Yoav Haifawi: “Even as I hate Netanyahu for all that Israel is doing to the Palestinians, I must say I find some joy to watch how he kicks the shit out of Israel’s self-serving elites.”
Liberal Zionists who now call on Democrats to stop Israeli annexation should have applied sanctions pressure years ago. But they feared the left’s call for democracy and sided with rightwing Israel supporters on lavishing aid to the Israeli occupation. No wonder Israeli leaders have always ignored liberal Zionists.
Renowned for his ability to pull off political miracles, Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have gradually worn down Benny Gantz’s resistance over the past 12 months. The coronavirus epidemic proved the final straw.
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.
This week, several extreme measures were taken to suspend core features of Israel’s ‘democracy’ – the parliament was closed, the courts, and more. This has been framed as a necessary response to the coronavirus epidemic. But Israel has a long and sordid record of exploiting ’emergency’ for cynical aims.
Benny Gantz has vowed to form a broad unity government, possibly including Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, in order to “heal the Israeli society of the coronavirus.”
Palestinians are on the front lines of Israel’s fight against coronavirus as doctors and nurses, but unfit to be part of an emergency government, Netanyahu says, continuing his racist incitement against Palestinian politicians and the third-largest party in the country.
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.
The Israeli left is shocked when one of its legislators– Orly Levy-Abekasis — refuses to support a government that has the outside backing of Palestinian politicians. They shouldn’t be shocked. This is Zionism.
Netanyahu was quick to declare victory Monday, but a fractious anti-Netanyahu coalition is quickly cohering – and Netanyahu has now gone full Kahane. “The Arabs are not a part of this equation. This is the people’s will.”