Right-wing religious – with a view to the new Israeli coalition, the word is the understatement of the year. What Benjamin Netanyahu has put together is a collection of far-right forces.
In addition to the Likud, the Religious-Zionist Alliance and two strictly religious parties will be in charge. In short, the most right-wing government Israel has ever had.
The negotiations between the coalition partners had lasted until the end, and even if that is a tradition in Israel – this time there was a small hope. It hasn’t come true.
Netanyahu did not want to approach Jair Lapid, who is still prime minister and has the second-largest faction after the Likud, that of the liberal Future Party.
Swearing in until January 2nd
The designated Prime Minister Netanyahu has now communicated the agreement to President Izchak Herzog in good time, so that the government will be sworn in by January 2nd. This means that nothing can be changed in the short term. At most later by a new election. That would be the sixth in three and a half years.
Stephan Andreas Casdorff is the publisher of the Tagesspiegel and chairman of the board of trustees of the German Friends of Yad Vashem.
The coming government can make you scared and anxious. For example, the intended legalization of further settlement construction in the West Bank is becoming a provocation for the region and internationally.
Peace with the Palestinians, a two-state solution urged by all of Israel’s allies, seems even more out of reach than it already is. This is how Israel’s Abraham agreements with Arab states come under pressure; and expansion becomes more difficult.
Separation of powers is questioned
In addition, this coalition leaves no doubt about its willingness to be radical. This does not just mean foreign policy, an even sharper tone against Iran and its nuclear plans.
Rather, the government plans internally that a majority in parliament can pass laws even if the Supreme Court throws them out as illegal. Which challenges the separation of powers, an essential feature of a democracy.
It is unimaginable that a weakening of the judiciary would also benefit Netanyahu personally, who is being pursued on corruption charges. This clears the way for him to return to power after a year and a half of opposition.
No one has been in office longer than he: The 73-year-old was Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999, then again from 2009 to 2021. And now it’s clear: Benjamin Netanyahu will do anything for power. Almost everything.
