After a political chaos with five elections in four years, Israel has a new government. It is led by corruption-accused Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in his sixth term as prime minister. He has brought with him some of the most ultra-conservative, religious parties in Israel. They made a snap election in November, securing 14 seats in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The Jewish Power party is one of them. It is led by Itamar Ben-Gvir. He was considered so extreme that the Israeli army exempted him from compulsory military service in 1995. POPULAR: The leader of the “Jewish Power” party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, held a snap election this autumn. Photo: MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP In 2007, he was convicted of having supported a Jewish terrorist organization and of inciting racism against Arabs. “Provocateur”. This is how he is described as a leader in the conservative Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post. Now, among other things, he will lead the police in Israel as security minister in Netanyahu’s government. The new government creates fear of a new conflict in the Middle East, according to experts news has spoken to in Palestine, Lebanon and Israel. – A new war with Hamas is on the cards, says Israeli commentator Dahlia Schiendlin to news from Tel Aviv. COMMENTATOR: Political commentator Dahlia Schiendlin. Photo: PRIVATE – Israel has fought at least five wars with Hamas in the last 12 years. This government will do a lot to provoke another war, says Schiendlin, who works at the think tank The Century Foundation in Tel Aviv. More occupation Netanyahu’s new government has announced that it will expand the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank – in direct violation of international law. – The people want a leadership that will protect all of Israel. It is time for us to go back to being the homeowners in Israel, said Ben-Gvir in his victory speech in November. At the same time, a growing number of Palestinians support an armed struggle against Israel, according to a poll from last year. EXCITED: In the occupied West Bank, several hundred Palestinians have been arrested and dozens killed by Israeli security forces. Photo: ZAIN JAAFAR / AFP – There is broad support among Palestinians for an armed resistance struggle against Israel. I therefore believe that the conditions are right for a new intifada, a Palestinian uprising in the streets, says Schiendlin. 2022 has been one of the deadliest years in the occupied West Bank. Israeli security forces have killed 169 Palestinians in various military operations. Palestinians have killed 31 Israelis in a series of knife and bomb attacks and shooting incidents. New war in Gaza – Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are like Netaynahu, claims Palestinian Sam Bahour. He is a businessman and independent political commentator who has long been critical of Israeli politics. He is referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the two extreme party leaders, who have now been given powerful positions as security minister and finance minister respectively. ANALYST: Sam Bahour has followed the situation in Israel and Palestine closely for several decades. – They just don’t have a mask on, like Netanyahu has. They speak unfiltered and openly about their extreme Zionist plan. Palestinians are steeling themselves for another war in the near future, according to Bahour. – A new war with Hamas is inevitable. Israeli generals have described the wars with Hamas in Gaza as “mowing the lawn every now and then”. NEW CONFLICT: Armed Palestinians in the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank Photo: ABBAS MOMANI / AFP At the latest in August last year, Israeli planes bombed Gaza and Hamas rockets rained down on Israel. For several years, Hamas has been behind attacks against both civilian and military targets in Israel, including terrorist actions, and is a staunch opponent of Israel. – With this government in place, the “grass cutting” in Gaza will take place very soon, believes Palestinian Bahour. Fear of provocations There is also great concern in the neighboring country of Lebanon about a new conflict. – One of the first things Ben-Gvir did as security minister was to visit the area around the holy Al Aqsa mosque. He is doing it to provoke a reaction from groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, believes Professor Makram Rabah at the renowned American University in Beirut. Ben-Gvir promised during the election campaign that he would visit the holy site in Jerusalem. Just days after being sworn in as security minister, he delivered on his election promise. Surrounded by armed security personnel, he had the following message to Hamas from the mosque area: – The Israeli government will not give in to a murderous organisation, a reprehensible terrorist group. My government will not accept racial discrimination, and Jews will visit the Temple Mount. Hamas should know that we are not giving up, Ben-Gvir said. EXPERT: Professor Makram Rabah at the American University of Beirut. We ask the experts whether Netanyahu, who is one of Israel’s most experienced and seasoned politicians, will not be able to keep his far-reaching ministers in check. – People have misunderstood if they think that Netanyahu will try to control the fanatics in his government, says Dahlia Schiendlin. – He has cultivated these extremists for years. He has called on many of the ultra-nationalist parties to unite so that they can rule Israel together. He is not interested in holding them back, she claims. Will weaken the courts Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme coalition partners have a slim majority in the Israeli parliament. They will use this majority to push through a controversial legal reform. It will enable his government to amend laws that Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected as unconstitutional. GOVERNING TOGETHER: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu together with Itamar Ben-Gvir (left) and Bezalel Smotrich (right) Photo: THOMAS COEX / AFP Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who comes from Netanyahu’s own Likud party, calls it shifting power back to the elected officials from activist judges. – We go to the polls and vote, make a choice, but time after time, decisions are made on our behalf by people we have not chosen. It is not democracy, Levin has stated. – Netanyahu will pretend that he is trying to protect the judiciary. But with the corruption cases hanging over him, he has a personal interest in weakening the power of the courts, says Schiendlin. Netanyahu and his supporters dismiss warnings from their opponents that Israel’s democracy is at risk. – To the opposition: Losing elections is not the end of democracy, it is the very essence of democracy, Netanyahu said in the Knesset after he was sworn in as prime minister for the sixth time. Fragile cooperation Several of the experts news spoke to believe that Netanyahu’s government project is fragile and that it will fall apart. – This fanatical government is in a hurry to occupy more Palestinian areas, seize as much power as possible, and change laws and regulations in Israel. They know that the cooperation between them will not survive for long, claims Palestinian Sam Bahour.
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Israel’s new government creates fear of conflict – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
