The Right-Centrist-Left divide in Israel is mostly, for appearances' sake. When it comes to respecting international law and issues of decolonisation, each faction has cut a sorry picture in the past
As the dust settled in the Israeli political landscape this week, incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu coalition has claimed a premature victory in Israeli parliamentary elections. While the incumbent lost massive number of seats in the Knesset, he in all probability remains the lone probable head of the new government.
As things stand, Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu coalition bagged the highest number of Knesset seats with 31. This was a good 11 less than what this coalition had in the outgoing Knesset. However, their likely hold in the parliament will now depend on the coalition they manage to bring together. As of now, the numbers in the Knesset suggest that the ultra-right-right and centrist-left parties have managed to score a 60 to 60 seats in the 120-seat parliament. Under the circumstances, it is likely that Netanyahu will manage to wean away some of the centrist parties and continue to rule for some years to come. Among the others, the centrist Yesh Atid pulled the biggest upset of the election by returning as many as 19 seats. The hastily put together Labour Party machinery could only manage to return 15 seats, clearly a shadow to its former self. As this story goes to print, Yesh Atid was yet to return Netanyahu's call for coalition.
Let's first look at how the parties have performed individually. As mentioned earlier, Netanyahu lost the biggest percentage of seats. Before the elections, he united his party with that of ultra-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. To many, it appeared to be a bulldozer coalition with little or no resistance. Experts gave this coalition up 45 seats, which was a marked improvement from their previous numbers. It would have basically meant that he would have been in command in choosing his coalition partners post-elections. However, the bloc won merely 31. Also, don't forget that Likud proper has won merely 20. Technically speaking, even if he cobbles together 61 seats and forms a government, his own party will be in minority. That, for all practical purposes, means that he is staring at a political abyss.
That brings us to Ya’ir Lapid and his Yesh Atid party. Sources suggest that his 19 seats stunned everyone in Israel, including Lapid himself. People are still wondering how he pulled it off. Israeli activist and political expert, Uri Avnery, has the answer.
“Well, he has the handsome, youthful look and body language of a TV anchorman, which indeed he was for many years. Everyone knows his face. His message consisted of platitudes, which upset no one. His victory is part of a generational change. Like Naftali Bennett on the right, he attracted young people who are fed up with the old system, the old parties, the old, hackneyed slogans. They were not looking for a new ideology, but for a new face. Lapid’s was the most handsome one around. But it cannot be overlooked that he beat his nearest competitor for young votes – Bennett on the right. While Lapid did not propagate any ideology, Bennett did everything to disguise his. He went to Tel Aviv’s pubs, presented himself as everyman’s (and everywoman’s) good guy, wooed secular, liberal youngsters,” he says.
This, in many ways, also means that Yesh Atid created a severe dent in the Labour Party and Kadima's vote banks. In fact, the Labour Party, in many decades, is for the first time finding itself to be irrelevant. This is primarily because its voters are finding it increasingly hard to differentiate it from centrist or centre-right parties. It also did not help that just prior to the voting day, the leader of the party categorically told the voters that it was “not a left-wing party”.
One party that started on a positive note and genuinely wants a peaceful future for the country and the region, Meretz, managed to double the seats from three to six. It is a miracle, considering how hawkish the Israelis have turned in the last decade. It is also evident that a substantial number of Jews voted for the primarily-Arab communist Hadash party, that also managed to up its numbers.
But the question is, what is this election going to bring on table as far as the resolution of conflict is concerned. Precious little, if experts are to be believed. If technicalities are shed away, this left-right-centrist divide in Israel means little for outsiders or for the Palestinians waiting for their separate homeland. In many ways, these divisions appear superficial.
Except for the parties that represent the mammoth majority of votes of Palestinian citizens i.e. United Arab List, Hadash, and Balad; who altogether bagged 13 seats, down from 19 last time; the rest of the Israeli parliament basically constitutes of individuals and parties that basically believe in continuing with a regime of Jewish privilege at the cost of the Palestinians. Be it is adherence to international law, issues of decolonisation or rights for Palestinians, Israel's centrists, centre-left and the left have all failed in equal measures.
Says Ramzy Baroud, Palestinian-American journalist and editor, Palestine Chronicle, “Israeli bulldozers will not slow down for a minute, be it a coalition with its bulk coming from Yesh Atid or one largely reliant on the ultra-orthodox or the ultra-nationalists. If you look into the record of Israeli governments, whether the two terms of Netanyahu or previous governments under the Kadima, nothing really changed and the settlements continue to grow.”
“There is a consensus within the Israeli society and political elite that the issue of the settlements is an issue that cannot be bargained upon, the differences are mostly tactical. As for the peace process, things will remain at a stand still. There is no peace process, there hasn't been a peace process for years and most likely there won't be a peace process under Netanyahu or under the mentality by which Israel is governed." Pessimistic, but true.
