Highlights: Michel Paul: U.S. sanctions four West Bank settlers. But Biden administration is not attacking far-right elected officials in Israeli government coalition. Since creation of current Israeli government, the latter have led the way, he says. Paul: This government is considered the most extremist in Israeli history with racist, homophobic and misogynistic elements. It was only through a struggle that Benyamin Netanyahu was able to put together a coalition of 64 seats in the Knesset to escape new elections.

Netanyahu government: how the Israeli far right manages to impose its agenda

This is unprecedented: the United States sanctions four West Bank settlers. A presidential decree imposes measures against Israelis responsible for anti-Palestinian violence. But the Biden administration is not attacking far-right elected officials in the Israeli government coalition. Since the creation of the current Israeli government, the latter have led the way.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024. © Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

By: Michel Paul

From our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Last Sunday, a rally on the theme of the resettlement of Israeli settlements in the

Gaza

Strip took place at the Palace of Nations, the large convention center at the entrance to Jerusalem. This happened a little less than 20 years after the

Israeli “disengagement

”

from this region. Thousands of people, many of them young people, especially those enthusiastic people nicknamed “

young people from the hills

”, participated in this surreal

happening

There were also many elected officials, exactly twelve ministers from

Benyamin Netanyahu

's government , six of whom belonged to Likud, the Israeli Prime Minister's party. Fifteen deputies, notably those from the Jewish Force party of Itamar Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security, were also present. The Religious Zionism party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrichelle was also well represented, as were several political and spiritual leaders of ultra-Orthodox parties.

On stage, the speakers demand

the voluntary departure of Gazans

from their land. The crowd, overexcited, only responds by chanting one word: transfer. The idea is simple: we must put back in place the settlements evacuated by the Israeli army during the summer of 2005. For the leaders of this group, this is the only solution to ensure Israel's security, after the war in Gaza.

Until now, this idea was rejected by Benyamin Netanyahu, but only with lip service. The head of the Israeli government, who is thus openly overwhelmed by the right wing of his government coalition, categorically refuses to hold debates on the post-war in Gaza. And he has his reasons. According to his detractors, these are above all personal and are linked to his setbacks with the Israeli justice system, including his trial for fraud, breach of trust and corruption in three different cases.

The essential concessions

To better understand the current situation, we must focus on the Israeli electoral system, the functioning of which explains many of the ills from which the country suffers.

Since the creation of the State of Israel and to this day, never has a party obtained an absolute majority in the Knesset. The result is that it has always been necessary, and this is still the case today, to set up a government coalition. And with all the concessions that this implies. The multi-member proportional system, a secret, direct, national ballot where the entire country is considered as a single constituency is responsible for this.

Under this system, the number of seats given to a party in the Knesset reflects the exact percentage of votes it received from citizens. But in the end, it is a multitude of political parties that compete and succeed in crossing the electoral threshold. And this is also the case for extremist lists, notably those claiming to belong to Kahanism, the movement created by the racist rabbi of American origin Meir Kahane who was outlawed in Israel in 1994.

Around forty ministerial positions, a record

Usually boycotted, these lists were this time co-opted as part of the sixth Netanyahu government, formed following the legislative elections of November 1, 2022. This is a coalition initially composed of six right-wing and extreme parties. RIGHT. This government is considered the most extremist in Israeli history with racist, homophobic and misogynistic elements. And it was only through a struggle that Benyamin Netanyahu was able to put together a coalition of 64 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset to escape new elections, the sixth in just over three years.

The results were immediate after the creation of this fragile government: the small, most extremist parties received the most important ministerial portfolios. National Security, which includes the police, for

Itamar Ben Gvir

, who in the past had himself been questioned many times by the police for acts considered terrorist. Finances and part of the prerogatives of National Defense for Bezalel Smotrich, briefly imprisoned at the time of the “disengagement from Gaza”. Another consequence: the creation of around forty ministerial positions, an absolute record.

An expanded security cabinet

On October 11, following the Hamas offensive and massacres, Benny Gantz's National Unity party joined the coalition to form an emergency government. A

war cabinet

is set up, but representatives of the extreme right are excluded. This is why Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich demand, and obtain, that political and military decisions be adopted within the framework of an expanded security cabinet.

Since taking office, the two ministers have exercised a form of blackmail on the head of government, forcing him on several occasions to take decisions which he had announced he would oppose. This was particularly the case during the creation of a national guard, in parallel with the police. Since the start of the war, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have opposed the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Benyamin Netanyahu is trying to juggle between the promises he made to

American President

Joe Biden in this area and the preservation of his coalition. But it is on the question of the release of the hostages that the clashes between Benyamin Netanyahu and the far-right put the Israeli government in a particularly delicate situation. Itamar Ben Gvir directly threatens “Bibi”. There is no question of a ceasefire or the release of Palestinian prisoners with “

blood on their hands

”

. Otherwise it's the end of government. An improbable scenario, according to the daily

Netanyahu government: how the Israeli far right manages to impose its agenda

Netanyahu government: how the Israeli far right manages to impose its agenda

The essential concessions

Around forty ministerial positions, a record

An expanded security cabinet

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