Israel has just held the parliamentary election of 2022. Far-right parties won a majority seat in the Knesset and ousted the incumbent centrist coalition led by Yair Lapid. This situation may result in the projection of the return of Benjamin Netanyahu to power. Palestinian citizens and government will face a hard time during the Netanyahu-led government. His gains are prompted by the rise of far-right Israeli voters. However, his win might be expected by Middle Eastern countries as a balance of power with Iran. While his cabinet will more likely receive criticism from the US.
The legislative election of 2022 prevented the Likud Party (Netanyahu’s party) or Yesh Atid (Yair Lapid’s party) from gaining the majority seat of the Knesset or 61 seats. However, Likud merged with Religious Zionism, and Otzma Yehudit and two other ultra-orthodox parties gained 64 out of 120 seats in the Knesset. Otzma Yehudit’s leader, Itaman Ben-Gvir, is considered extreme far right for Israel’s far right. Once, he advocated for Arab Israelis (sometimes referred to as “Palestinians living in Israel”) to undergo a “Loyalty Test” to determine who is disloyal to their ancestral homeland. From here, Netanyahu’s return to power may complicate the relations between the Israeli government, Israeli Arabs, and the Palestinian Authorities.
So, what may disadvantage Palestinians? As 4.5 million Palestinians living in the Palestinian Territories within the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, they are subject to Israeli Law and affected by the election. Since they are Palestinian citizens, they have no right to be represented in the Knesset, even in the law-making process for the region of Judea and Samaria. Back in 2020, Trump initiated the Trump Peace Plan or officially called “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People” which was announced by Trump and Netanyahu. This peace plan is criticized due to the zero involvement of any Palestinian representatives and the map of Israel with Palestinian enclaves. This map is more confusing than the current Palestinian authority boundaries within the Occupied West Bank. And today, Netanyahu pledged to legalize dozens of illegal settler outposts in the area, after meeting with Ben-Gvir.
The rise of the extreme far right in Israel stimulates the victory of Likud and their allies and secures Netanyahu’s position to be the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu has been cultivating his relations with the right extremist. And since 2021, Ben-Gvir and his party gained more support after frictions between Arabs and Jews who live In the same area within Israel proper after the hostilities in the Gaza area. This continued with various attacks from the Palestinians against Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank. The main campaign of the right-wing is the establishment of “law and order” in Israeli society. Many of the voters of the far-right parties are secular, upper middle class, young Israeli generations who are first-timer voters in the election. We can see the extremist, racist, and supremacist attitude when during the commemoration of 32 years of Rabbi Meir Kahane’s death Ben-Gvir was hooted by the sympathizers for his statement that he does not want to deport all Arabs.
Meanwhile, the victory of Netanyahu and his allies is congratulated by the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan. The president is also inviting Netanyahu. Netanyahu stated after he received the invitation to UAE by saying “Sheikh bin Zayed invited me to visit his country so that we can advance our relations together. I thank him for the conversation and the excellent relationship between us”. This attitude shows the acceptance of Netanyahu by the Israeli Middle Eastern close friends as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also congratulated him. Erdogan and Netanyahu talked about the continuation of cooperation between Israel and Turkey to bring peace and stability to the Region. On the other hand, normalization of bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia might be an option for Netanyahu. These countries see more prospective cooperation in the region which Netanyahu will be seen to strengthen the balance of power between the Gulf Arab States and Iran.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu will receive a reaction from Israel’s cross-Atlantic ally, the United States. Even though US President Joe Biden congratulates Netanyahu, Biden’s administration and Democratic Party might disagree or boycott far-right ministers that Netanyahu appoints in the future. Two of the major Jewish groups in the US, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee, have voiced their concerns along with the Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman. Sherman stated that he urges Israeli political leaders to ostracize extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir whose outrageous views run contrary to Israel’s core principles of a democratic and Jewish state.
In conclusion, Israeli legislative election just resulted in the triumph of Benjamin Netanyahu with his far-right alliance defeating a more centrist Yair Lapid. The win is inseparable from the rise of far-right secular younger generations in Israel. This situation disadvantages Palestinian citizens and worries Arab citizens of Israel. At the same time, Gulf Arab leaders and Turkish leaders are more likely in favor of Netanyahu as Israeli Prime Minister to create a balance of power with Iran. But this may concern the US, particularly in the Democrat’s administration.