This week Israel held general elections, for the fifth time in a couple of years, and the turnout was surprisingly high at more than 70%. And, different from the previous four rounds, this time the public even voted to end the deadlock between the two blocs and the right-wing bloc with Netanyahu as its leader gained a clear majority and will form a government. Good news? It depends…..
Netanyahu, who has been Prime Minister for longer than any other, will most likely pick up where he left off and continue his efforts to destroy the judiciary system by politicizing it, tighten restrictions on the LGBTQ population, continue his dangerous Iran policy and more than anything else make an effort to have his criminal trial stopped or even canceled. And, while the Likud, Netanyahu’s home party, is with 32 seats the largest party in the Knesset (as well as in the right-wing bloc) he will need his bloc partners to survive in the Knesset and he knows, that while they may help him in some of his questionable endeavors, he will have to take in account their demands, which will be many and far out.
The three religious parties in the Netanyahu bloc, (which hold together 32 seats!) will have a long list of demands, which of course will be headed by the demand for money but will include exemption from teaching of basic subjects in their schools, tightening of Sabbath traffic in particular public transport, a return to the Chief Rabbinate of control over religious issues such as conversion and marriage, and in the extreme, strengthening of Halachic rule over Israel, meaning complete abandonment of democratic values.
But these demands, as disastrous as they will be for Israel society and democracy, are negligent when the real issue of this (still to be formed) government is considered. The Religious Zionist party, with 14 seats is the bound to become the most influential coalition partner of Netanyahu. The Religious Zionists are led by Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two settlers who have become very popular in the past months and not only among religious Israelis, simply because they hold views that apparently appeal to a larger segment of the population than just religious people. These two politicians are fascists and racists. They are using religion and nationalism to further their ideas the Israel is the Land of the Jews, and of the Jews only and that if needed, force must be used to achieve this racial purity in the Land of Yisrael. They exploit every opportunity to attack the Arab population, using security as their lead argument that Arabs need to be removed. Ben Gvir has grown up in the Kach movement of Meir Kahana, which was banned in the 80’s and forbidden to run for the Knesset. Ben Gvir did not serve in the Israel Army because of his extreme views and was actively involved in the threats towards Yitzhak Rabin in the months before Rabin was murdered. But what was extreme 20 years ago, apparently today is mainstream and Fascism is rapidly taking hold in Israel society. Particularly worrying is Ben Gvir’s appeal to the younger population of Israel, for whom apparently Jewish supremacy is the next step.
The elections were held in a democratic fashion but that does not mean the results are democratic or should be accepted. Democracy is a lot more than holding elections and in the spirit of democracy, any party or party representative with Fascist views and ideas should be banned, for the protection of the democracy. And in the present situation, the Fascist ideas are becoming intertwined with Jewish religious values and it strengthens the view that the “Biggest Lie” in Israel: “Israel is a Democratic and Jewish State” is indeed a lie, because Democracy and Religion never can go together, and in Israel’s case, the Religion has become intertwined with Fascism and the results, if this phenomenon is not stopped in its tracks, will be disastrous. Who will stop it? Most likely not Netanyahu, certainly not as long as he has use for his religious partners, be they fascists or not and the hell with Israel and its democracy. The problem with Fascism has always been that it takes hold slowly, but once establishes itself, it is hard to root out and if history is a reference point, in most cases Fascism came to an end only in a violent and deadly conflict.
There is one thing that is in particular worrisome when Fascism takes root in Israel as apparently it has.
The Jewish people, who have suffered more than any other people or nation from fascist and racist extremism, are now embracing the very disastrous behavior that killed six million of its brethren? Did the Jewish people not learn anything? Or did they forget? What do we teach our children that today they are falling for the very disaster that killed their grandparents? Did Jewish Supremacy, which is an indelible part of the Israeli Fascism that is developing, really convince us that we are better than others?
In the name of Democracy and for the future of our children and grandchildren, we had better reconsider.
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