Netanyahu deposed: What next for the Muslim world? (Part 1)
On Tuesday three weeks ago, a confidence vote was planned to happen in the Knesset, the parliament for the Jewish entity, on the following Sunday, and was announced globally. After the chaos and anarchy which swept over the Jewish state just last year, owing to the demonstrations and remonstrations against then-prime minister Netanyahu’s mishandling of the pandemic and involvement in controversy when allegations and accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust was unearthed, this marks the fifth time since Netanyahu’s re-election in 2009 an attempt was made to oust him. The opposition, for once, have decided to band together; a motley collection of parties from all across the political spectrum, from right-wing nationalists to secularist and even an Arab party; having decided to set aside their differences to topple the reign of Netanyahu, who has ruled over the entity for a grand total of 15 years, and bring to the state to, in the words of its leader Yair Lapid, ‘an era of change’.
On the twelfth of June, as reported by the Guardian, the opposition announced a power-sharing agreement as a reconciliation between the right-wing and leftist parties; which states that if the opposition is to win the confidence vote, then Naftali Bennett, a religious nationalist who is an advocate of Jewish settler movement and former senior aide to Netanyahu, is to govern the entity for a period of two years; the remaining two of a four-years term to be taken over by Yair Lapid himself. This, following the announcement of the formation of this diverse coalition with the intent of overthrowing Netanyahu, suggested that the coalition is confident of their victory, though this incited less optimism on the part of Palestinians, who sees the next government to be similar to the previous administration.
On the thirteenth of June, a day after the Holy Sabbath of the Jews, the confidence vote commenced, ending with the triumph of the opposition by a slim and narrow vote of 60 to 59. To a scene of pandemonium in the Knesset, was the victory announced, to bitter shouts of ‘traitor’ aimed towards Bennett, who was formerly of the same Likud party as Netanyahu. The formal exchange of power ceremony was conducted coldly between Bennett and Netanyahu, without even a warm handshake to break the cold formalities of the ceremony, as was the custom before. This ceremony, and the swearing in of Bennett as the next Prime Minister of “Israel”, effectively ended rule of King Bibi, as Netanyahu was known to his supporters and critics, whose 15-year-reign surpasses even the first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.
Succeeding this announcement, the international community reacted with statements of congratulations to the new Prime Minster and his Cabinet, with emphasis made to stress the need to pursue peace in the region. Those who congratulated the new administration included the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau; the newly-elected president of the United States, Joe Biden; the president of the European Council, Charles Michel; and Dominic Raab, the Foreign Minister for the United Kingdom. The Prime Minster of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Muhammad Shtayyeh, however, did not welcome the introduction of the new government, as did many of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank alike. He condemned the statements made by Bennet in favour and support of Jewish settlements, in line with Bennet’s belief to rule out the possibility of a Palestinian state and wanting the Jewish entity to maintain ultimate control over all the territories it occupies, eliminating any probability of a bilateral solution for the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, and the possibility of peace itself, under his governance. Separately, he also said, “We (Palestine) don’t consider the new government less bad than its predecessor”.
Then what can the Muslim world make of this recent development? Can it be a welcome change, different from the previous Netanyahu regime, or will it be worst? What should be the appropriate diplomatic response, and how best to tackle these new changes? Before I can put forward my proposition as to what should be done by the world in general, and the Muslim ummah specifically, it is a necessity to really comprehend the situation, at the same time understanding the characters involved.
Firstly, who is Netanyahu? A person the world known entirely by name and his characteristic anti-Palestinian and hardline attitude, and labeled a hard-nosed nationalist domestically, the ousted Prime Minister of “Israel” is certainly a fascinating character to explore. Educated in America, Netanyahu first argued the regime’s case in the 1980’s as a diplomat. He will then enter the opposition in the Knesset in the 1990’s, becoming a key figure in the backlash to peace talks between the Jewish entity and Palestine, which was ongoing at that time. In 1995, the Prime Minister of the time, Yitzhak Rabin, who was responsible for spearheading peace efforts, was assassinated, and in succeeding elections, Netanyahu was chosen as Prime Minister of “Israel”, and went on to rule for 4 years before he lost in 1996; reclaiming prime ministership in 2009, he ruled for a further 12 years before he was defeated in the recent confidence vote three weeks ago. In all, he has ruled over the state for a total of 15 years.
As prime minister, Netanyahu presided over an economic turnaround; kept the state out of war, keeping Jewish casualties to an all-time low; at the same time, he feuded with Democratic American presidents, from Obama to Biden, compartmentalized the Palestinian conflict, snubbed peace talks, expanded Jewish presence, and treated Palestinians as a threat to the regime’s security. The main stance of his government, which reflected the methodology of right-wing parties in the Jewish entity, including his party, the Likud, was that of the necessity to impose Jewish regime’s presence upon the region, irrespective of international pressure and condemnation, and the subjugation of Palestine by any means, including annexation. In his speech to the Congress in 1996, he made it a point that his governance is one of power, not compromise.
