Benjamin Netanyahu has completed the formation of his sixth government two months after Israel’s elections on November 1st. The official process, which is called “coalition negotiations,” could be viewed as witty satire on politics: defilement, wrongdoing, skepticism, bigotry, screwiness and avarice.
Sadly, the play is not satirical. The new Israeli government, which is in charge of both the quality of life and life itself for all Israel’s citizens—Jews and Arabs, as well as Palestinians living in the occupied territories—consists of these components. The witty satire becomes a terrifying drama here. It is not true that members of previous governments were benevolent and righteous. However, this one differs in numerous ways.
The people who guarantee that the new government – a dangerous blend of ultra-Universality and the most revolutionary and bigoted conservative – addresses the genuine substance of Israel 2022 are just part of the way right. Along with the Palestinian party Raam, the incoming “government for change” was actually a reflection of the fragmented Israeli society, even if it was an artificial creation of the right, left, and center—whatever those terms still mean. The new one is purely political and does not take into account the diversity of Israel.
It is a bizarre amalgamation of the worst aspects of Poland’s clerical ultra-conservative government, which is attempting to undermine its own judicial system, as well as a hint of Donald Trump’s homophobic, xenophobic, racist, and far-right America. It also has frightening parallels to Germany in the 1930s.
The new government will, according to political analysts, last about two years.
The Return of King Bibi
Let’s take a look at Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government’s “who’s who.” As of May 2022, the current or former prime minister has been charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. His criminal trial is still ongoing, despite his denial of the charges. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister’s sole motivation is his own personal need to maintain power in order to avoid prison by postponing or canceling his trial. In order for him to enact the legislation required to accomplish that objective, he requires this coalition.
A unity government is impossible because the anti-Netanyahu coalition, led by the outgoing prime minister Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, his defense minister, won’t help him. As a result, he is left with only the “Bibi block,” which is made up of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose democracy and the rule of law. Discrimination and racism have always been a part of the system. They were fought by few; Many more simply attempted to conceal it out of shame. All of it is now public knowledge, legalized, and incorporated into coalition agreements.
Netanyahu makes life simple for his partners. The days of Time magazine’s cover featuring “King Bibi” are long gone. He is now more like a pauper than a prince, like the old King Bibi, who was weak and dependent, and he is easy to give in to pressure or even political extortion. He provided everything and more to his coalition partners. He only needs their support to pass a series of new laws that will guarantee his freedom. The trade-off is simple because they want to weaken the judicial system in the same way.
However, Netanyahu finds himself in a precarious position in this coalition that appears ideologically homogenous: He is confronted for the first time with the challenge of not only outwitting media-savvy coalition partners but also representing the government’s most left-leaning factions.
