the country is going in circles politically

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s broad-based government has stumbled over its internal contradictions. The majority of Israelis will have to ask themselves painful questions in order for the country to find more stability.

Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid have shown that there is still political decency in Israel.

Abir Sultan / EPO

Politically, Israel is always just a heartbeat away from a heart attack. Every brief cough in government is blown up into a deadly cold. The reporting and commentary is like in a betting shop: Who will be the next to jump the blade, turn their backs on this or that party and thus trigger a government crisis? A factual discussion about what would be good and right for the country is hardly possible. Israel needed exactly that.

Ever since the current finance minister, Avigdor Lieberman, terminated the coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2018, Israel has been in crisis mode. One election chases the next. The Israelis will probably have to vote again at the end of October, for the fifth time since April 2019. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced his resignation on Monday evening.

The crux is the conflict with the Palestinians

If the members of parliament agree to the dissolution of the Knesset in the next few days, Yair Lapid will take over the office of head of government on an interim basis. MPs from the right-wing camp around opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu are still hoping to prevent this and to be able to form a new government. However, it is unlikely that they will succeed.

The government was not broken by the head of government’s attempt to marginalize his coalition partners. On the contrary: Bennett acknowledged the share that the individual ministers of the eight-party coalition had in reforms and decrees. Conversely, he is praised by them for his cooperative style of government. At his last press conference on Monday evening, Bennett not only declared that he would hand over the baton to Lapid, as agreed in the coalition agreement. He also complimented his government partner, who comes from very different political backgrounds. For his part, Lapid even let himself be carried away to a declaration of love. “I would like to thank you for your friendship,” said the foreign minister. “I love you.”

The government failed because of the conflict with the Palestinians, which has not been resolved for decades, and the relationship between the Jewish majority and the Arab and Palestinian minorities in Israel. Like Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous government, Bennett’s government chose to manage the simmering conflict with the Palestinians rather than seek a solution.

Gradually, Bennett’s own faction members turned their backs on their party leader, arguing that the government was doing too little to advance settlements or legalize illegal outposts. The final straw that broke the camel’s back was the failed extension of a law that would subject settlers in the occupied territories to Israeli law.

Thousands of Israelis marched through the Old City of Jerusalem at the end of May, shouting “Death to the Arabs”.

Thousands of Israelis marched through the Old City of Jerusalem at the end of May, shouting “Death to the Arabs”.

Amir Levy/Getty

Palestinians protest demolition of their hamlets south of Hebron.  In contrast to the Jewish settlers, military law applies to them in the occupied territories.

Palestinians protest demolition of their hamlets south of Hebron. In contrast to the Jewish settlers, military law applies to them in the occupied territories.

Abed Al Hashlamoun / EPA

Increasing radicalization of Israelis

The majority of Israelis are now used to ignoring the conflict as long as there are no attacks. If there are, as in the spring of this year, they react by calling for more toughness, which then plays into the hands of the irreconcilables on the other side. As long as nothing changes, the poison of radicalization will continue to spread within Israel.

Bennett and Lapid broke with an unwritten rule and entered into a coalition with an Arab party for the first time in history. According to surveys by the Hebrew University’s aChord center in Jerusalem, the involvement of Mansur Abbas’ moderate Islamist party has led to a radical change of heart among the Jewish majority. While two years ago a majority of Israelis, who position themselves politically in the middle, were against cooperation with an Arab party, a majority are now in favor of wrote the project leader, Ron Gerlitz, in a recent analysis. Arab participation in government is becoming the norm. There is no turning back, he wrote.

Many Jewish Israelis, however, do not want to accept that. They do not see the Arabs as citizens with equal rights, but as supplicants who must first prove their loyalty before concessions are made to them. This is reflected in the number of right-wing extremists, who are constantly increasing in opinion polls. Their racism is celebrating its origins without the much-vaunted silent majority doing anything to counteract it. Netanyahu also plays on this keyboard. For months he has been agitating against the Arab parties, calling them supporters of terrorism. A coalition with the Arabs threatens Israel’s Jewish character, he claims.

Bright spot Yair Lapid

In election campaigns there is no time for quiet tones. Unless Netanyahu, who is accused of corruption, makes a surprise change of course, the country will be in for a messy election campaign and further amplification of polarization. Lapid could offer the only ray of hope.

Years ago, commentators dismissed the former TV presenter and amateur boxer as a political lightweight. Instead, he kept surprising her and steadily gaining stature. Lapid was also the architect of the unusually heterogeneous current government. In order to remove Netanyahu from office, he was even willing to let Bennett take over as prime minister. As prime minister and foreign minister, he will have the opportunity over the next few months to further sharpen his profile and strengthen the centre. Of course, this task will not be easy.

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