In lieu of subjecting himself to popular international opinion, and continued with the peace talks with Palestine, Netanyahu overturned conventional wisdom that peace with Palestine will earn for ‘Israel’ international recognition, and succeeded in making historic accords with four Arab countries; the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco: without a single mention of peace with Palestine. However, in recent years, despite his achievements, a number of allegations arose of bribing media executives for favourable news covering in an effort to control his image; this led to three separate charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. After his defeat in the Knesset, he was denied parliamentary immunity against these charges. He was also criticized for initial mishandling of the pandemic last year; the disparities in enforcement of lockdown highlighted his indebtedness to ultra-Orthodox allies; mishandling which he more than made up by saving the Jewish entity with the rapid supply of vaccines. Nevertheless, it can never be doubted that he left behind a legacy of right-wing nationalism, his flaws and faults notwithstanding; and made the regime a far more powerful state than it was before, forcing his Arabic neighbours to recognize “Israel”, or at least tolerate it.
The new government, however, may not be as consistent as Netanyahu was in their policies; the diverse mix of different political ideologies prevents them from putting together realistic policies on anything other than trivial matters involving governance and administration. The coalition has agreed to avoid serious issues such as the question to continue the peace talks or not, and the possibility of a bilateral solution, to prevent the coalition from fracturing and losing majority in the Knesset, giving Netanyahu a chance to win a majority and reinstate himself as the prime minister again. Instead, they pledged to rebuild the post-pandemic economy, improve infrastructure, and steer clear of divisive questions about the Jewish-Palestinian conflict which might jeopardize their unity; even so, some members seek an end to the regime’s occupation and support a Palestine state. Even without these issues in view, tension is already arising within the new government over decisions regarding whether to close a new unauthorized settlement or not, and whether to return the delivery of Qatari financial aid to Gaza, which was suspended under Netanyahu.
The coalition also vowed to repair ties with the Democratic Party of the United States. Yair Lapid, the current Foreign Minister and future Prime Minister, promised to revive the regime’s relationship with the Democrats. A bond frayed by Netanyahu; who antagonized Obama; developed a symbiosis with Trump to cement historic gains of East Jerusalem; which Trump recognised by opening an American embassy there; and blasted Biden as being dangerous to the Jewish entity; Lapid promised to strengthen that particular bond with the United States Democratic Party, as well as with Jews abroad, in lieu of relying on the support of evangelical Christians, who were the key focus of Netanyahu.
The key players in the diverse government would be the current Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, and the coalition leader, current Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who will take the mantle of prime minister in 2023, and it is essential to know what their background and political inclinations are, as they are the main policy-makers of the political alliance. We shall begin with Yair Lapid as leader of the confederation, and understand the sequence of events which led to the confidence vote in the Knesset, and the policies he might enact as both the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister. Later, we would also be attempting to understand the current Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, as he will decide the course which the regime will take for the next two years, and his religious right-wing nationalist inclinations are at odds with Lapid’s secularist centrist views, at the same time opening possibilities for right-wing policies to be implemented.
Yair Lapid was a Jewish journalist and television personality, and is now a politician. His political career first began when he left his stunning media career and formed his own centrist party, Yesh Atid (There is A Future) in January 2012. The party focused on the economic concerns of the Jewish middle class; a major political force after the socioeconomic protests in the summer of 2011; and Lapid campaigned in January 2013 vowing to reduce housing costs, reform the education system, and institute policies that would help small businesses. He also campaigned for the gradual phasing out of rules that exempted the ultra-Orthodox community from military service, whilst proposing new measures to restrict the disproportionate influence of minority parties (ie, ultra-Orthodox/ settler parties) in Jewish politics. However, he eschewed blunt criticism of the ultra-Orthodox community, and the party remained vague on issues relating to national security and negotiations with the Palestinians, though it was generally known that Lapid is inclined to favour a return of negotiations.
In January 2013, the Yesh Atid party performed well, winning 19 seats in the Knesset. After weeks of negotiations, Yesh Atid joined the government coalition with the Likud party, and Lapid was appointed the Minister of Finance. This lasted until December the next year, when Lapid was dismissed by Netanyahu due to friction with the government. In the early elections of 2015, Yesh Atid lost seven seats, but Lapid responded optimistically, saying that “Yesh Atid is here to stay”. From then on, Lapid became a key figure in the opposition, and was involved in controversy when he was named a key witness in one of the cases that Netanyahu was indicted.
Nearing the April 2019 elections, Yesh Atid again prepared to partake in the elections, but it was not enough to challenge the Likud party. So, he made the decision to merge his party with the Israel Resilience Party, which is led by Benny Gantz, a well-known general of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) who poses a viable challenge to Netanyahu, to form the Blue & White; the election ended in a tie between Blue & White and Likud, and no coalition was formed. A second election, in September 2019, again pitted Blue & White against Likud, and again it ended in a tie, with no coalition formed. Another election was scheduled for March of 2020, and again it presented no clear winner, but Gantz was forced to accede to an emergency unity government under Netanyahu to handle the pandemic. Nearly half of Blue and White, including Lapid, split with Gantz and entered the opposition under the name Yesh Atid-Telem. Running separately from Blue & White, and far outperforming Gantz’s party, Yesh Atid-Telem still came in a distant second behind the Likud. Still, this year, Lapid managed to form a broad coalition with the objective of unseating Netanyahu, which he succeeded, though he will not become Prime Minister until the August of 2023.
To be continued…