Comment on this story
comment
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday inaugurated the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, opening a divisive chapter in national politics that pits newly influential ultra-religious, ultra-nationalist leaders against an opposition that has warned democracy is under threat.
The new government is bringing Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving leader embroiled in a corruption trial – back to power for the third time after a year and a half on the sidelines. His coalition, which controls 64 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, has been touted as a return to stability after years of political crisis. But it is anchored by religious Zionism, a bloc of once marginal far-right parties that have vowed to transform the country in their image.
They already have plans to restrict minority rights, change the system of checks and balances, undermine the Israeli judiciary, influence the army and security forces, and allow tougher treatment of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories.
“This is not the end of democracy, this is the essence of democracy!” Netanyahu said at the inauguration ceremony in the Knesset on Thursday, to intermittent cheers from his supporters and boos from other members who yelled, “You guys are a disgrace !” before they are escorted out of the hall by the security service. Hundreds gathered in front of the building to demonstrate against the new government, hoisting placards with slogans such as “crime minister” and “biblical catastrophe,” a nod to Netanyahu’s nickname, Bibi.
“Try hard not to ruin it; we’ll be right back,” said Yair Lapid, the outgoing prime minister whose governing coalition included an Arab Islamist party for the first time in Israel’s history. Netanyahu refused to hold the traditional handover ceremony with Lapid.
The inauguration event was followed by marathon, last-minute negotiations to allocate ministries after Netanyahu pledged many of the most influential portfolios to religious Zionist parties. The result is a government that represents a relatively narrow constituency but is among the most bloated in history and filled with rotation agreements.
Eli Cohen, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, is swapping foreign ministers with another Likud member, Israel Katz. Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, and Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the religious Zionist bloc, are to change as finance ministers. And Netanyahu appointed former Israeli envoy to the United States Ron Dermer, widely regarded as his preferred successor, as Minister for Strategic Affairs.
Since winning the Nov. 1 elections, Netanyahu has repeatedly promised that he will rein in far-right factions whose policies risk jeopardizing Israel’s democratic institutions. A proposed law would give the far-right members of the ruling coalition unprecedented powers to appoint judges and overrule Supreme Court decisions. The new government can also make changes through inaction: with just four women versus nine in the outgoing coalition, the government has announced it will not adopt an international agreement aimed at preventing violence against women.
Although Netanyahu has said he will protect minorities, he has already signed an agreement to repeal an anti-discrimination law that allows hospitals, hotels and other businesses to deny their services to the LGBTQ community others based on religious belief. “As long as there are enough other doctors who can provide a service, it is illegal to force a doctor to give you treatment that contradicts his religious position,” said Orit Struck, a religious Zionist politician who heads the newly formed national ministry of missions will .
Netanyahu has also in recent days helped push through legislation allowing politicians with prior criminal records to take office – including Deri, a close ally convicted of tax fraud, and Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power Party, who was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization and racist incitement.
Ben Gvir is to serve as head of a renamed and vastly expanded National Security Ministry – which will give him control of police forces, including forces operating in the occupied West Bank, where near-daily, often deadly Israeli raids on Palestinians have ignited an already fragile security posture .
2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in almost two decades
Netanyahu’s partners could also pass legislation that would derail or potentially derail his corruption process.
In response, protests are mounting across the country. Sheba Medical Center, along with several other Israeli hospitals, said in an Instagram video on Monday, “We treat everyone.” Prominent figures from the justice system and owners of tech companies and other businesses have issued warnings they will stop working with government agencies if the law is changed to allow discrimination.
“We believe and hope that there are certain core values among our customers and the companies and service providers we work with, and that through cooperation and joining forces we can maintain an egalitarian, tolerant and respectful society in the country of Israel,” reads it said in a letter from 21 prominent Israeli law firms issued on Tuesday.
The Biden administration has expressed concern about the new administration and struggled to avoid workarounds according to Israeli media, dealing directly with some of its members. At a rare meeting on Wednesday, President Isaac Herzog told Ben Gvir it was his responsibility to calm the “stormy winds” his government has caused among millions in Israel and the international Jewish community.
But many fear that religious Zionism will no longer be manageable.
In recent weeks, Israeli news site Ynet published two “blacklists” drawn up in 2019 and updated this year by Avi Maoz’s anti-LGBTQ and anti-Arab party, which is a member of religious Zionism. A list includes the names, sexual orientations, photos, and other identifying details of prominent LGBTQ journalists, feminist researchers, and liberal figures in the public education system.
A second list names dozens of law enforcement officials, academics and even interns involved in a civil society workshop that Maoz describes as part of a “shadow government of the deep state.” He says the group’s lessons on integrating Arab citizens and fighting racism are part of a “radical left” conspiracy.
The report sent shockwaves through Israel, but Netanyahu offered no condemnation.
“This is a particularly slippery and dangerous slope,” wrote Adir Yanko, a party-listed gay Israeli journalist, in Ynet. “What starts in the gay community could spread to other groups that are currently feeling very safe. … Looking the other way is not an option.”