The Effects of PM Netanyahu and the Right Wing’s Rise to Power
This year’s legislative election was Israel’s fifth in the past four years, following the Knesset’s agreement to dissolve the previous government headed by Yair Lapid. The election took place on November 1, 2022. After polls closed and the results of the election were final, the incoming coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu had 64 out of 120 votes, three more than needed to have a parliamentary majority.
Netanyahu’s return to power could lead to many “fundamental” changes in Israel’s society, said Hadas Gold, a writer for CNN. The Israeli Parliament is made up of many parties, each with specific values and concerns, but many have overlapping beliefs. The former prime minister, Yair Lipid, belongs to the Yesh Atid party, which sources such as the Israel Democracy Institute call centrist. Netanyahu’s party, Likud, tends to be more conservative (according to the Israel Democracy Institute). Netanyahu has two options to form a coalition, according to USA Today’s Jotam Confino: he could ally with the more right-wing parties or the more liberal parties. A coalition with a right-wing party would likely enable Netanyahu to terminate his ongoing trial, which was one of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s campaign promises. To partner with the more liberal parties, Netanyahu would likely require that they also put an end to his trials, but these parties have made no such promises. Therefore, an alliance with the right is looking more and more likely.
If Netanyahu chooses to partner with his far-right allies, it will likely lead to a large change in the way the Knesset interacts with Arab people in Israel and around the world.
Bassem Eid, a political analyst and human rights activist, believes, “There is no doubt this will make the [current] situation [with the] Palestinians much worse.” One potential agent of this change is Itmar Ben-Gvir, a leader of the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit Party, which supports Netanyahu, who is likely to fight for the public Security Minister post (managing the police), according to the Times of Israel‘s Amy Spiro. Not too long ago, Ben-Gvir’s supporters chanted “death to Arabs” and have since changed it to “death to terrorists,” but still with the same hateful underlying meaning. Ben-Gvir himself was convicted in 2007 for inciting anti-Arab racism and supporting a terrorist organization. Looking at Ben-Gvir’s history, he does not have the best track record when it comes to interacting with Arabs in Israel. Otzma Yehudit, Ben-Gvir’s party, is often described as Kahanist, which means they follow the beliefs of the late Meir Kahane, a man who was known for his Violent relationship with Israeli Arabs. Ben-Gvir says he does not agree with all of Kahane’s beliefs, however. For example, unlike Meir Kahane, Ben-Gvir does not believe that all Israeli-Arabs should be deported. Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount earlier this year, the site of several Israeli-Arab conflicts. As Public Security Minister, his duties would include policing and access to the temple mount, stated NPR’s Daniel Estrin. Since Ben-Gvir is far from accepted as a political figure by the Israeli Arabs, his policing of the majority Arab-populated site would lead to increased strain on Israel’s relationship with Arab citizens.
Like Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Yoel Smotrich leads a party that has expressed staunch support for Netanyahu, the Religious Zionist party. Smotrich hopes to acquire the position of Defense Minister, though “Likud officials indicate that he may instead be in line for the position of Education Minister,” said Amy Spiro. Whichever position Smotrich ends up with, he and Ben-Gvir have stated that they are a package deal if Netanyahu wants to form a coalition with their parties, according to Spiro. According to David Makovsky of The Washington Institute (TWI), a pro-Israel think tank, if Ben-Gvir becomes Public Security Minister, “the US is likely to boycott him” because of his anti-Arab beliefs.
The far right’s rise to power would likely also affect Israel’s LGBTQ+ community, which in recent years, has been greatly supported by the government, allowing it to take major strides. Israel is not only home to one of the largest annual gay pride parades in the world; they also have given same-sex couples the ability “to jointly adopt and legally access surrogacy,” according to Jotam Confino. A self-proclaimed “proud homophobe,” Smotrich would likely seek to hinder or even reverse this progress, as he compared recognizing the LGBTQ+ community to “driving through a red light,” reported Confino. However, Netanyahu’s Likud party does in fact support LGBTQ+ rights, so this will likely be a point of tension between Likud and The Religious Zionist Party if they form a coalition. With Smotrich looking more and more likely to acquire the position of Minister of Education, only time will tell if his homophobic beliefs will affect Israel’s education system.
Following Netanyahu’s election, Israel is coming closer and closer to drastic change. As he chooses who to align himself with, Netanyahu’s government, if successfully formed, will have many important decisions to make and priorities to assess when it comes to the range of ideologies within the coalition, as well as their possible effects on human rights within the country and its relations with its allies. It is but a matter of time until it is clear if the drastic change in this government is for the better or worse of Israel.
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