Israel’s year-long political stalemate appears to be over. Netanyahu was saved by coronavirus and racism. The virus made him popular. Racism stymied Benny Gantz’s efforts to form a government with Palestinian support.

As Netanyahu likens himself to the captain of the Titanic amid the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli political protests of his powergrab have gone forward despite lockdown, with people in cars with black flags.

Netanyahu has adopted a fatherly tone in responding to the COVID-19 crisis, trying to present himself as the indispensable Prime Minister, even as he runs a racist campaign against rival Benny Gantz’s effort to build a coalition to put him out of office.

Blatant racism by three Israeli pols, including one allied with the leftwing party Meretz, has stymied the effort to knock Netanyahu out of the premiereship. Sadly, American liberal Zionists are too busy pushing a “progressive” slate to the World Zionist Congress to denounce the racism among their allies. magine if a Democratic Party politician refused to work with black leaders?

A New York Times article finally covers the racism in Israeli politics, but it is still biased. It quotes 6 Israeli Jews, but only 2 Palestinians. And it repeats Netanyahu’s charge that the Palestinian Joint List “includes lawmakers who support terrorism”— without giving any of the 15 Palestinians a chance to respond to the libel. 

“There is no life, no existence for the Israel left and even center without the partnership with the Israeli Arabs” — a J Street expert interprets the rise of the Palestinian Joint List as the only real resistance to Netanyahu’s racebaiting.

The New York Times repeats hateful charges by Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinian Joint List includes “supporters of terrorists” and “terror supporters.” But no one on the Joint List gets the chance to respond!

Israel’s third election inside a year shows the rightwing continuing to gain ground. This is what Jewish nationalists want. A society governed by an authoritarian leader, no matter how corrupt. Just so long as there are no Arabs anywhere near power. The only hope politically is the burgeoning Joint List of Palestinian parties, which reject apartheid and discrimination.

Some murder cases are so full of lies, that every attempt to hide them from public view only brings more attention to the crime. Such is the case of the extrajudicial execution in 2017 of Israeli Bedouin citizen Yaqub Mousa Abu al-Qia’an, who was left to bleed to death after being wounded during an ethnic-cleansing operation in al-Qia’an’s village by Israeli police in the Negev.

Finally, the ‘NY Times’ ends its blackout, and reports how Palestinian citizens are participating in Israel’s election on March 2. But the Times fails to state the fact that Israel is having its third election in a year in part because of Jewish parties’ racism against Palestinians being part of the government.