Israel Elections will be in a couple of days and like in all previous ones of the last couple of years, it is again doubtful that any of the two opposite sides will be able to form a government. While the Right, with Netanyahu as leader is on the brink of a 61 seats majority in the Knesset, the different opinion polls most of the time do not give his bloc more than 60, which will result (again) in a stalemate and most probably another round of elections.
The left, which is in fact not left, but a mix of eight different parties, some of which are very left-wing while others have very right wing opinions and would surely be on the opposite side if Netanyahu would step aside. The largest party in the left bloc is Yesh Atid (There is a Future), with Yair Lapid, the current Prime Minister as its leader, and he is predicted to garner 23-24 seats in the Knesset and is thus the obvious candidate to become Prime Minister, if and when. But at least one other leader in the bloc sees himself as the only one to be able to form a government (by including the Orthodox religious parties). However, Benny Gantz and his National Unity party are predicted to win only ten seats, which make his chances to become Prime Minister very slim, the more since another crucial partner in the bloc, Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is our House) party, will never agree to the participation of the Orthodox in a coalition he sits in. This heap of parties was able to form a government last time (with the help of an Arab party, a precedent in Israel), and may be able this time as well, but they in fact only have one thing in common: They do not want Netanyahu again. A very thin bridge to build on even though their current government, that is leaving office after the elections, performed surprisingly well and managed to keep the group together (more or less). Of course the most crucial issue Israel needs to deal with, the Palestinian crisis, was left out of the picture completely and completely neglected because I was clear that no agreement could be reached on anything there between the parties.
The situation in the right-wing bloc is even more chaotic, even though it appears to be more stable, mostly because of the terror that Netanyahu uses to keep his “partners” in line. The base of the bloc is the Likud party, still being the largest party in Israel even though it is not recognizable anymore as the party that Menachem Begin made strong in the seventies. Netanyahu rules the Likud with an iron fist and so far nobody has dared to stand up to him. The orthodox religious parties are strongly connected to the Netanyahu bloc, mostly because he has been the source of the most important thing they want from Israel: money. Netanyahu will promise them anything to make sure they remain on his side, and the latest example was his promise to keep funding the private schools of the Haredim even though they refuse to teach basic subjects such as Mathematics and English. The third partner in the Right-wing bloc is an alliance between two religious (but not orthodox) parties and their surprising strength in the polls (they are expected to win 14 seats in the Knesset) makes them an important asset for Netanyahu even though they will exert a big price for their cooperation. This alliance (between Otzma Yehudit or “Jewish Strength” and The Religious Zionists) has been causing a lot of concern on anybody who still believes Israel should be a Democratic, pluralistic country. Among the ideas of the alliance are the formation of a “Halachic State”, a reform of the Judicial System that would destroy it, and racist legislation against the Arab population. Even Netanyahu is well aware of the dangers this partner embodies, but he nevertheless promises them Minister positions in his government if he wins next Tuesday. And leaked recordings of speeches by the leaders of the alliance, both Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, in which they can be heard denouncing Netanyahu, calling him “a Liar and Son of Liars”, declaring that he is a “serious problem” and that he “stabbed them in the back”, will not deter Netanyahu from including them in his government if that will help him get a majority. It has been clear for quite a while that Netanyahu will stop at nothing to gain the needed majority to form a government (after the last elections, he negotiated with an Arab party, even though he strongly denies this now) and if that includes forming a coalition with fascist and racists then so be it. Netanyahu, who is still on trial, counts on his partners in such a government to pass legislation that will help him escape justice and have his trial and prosecution stopped. But two weeks ago, in a widely reported event in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu did refuse to be photographed together with Ben Gvir, knowing there may still be people in his Likud party, who (for now silently) strongly oppose a coalition with the racists Ben Gvir and Smotrich.
So where does all this leave “the man in the street”? How should he decide who is best for this country? Going hand-in-hand with racists is preferable over Anti Bibi? Should the country move towards a more religious status under the pressure of the Orthodox parties who hold a key position in Netanyahu’s proposed government, or should Israel become more democratic by giving people the opportunity to make decisions about their lives by themselves (such as how to get married) like this “Left” bloc is and has been attempting to do?
Tuesday will give us some answers (maybe) but whatever side will win, it is clear to all (even though most will not admit it) that Israeli democracy is seriously ill and may disappear unless politicians (that WE vote into office) get their act together and remember that they are supposed to serve the people and not themselves or some extreme idea that may appeal to some but will do harm to all.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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