The scenes of screaming and boycotting Knesset members from the Likud Party, the Haredi currents and religious Zionism reflected the speech of the new Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, during the inauguration of the new government, the crisis of burning internal issues that interact and dominate the political and partisan arena, and the depth of the rift between Israelis.
Despite the unprecedented attack on the new prime minister during the inauguration ceremony of the new government, which won the confidence of 60 Knesset members and the opposition of 59, Bennett seemed calm in his speech, which reflected the depth of contradictions within the new government coalition, and the political and intellectual challenges it faces in internal and external issues, which is what It indicates that Israel is on the threshold of a new political stage. Read also Biden celebrated Bennett and ignored Netanyahu.. The Knesset gives confidence to a new Israeli government with a shaky majority
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To reassure Israeli society and in order to show the new government headed by him and alternately with “There is a Future” party leader Yair Lapid, stable and viable and continuing until the end of its term, the new prime minister addressed issues that enjoy Zionist consensus and relate to Israeli national security.
In his first speech from the pulpit of the 24th Knesset, Bennett chose to address the broad lines of the new government regarding the Iranian nuclear file, the Palestinian issue and the settlement project.
He stressed his government’s firm positions towards these files, without reflecting in his speech the clash approach adopted by Netanyahu with the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Apart from the rhetoric, it is difficult to estimate the work compass of the new government, how long it will last, and how it will face security and internal challenges, amid the complexities of the thorny settlements of internal files approved by the Netanyahu government, in addition to the ongoing tension in Jerusalem and the fragile ceasefire on the Gaza front. And the file of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, the strained relations with Arab citizens within the Green Line, and the expansion and spread of settlement outposts in the West Bank.
minefields
Peace Now spokesman Adam Clare believes that the new government’s path will be thorny because it relies on a majority of 60 Knesset members, which means that it will be fragile, unstable and liable to collapse at any stage.
Accordingly, Claire says that Acting Prime Minister Yair Lapid should rely on a reserve of votes from the Joint Arab List, in anticipation of any future emergency.
Claire explained – in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net – that the strength of the Bennett and Lapid government comes through its ability to manage its intellectual and political contradictions, and direct its compass in favor of Netanyahu not returning after his ouster to the opposition seats, and after he sat for 12 years in the prime minister’s chair unchallenged.
In response to a question about the chances of the government continuing in light of the ideological and political contradiction, Claire said: “Despite the contradictions and the fragility of the new government and the lack of harmony between its components, it is likely to continue as long as Netanyahu leads the political scene in the opposition and leads the Likud. His absence or his resignation means the collapse of the change government.”
A spokesman for the “Peace Now” bloc ruled out that the new government would make a breakthrough in the policies and approach that Netanyahu installed during his successive terms. It may take time for signs of change to appear, whether in important internal files or even in everything related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite this, he believes that the new government will first appear to the Israeli society, the international community and the countries of the region, that it has a different approach to Netanyahu’s approach.
non-confrontational diplomacy
Claire questioned the possibility of a fundamental shift in Israeli policy towards the settlement project and the Palestinian issue, but in return he expected the new government to adopt non-confrontational diplomacy with the Palestinian Authority, similar to the approach of President Joe Biden’s administration, without hesitation in assigning its envoys to the “Muqata” in Ramallah to meet with President Authority Mahmoud Abbas. But he believes that this approach will not establish a settlement of the conflict and will not lead to a two-state solution.
Internally, Claire believes that the new government faces many challenges in social, economic, health, educational and religious issues. It will work to reduce the gaps between the various segments and sectors in order to reduce the rift that occurred mainly due to the incursion of the “religious” Haredi parties, and their endeavor to impose their agenda and biblical teachings on the aspects of civil life.
Claire suggested that the new government would resort to tackling the burning internal issues with caution, specifically the files of religion and the state, and the Jewishness of the state. While striving to preserve the foundations of democracy and not undermine it, reaching understandings regarding the recruitment of Haredim, the draft service for Arabs as an alternative to conscription in the Israeli army, and reconsidering dealing with Palestinian Arabs within the Green Line.
internal conflicts
The same proposal is espoused by Rabbi Eliyahu Kaufman, who said that the Israeli voter did not expect such a government to be formed after four electoral rounds, but he believes that the new government coalition reflects the contradictions and internal conflicts that Israeli society is experiencing at the political, religious and societal levels.
Therefore, Kaufman believes that the stability and continuity of the government depends on the readiness of the coalition partner parties to absorb, contain, and address contradictions without clashing or excluding any current.
Kaufman explained – in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net – that the Bennett government is establishing a new phase in the Israeli political scene and the beginning of unprecedented alignments. It is – in his opinion – a stage to end the hegemony and personal exclusivity that characterized the Netanyahu era in which the Haredi parties penetrated, and it is considered the biggest loser in this transformation amid the split in the religious Zionism trend, which was divided against itself between a supporter of Netanyahu and a founder and head of the new government.
In the opinion of the rabbinic affiliated with the ultra-Orthodox movement, the specter of Netanyahu still hangs over the new government, and he will continue to accompany it on its path. But it will strive to dismantle the mines in front of it, in order to bring about changes in the common domestic policy in which Netanyahu has established the behavior of “divide and rule”, and have led to deepening the gaps between the various groups, by employing the scarecrow of national security risks in order to remain in the prime minister’s seat.