Jerusalem: Even the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali BennettThose leading an ideologically divided coalition, which continues to face collapse, have expressed doubts about the viability of their eight-party government.
“A year ago, I wasn’t sure it could be done,” the religious-nationalist leader told AFP, 12 months after the end of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long regime.
As part of the deal he struck a deal with the coalition’s architect, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, to trade both halfway through his four-year term.
The first anniversary of their Motivational Alliance falls next Monday, but some pundits say a second is very unlikely. Others doubt it will survive until the end of the month.
Imminent death is nothing new for a coalition spanning the political spectrum from radical rightists like Bennett to centrists, pigeons and Arab Islamists.
In April, a member of the premier’s Yamina coalition stripped her of her majority by defections Israel120-seat parliament.
It lasted several days as a minority government after a leftist Arab lawmaker bolted last month, but it returned and the coalition now hangs with 60 seats.
The current crisis, which lies in one of Israel’s most sensitive fault-lines, however, could prove fatal.
Lawmakers from two coalition supporters, the United Arab List (RAM) and the Dovish Meretz party, have refused to renew a measure to ensure Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank are subject to Israeli law.
Any concession to the notion that the settlers are living outside Israel is anathema to the other coalition partners, notably Yamina and the hawkish New Hope Party led by Justice Minister Gideon Saar.
It remains uncertain whether the government will survive the controversy or what the next crisis will be.
But in a written answer to AFP’s interview questions, Bennett argued that the coalition had already proved its worth and the ability to negotiate a compromise between rivals.
He wrote, “Exactly a year after running this government, the biggest realization I have is that when we work together, put aside our differences and focus on the good of this country, Israel is the most It’s good.”
“What started as a political accident has turned into a purpose. It is working,” he said, highlighting the passage of the budget in November, Israel’s first budget in three years.
“A year ago Israel was headed for its fifth election in two years and was paralyzed by polarization,” Bennett said, recalling the unrest in previous years under Netanyahu.
“This government is the antidote to polarization.”
Bennett, a hardliner on the Palestinian struggle, was not previously known for his commitment to political inclusion.
When the former head of a settlers lobby first ran for office in 2012–2013, he gained attention for delivering a nationalist message with a modern twist.
“There are some things that most of us understand will never happen,” ran one campaign line. “The Sopranos is not coming back for another season … and there will never be a peace plan with the Palestinians.”
Bennett has not changed ideologically: he opposed the Palestinian state and confirmed that there would be no peace talks during his term, while his government approved new settlers’ homes in the West Bank.
Bennett has said he instead wants to broaden economic opportunities for Palestinians, including access to high-paying Israeli jobs.
But some experts say Bennett’s first year in charge has revealed that he was unfairly cast as an adamant hard-liner.
“He puts the interests of the state before the interests of the ideological camp he represents,” said yididia sternPresident of the Jewish People’s Policy Institute and Professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University.
Bennett’s coalition was forged through a shared opposition to Netanyahu, who was in power from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 until June last year.
While many of Bennett’s peers share Netanyahu’s fanatical views, he broke up with him for fear that he was undermining state institutions to serve his personal ambition and avoid trial on corruption charges, which they deny.
Many looked up to Netanyahu, a close aide of the former US president Donald Trumpas promoting right-wing populism and conspiracy theories about malicious judges, bureaucrats and journalists.
Ami Pedazur, author of “The Triumph of Israel’s Radical Right”, argued that Bennett’s government was made up of “institutionalists” who opposed the narrative of a “deep state trying to take power from the cabal or the people”.
“The left-right divide was temporarily suppressed by a shared desire to protect institutions for some time,” said Israel-born Professor Pedahzur. University of Texas in Austin.
Similarly, Bennett praised his coalition for “protecting the integrity of Israel’s democracy”.
“It’s not about making the Left happy one day and not making the Right happy another day,” he wrote. “It’s about listening to each other, hearing different perspectives, and sometimes finding compromises.”
“A year ago, I wasn’t sure it could be done,” the religious-nationalist leader told AFP, 12 months after the end of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long regime.
As part of the deal he struck a deal with the coalition’s architect, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, to trade both halfway through his four-year term.
The first anniversary of their Motivational Alliance falls next Monday, but some pundits say a second is very unlikely. Others doubt it will survive until the end of the month.
Imminent death is nothing new for a coalition spanning the political spectrum from radical rightists like Bennett to centrists, pigeons and Arab Islamists.
In April, a member of the premier’s Yamina coalition stripped her of her majority by defections Israel120-seat parliament.
It lasted several days as a minority government after a leftist Arab lawmaker bolted last month, but it returned and the coalition now hangs with 60 seats.
The current crisis, which lies in one of Israel’s most sensitive fault-lines, however, could prove fatal.
Lawmakers from two coalition supporters, the United Arab List (RAM) and the Dovish Meretz party, have refused to renew a measure to ensure Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank are subject to Israeli law.
Any concession to the notion that the settlers are living outside Israel is anathema to the other coalition partners, notably Yamina and the hawkish New Hope Party led by Justice Minister Gideon Saar.
It remains uncertain whether the government will survive the controversy or what the next crisis will be.
But in a written answer to AFP’s interview questions, Bennett argued that the coalition had already proved its worth and the ability to negotiate a compromise between rivals.
He wrote, “Exactly a year after running this government, the biggest realization I have is that when we work together, put aside our differences and focus on the good of this country, Israel is the most It’s good.”
“What started as a political accident has turned into a purpose. It is working,” he said, highlighting the passage of the budget in November, Israel’s first budget in three years.
“A year ago Israel was headed for its fifth election in two years and was paralyzed by polarization,” Bennett said, recalling the unrest in previous years under Netanyahu.
“This government is the antidote to polarization.”
Bennett, a hardliner on the Palestinian struggle, was not previously known for his commitment to political inclusion.
When the former head of a settlers lobby first ran for office in 2012–2013, he gained attention for delivering a nationalist message with a modern twist.
“There are some things that most of us understand will never happen,” ran one campaign line. “The Sopranos is not coming back for another season … and there will never be a peace plan with the Palestinians.”
Bennett has not changed ideologically: he opposed the Palestinian state and confirmed that there would be no peace talks during his term, while his government approved new settlers’ homes in the West Bank.
Bennett has said he instead wants to broaden economic opportunities for Palestinians, including access to high-paying Israeli jobs.
But some experts say Bennett’s first year in charge has revealed that he was unfairly cast as an adamant hard-liner.
“He puts the interests of the state before the interests of the ideological camp he represents,” said yididia sternPresident of the Jewish People’s Policy Institute and Professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University.
Bennett’s coalition was forged through a shared opposition to Netanyahu, who was in power from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 until June last year.
While many of Bennett’s peers share Netanyahu’s fanatical views, he broke up with him for fear that he was undermining state institutions to serve his personal ambition and avoid trial on corruption charges, which they deny.
Many looked up to Netanyahu, a close aide of the former US president Donald Trumpas promoting right-wing populism and conspiracy theories about malicious judges, bureaucrats and journalists.
Ami Pedazur, author of “The Triumph of Israel’s Radical Right”, argued that Bennett’s government was made up of “institutionalists” who opposed the narrative of a “deep state trying to take power from the cabal or the people”.
“The left-right divide was temporarily suppressed by a shared desire to protect institutions for some time,” said Israel-born Professor Pedahzur. University of Texas in Austin.
Similarly, Bennett praised his coalition for “protecting the integrity of Israel’s democracy”.
“It’s not about making the Left happy one day and not making the Right happy another day,” he wrote. “It’s about listening to each other, hearing different perspectives, and sometimes finding compromises.”