As the dust settled in the Israeli political landscape this week, incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu coalition has claimed a premature victory in Israeli parliamentary elections. While the incumbent lost massive number of seats in the Knesset, he in all probability remains the lone probable head of the new government.
As things stand, Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu coalition bagged the highest number of Knesset seats with 31. This was a good 11 less than what this coalition had in the outgoing Knesset. However, their likely hold in the parliament will now depend on the coalition they manage to bring together. As of now, the numbers in the Knesset suggest that the ultra-right-right and centrist-left parties have managed to score a 60 to 60 seats in the 120-seat parliament. Under the circumstances, it is likely that Netanyahu will manage to wean away some of the centrist parties and continue to rule for some years to come. Among the others, the centrist Yesh Atid pulled the biggest upset of the election by returning as many as 19 seats. The hastily put together Labour Party machinery could only manage to return 15 seats, clearly a shadow to its former self. As this story goes to print, Yesh Atid was yet to return Netanyahu's call for coalition.
Let's first look at how the parties have performed individually. As mentioned earlier, Netanyahu lost the biggest percentage of seats. Before the elections, he united his party with that of ultra-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. To many, it appeared to be a bulldozer coalition with little or no resistance. Experts gave this coalition up 45 seats, which was a marked improvement from their previous numbers. It would have basically meant that he would have been in command in choosing his coalition partners post-elections. However, the bloc won merely 31. Also, don't forget that Likud proper has won merely 20. Technically speaking, even if he cobbles together 61 seats and forms a government, his own party will be in minority. That, for all practical purposes, means that he is staring at a political abyss.
That brings us to Ya’ir Lapid and his Yesh Atid party. Sources suggest that his 19 seats stunned everyone in Israel, including Lapid himself. People are still wondering how he pulled it off. Israeli activist and political expert, Uri Avnery, has the answer.
“Well, he has the handsome, youthful look and body language of a TV anchorman, which indeed he was for many years. Everyone knows his face. His message consisted of platitudes, which upset no one. His victory is part of a generational change. Like Naftali Bennett on the right, he attracted young people who are fed up with the old system, the old parties, the old, hackneyed slogans. They were not looking for a new ideology, but for a new face. Lapid’s was the most handsome one around. But it cannot be overlooked that he beat his nearest competitor for young votes – Bennett on the right. While Lapid did not propagate any ideology, Bennett did everything to disguise his. He went to Tel Aviv’s pubs, presented himself as everyman’s (and everywoman’s) good guy, wooed secular, liberal youngsters,” he says.
This, in many ways, also means that Yesh Atid created a severe dent in the Labour Party and Kadima's vote banks. In fact, the Labour Party, in many decades, is for the first time finding itself to be irrelevant. This is primarily because its voters are finding it increasingly hard to differentiate it from centrist or centre-right parties. It also did not help that just prior to the voting day, the leader of the party categorically told the voters that it was “not a left-wing party”.
One party that started on a positive note and genuinely wants a peaceful future for the country and the region, Meretz, managed to double the seats from three to six. It is a miracle, considering how hawkish the Israelis have turned in the last decade. It is also evident that a substantial number of Jews voted for the primarily-Arab communist Hadash party, that also managed to up its numbers.
But the question is, what is this election going to bring on table as far as the resolution of conflict is concerned. Precious little, if experts are to be believed. If technicalities are shed away, this left-right-centrist divide in Israel means little for outsiders or for the Palestinians waiting for their separate homeland. In many ways, these divisions appear superficial.
Except for the parties that represent the mammoth majority of votes of Palestinian citizens i.e. United Arab List, Hadash, and Balad; who altogether bagged 13 seats, down from 19 last time; the rest of the Israeli parliament basically constitutes of individuals and parties that basically believe in continuing with a regime of Jewish privilege at the cost of the Palestinians. Be it is adherence to international law, issues of decolonisation or rights for Palestinians, Israel's centrists, centre-left and the left have all failed in equal measures.
Says Ramzy Baroud, Palestinian-American journalist and editor, Palestine Chronicle, “Israeli bulldozers will not slow down for a minute, be it a coalition with its bulk coming from Yesh Atid or one largely reliant on the ultra-orthodox or the ultra-nationalists. If you look into the record of Israeli governments, whether the two terms of Netanyahu or previous governments under the Kadima, nothing really changed and the settlements continue to grow.”
“There is a consensus within the Israeli society and political elite that the issue of the settlements is an issue that cannot be bargained upon, the differences are mostly tactical. As for the peace process, things will remain at a stand still. There is no peace process, there hasn't been a peace process for years and most likely there won't be a peace process under Netanyahu or under the mentality by which Israel is governed." Pessimistic, but true.
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