Israel moves to the right

last updated 8 January 2015

Israel was plunged into political turmoil this week after its parliamentary election ended in a near-draw, leaving the Kadima and Likud parties in a struggle to assemble a governing coalition and name a new prime minister. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Kadima, a centrist party headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, took 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. The right-wing Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to re-invade Gaza if necessary and crush Hamas, took 27 seats. Traditionally, the leader of the party with the most seats in the Knesset becomes prime minister. But the third largest share of seats went to the ultra-nationalist Israel Is Our Home party of Avigdor Lieberman, which is more likely to join a coalition with Likud. In the coming weeks, President Shimon Peres will have to decide whether Livni or Netanyahu is more likely to be able to form a stable coalition to govern.

Even though it’s not yet known who will emerge as prime minister, the results of this election are clear enough, said M.J. Rosenberg in the Los Angeles Times. “Israel is becoming a right-wing country.” Not a single major candidate in this week’s elections opposed the recent Gaza war. Instead, the campaign was dominated by “flag-waving, populism, and fear-mongering—over Iran, the Palestinians, and global anti-Semitism.” The worst manifestation of this rightward lurch is the rise of Lieberman, whose openly “racist” platform includes forcing Arab citizens of Israel to take a loyalty oath to the Jewish state. This man is now Israel’s kingmaker: Even Livni is reportedly sounding him out about a possible coalition.

What a monumental challenge for President Obama and his new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, said Trudy Rubin in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Israelis are giving up on peace, believing that any territorial concessions—such as Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza—will only lead to more Palestinian violence. As both Israelis and Palestinians become radicalized, the chances for an agreement are dwindling. “Unless Obama can press the new Israeli government” to see reason, “the two-state idea will become irrelevant.”