The toxicity of far-right politics manifests itself in myriad ways — and not only here in America.
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has engineered a continuance of his grip on power, this time by forging an alliance with far-right Zionist leaders. Netanyahu won Israel’s national elections earlier this month by agreeing to form a coalition between his center-right Likud Party and the far-right Jewish Power Party and the Religious Zionism party.
Just how extreme are Netanyahu’s new partners? The Jewish Power Party’s leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, campaigned on the promise of broadening Israeli security forces’ authority to shoot Palestinians during demonstrations, and lionizes a man who once massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at a mosque. The head of the Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, describes himself as a “proud homophobe” and has backed the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers in maternity wards at Israeli hospitals.
For “Bibi,” it’s a partnership motivated by his need for political survival.
Israelis, particularly the nation’s younger generation, increasingly lean far right, and Netanyahu tethered himself to ultranationalists to ensure his comeback. His group got the necessary 61 seats to assume power. Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s cobbled coalition of anti-Netanyahu parties — centrists, conservatives and pro-Arab parties — could only win 51 seats in the Knesset. The alliance’s leftists were virtually shut out of parliament.
Netanyahu, who will formally announce a new coalition government within the next few weeks, also had a more urgent reason to win by linking up with the far right. Although he has denied all wrongdoing, he is facing down a trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Members of his new alliance could simply pass legislation granting Netanyahu immunity from prosecution as a sitting prime minister. They’ll want something in return, but with the potential for a conviction and prison looming, Netanyahu is likely to accommodate his new friends.
None of this bodes well for Israel, its commitment to democracy, and its role in the volatile Middle East. It also complicates foreign policy for the Biden administration at a time when the American president already has too many fires to put out.
The prospect of a two-state solution has been grim for years, but the ascent of the far right into Israeli leadership outright dooms that hope. Palestinians can expect an expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, perhaps incentivized or aided by state investment. With that dynamic, no long-term resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible.
The new coalition also stokes questions about impingement on Israeli democracy. Netanyahu’s new far-right partners want to weaken the country’s judiciary by giving parliament the power to reinstate laws struck down by the Israeli Supreme Court, which has a history of keeping in check right-wing incursions into the rights of non-Jewish minorities. And any derailment of Netanyahu’s slow-moving corruption trial would signal a massive democratic backslide for the 74-year-old state.
All of this puts U.S.-Israeli relations on tricky ground. President Joe Biden has a long, amicable relationship with Netanyahu, so that helps. His administration has been careful to express concern about Netanyahu’s new partners without risking irreparable damage to U.S. ties with Israel, Washington’s staunchest ally in the Middle East.
“We hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said earlier this month.
Biden likely will amp up the pressure on Netanyahu if the extremist wings of a new coalition push their anti-Arab agenda too far. But it’s not just on Biden — Netanyahu has much to lose if he can’t rein in the ultranationalists.
The 73-year-old leader relishes his prominence on the world stage and likely will not want to risk becoming a global pariah. It’s in Netanyahu’s interests — and Israel’s — to keep his new allies from landing the ministerial posts they covet the most, defense and public security. Those jobs are too sensitive to be in the hands of extremists.
He should also do what he can to preserve the independence of Israel’s judiciary, even if it means his corruption trial proceeding unhindered. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and has said he won’t stand in the way of the trial. Israel waits to see whether he will back up that pledge.
Israel should heed a lesson from the body blows that far-right politics delivered to America during the Trump presidency, and to the Republican Party in the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Instead, Netanyahu appears to be willing to risk long-term damage to Israel’s democracy and its place in the world for the sake of short-term gains centering on his own political fate.
That’s a risk Israel shouldn’t have to bear.
