![]() ![]() Nonetheless, western capitals will now pretend that these opposition parties offer the hope - however distant - of a peace breakthrough.Īwash in this sea of unmitigated Jewish supremacism will sit 10 legislators belonging to two non-Zionist Arab-majority parties representing a fifth of Israel’s population. While in government, they shut down six notable Palestinian human rights groups, claiming without evidence that they were terrorist organisations. Those militristic right parties who achieved victory at the polls 19 months ago oversaw what the United Nations recently predicted to be the “deadliest year” for Palestinians since it started compiling figures in 2005. Neither Jewish Party nor any of these parties prefer a diplomatic solution over the permanent subjugation of Palestinians, their gradual ethnic cleansing from Jerusalem, and the entrenchment of settlements in the occupied West Bank. Their legislators reliably cheer on what now amounts to a 15-year siege of Gaza and its two million Palestinian inhabitants, as well as the intermittent bombing of the coastal enclave “back to the Stone Age”. Several dozen more seats in the Knesset are held by Jewish parties that belong to the largely secular, militaristic right. Israel election: West must turn back on Netanyahu's neofascist government Read More » Netanyahu knows he owes his comeback to the astonishing rise of Ben-Gvir and the Kahanists - and he will need to suitably reward them. Enough will, however, to ensure that disgraced former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to power for a record sixth time.Īll but certain to be at the heart of the new government is Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose party represents the brutish, nakedly supremacist legacy of the notorious Rabbi Meir Kahane, who wished to expel Palestinians from their homeland. The secular far-right, the settler far-right and the fundamentalist religious right have secured 70 of the parliament’s 120 seats, even if internecine feuds mean not all of them are prepared to sit together. Israel’s tiny peace camp looks dead and buried. Meretz, the only Jewish party that professes to favour peace over the rights of Israeli settlers, appears to have failed to make it over the electoral threshold. None of this is to play down the significance of the results. Similarly, there will be no demands that Israel commits to more rigorous protections for the Palestinians under its military rule, and no revival of efforts to force it to the negotiating table.Īfter a little embarrassed shuffling of feet, and maybe a token refusal to meet with ministers from the fascist parties, it will be business as usual - the “usual” being the oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. In a Washington still wracked by the fallout from the 6 January riots, there will be no warnings that Israeli democracy has been sabotaged from within. There will be no statements calling for the Israeli government to be ostracised as a pariah, nor moves to sanction it or to end the billions of dollars in handouts the US provides every year. But don’t expect Washington to do anything tangible. In private, the Biden administration in the US has made plain to Israeli leaders its displeasure at having fascist parties so prominently in government, not least because their presence risks highlighting Washington’s hypocrisy and embarrassing Gulf allies. Indeed, the West’s attitude towards Israel’s next coalition government will be no different from its attitude towards the supposedly less-tainted ones that preceded it. There will be no statements calling for the Israeli government to be ostracised as a pariah, nor moves to sanction it And the world - or at least the bit of it that arrogantly describes itself as the international community - is about to confirm that such confidence is well-founded. ![]() It is simply growing more confident about admitting its racism to the world. Israel is not suddenly a more racist state. ![]() But it will make no difference to the ethnic supremacism that has driven Israeli policy for decades. Having Religious Zionism at the heart of government will alter the tone in which Israeli politics is conducted, making it even coarser, more thuggish and uncompromising. ![]() It is how little will change, in Israel or abroad, as a result. The most disturbing outcome of Israel’s general election this week was not the fact that an openly fascist party won the third-biggest tally of seats, or that it is about to become the lynchpin of the next government. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |