Netanyahu returns as Israel’s Prime Minister with support of far-right bloc

Middle East, News December 30, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secured a dramatic victory in the 2022 elections in November this year. He became Israeli Prime Minister after securing majority seats in the parliament, Knesset, with the help of the far-right bloc.

The 73-year-old took oath for office on December 29, 2022, after receiving approval from 63 members of the parliament 120 members. 54 votes were cast against his candidacy. He said an end to the “Arab-Israeli conflict” would be his top priority, as well as stopping Iran’s nuclear program and building up Israel’s military capacity.

After struggling for more than a month to form a government, Netanyahu also announced his cabinet this week, which includes some of the most controversial figures from Israeli politics. In order to put Netanyahu back in the Prime Minister’s seat, Netanyahu’s Likud party joined hands with the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party of Israel.

Otzma Yehudit (the Religious Zionism party) is known for its anti-Arab and anti-Islamic rhetoric that its leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, often use in their speeches. The party also advocates for the deportation of all Arabs from Israel for their ‘disloyalty’ towards the Jewish state.

Netanyahu, who was prime minister between 1996 and 1999, and then between 2009 and 2021, addressed a session of the Israeli parliament ahead of the voting process. Netanyahu, along with his coalition partners, has a slight majority in the parliament. He was heckled during his speech to the, with opponents chanting that he was “weak”.

Netanyahu’s coalition partner and leader of the Religious Zionism Ben-Gvir is a loyal follower of an explicitly racist and ultra-nationalist leader late Meir Kahane. Kahane’s organization was banned in Israel and designated as a terrorist group by the United States. Ben-Gvir has also been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting terrorist organizations on several occasions.

*^{Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with Otzma Yehudit party chief Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Image Credit: Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)}*

After the election results came out in favor of the Religious Zionism party, its supporters started to gather in Sheikh Jarrah, an Arab neighborhood in the occupied Jerusalem that has been the center of headlines for illegal settlements by Jewish Israelis.

Supporters of the Religious Zionist party chanted anti-Arab slogans and threw stones at Arab houses in Sheikh Jarrah. Last month, Ben-Gvir also visited Sheikh Jarrah and pulled out a gun after some angry protesters threw stones at him. During his elections campaign, Ben-Gvir promised to “work for all of Israel, even those who hate me.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the new Israeli government’s motto was “extremism and apartheid”. However, Israel’s outgoing defense minister Benny Gantz told Abbas in a phone call this week that it was “critical to maintaining an open channel of communication and coordination” between Palestine and the Israeli government.