avigdor Lieberman who is now the country’s foreign minister. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74948/original/image-20150316-9176-ekbbo9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Still loyal to Avigdor Lieberman and Yisrael Beytenu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amir Cohen/Reuters</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, however, supporters of the party are deserting it in droves because many of its leaders are being investigated for political <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4607728,00.html">corruption</a> and because the party has a poor record in addressing the special difficulties of the Russian community. </p>
<p>Most of the disaffected Russian speakers will probably shift their vote to the Likud but some (around 15%) intend to vote for the centrist Ashkenazi Yesh Atid party that stands for the middle class and secularism. These are voters from the new Russian generation who are upwardly mobile and looking to integrate into the mainstream.</p>
<p>The upshot of all this change is that Yisrael Beytenu may disappear altogether. </p>
<h2>A profoundly divided electorate</h2>
<p>Israel’s main minorities definitely have the potential to contribute to the toppling of Netanyahu government – Arabs by voting in greater numbers; the Mizrahim by not voting at all or by voting for the centrist Kulanu party instead of Likud; and the Russians (or at least some of them) by drifting away from rightwing parties.</p>
<p>The 2015 election reveals the depth of divisions in Israeli society, the growing overlap between class and identity politics and the continuing weakening of the once dominant secular Ashkenazi establishment. </p>
<p>This profound <a href="http://www.ines.tau.ac.il/bibliography.html">fragmentation</a> only contributes to government instability and to the impasse in dealing with Israel’s severe problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sammy Smooha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why the 2015 Israeli elections are witness to big shifts in how minorities vote and why that’s bad news for Benjamin Netanyahu.Sammy Smooha, Professor of Sociology , University of HaifaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.