Four Things to Know About Israel's New 'Change Coalition'
PHYLLIS BENNIS
06/05/2021
( Foreign Policy in Focus ) - The new government - if it takes power at all
- is united only around ousting Netanyahu. Here's what that could mean. By
Phyllis Bennis | June 4, 2021
In Israel's parliament, the Knesset, a broad but shaky new "change
coalition" claims it's ready to finally oust Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu - the right-wing Likud leader who's held the office for the last
12 years.
If approved, the new coalition would anoint as prime minister Naftali
Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally who supports settlement expansion and
annexation of much of the West Bank, and who is significantly further to the
right than Netanyahu himself. In theory, if it stays in power for two years,
the more centrist Yair Lapid would then take over as prime minister. But
that's a big "if" - and the new coalition may not even survive its initial
vote of confidence next week.
More importantly, whoever is the next prime minister, Israel's politics -
particularly on Palestinian rights - have in the last several years shifted
dramatically to the right, and it is the far right wing of this new
"coalition" that remains the most powerful.
Here are four things to know about the government that could replace
Netanyahu.
1. Israel's emerging anti-Netanyahu coalition may or may not actually take
power.
Netanyahu has shown a canny ability and ruthless willingness to use any
methods to stay in power - not least to avoid prison on multiple counts of
corruption - and he's got a whole week to do so. He is expected to use
bribes, threats, and punishments to lure at least one member out of the
61-vote bare majority coalition - and that would be enough to scuttle the
deal.
Many anticipated that last month's war against Gaza would increase public
support for Netanyahu, but it seems it did not - at least not enough. But he
has never given up using war to gain support, so keep an eye out for
potential provocations against the usual targets of Netanyahu's foreign
policy, including Gaza, Iran, or perhaps Lebanon.
2. If Netanyahu is defeated and the "change coalition" does take over, its
most powerful figure will be the ultra-right Naftali Bennett.
Bennett was a longtime Netanyahu supporter and remains a staunch backer of
illegal Jewish settlement expansion and annexation of huge swathes of
Palestinian territory in the West Bank. He's significantly to the right of
Netanyahu.
The "change coalition" parties range from Bennett's extremist New Right
Party to Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid formation - and even includes the
left-Zionist Meretz party and the Palestinian Ra'am party. Its unity is
limited to ousting Netanyahu. Its breadth and political diversity render it
completely unstable, which will make any serious political action beyond
maybe passing a budget impossible. That means political paralysis as long as
it holds on to power.
3. Majorities in both blocs in the Knesset - Netanyahu's and the "change
coalition" - largely agree on maintaining the status quo of Israeli
occupation and apartheid, as well as its regional anti-Iran militarism.
Despite the (likely short-lived) presence of centrist and left parties and a
Palestinian party, the new coalition's political power remains firmly in the
center-right to extreme right spectrum that reflects Israeli politics
overall. There will almost certainly be no resumption of calls for a
"two-state solution," (something long ago rendered impossible anyway because
of escalating Israeli expropriation of Palestinian land) since Bennett
opposes it even more vociferously than Netanyahu.
4. Even if it wins and manages to hold onto power, the "change coalition"
will not bring significant improvement in the lives or rights of
Palestinians.
As long as the U.S. continues to provide Israel with virtually unlimited
economic, military, diplomatic, and political support and protection,
regardless of Tel Aviv's violations of international law and the systemic
inequality and discrimination with which it treats the Palestinians, Israel
has no reason to change.
For years, Netanyahu has claimed that he alone can deliver continued U.S.
support and military aid. In fact, if the anti-Netanyahu coalition wins, a
new prime minister - even one actually more extreme in his racist
anti-Palestinian views than his predecessor - might well be seen as a boon
for the White House and some in Congress, for whom Netanyahu has become
somewhat of a liability.
Those politicians, largely Democrats, may be eager to look like they're
responding seriously to rising public opposition to Washington's enabling of
Israeli apartheid and human rights violations. Embracing a new prime
minister with less well-known baggage in Washington could be just enough to
clinch the deal.
Via Foreign Policy in Focus