It is puzzling to witness a coalition government that enjoys a comfortable majority in parliament rushing through radical legislation with far-reaching implications for the future of the Israeli democratic system, or taking deliberate measures that inflame relations with the Palestinians, instead of taking time to consider the consequences of its actions before surging ahead.
On the face of it, by now Benjamin Netanyahu should be presiding over a relatively stable new government in Israel, considering the handsome majority secured by the parties who announced before the election in November that he was their only candidate for the prime minister’s job. Yet, last week he had to ask President Isaac Herzog for a 10-day extension to the 28-day period
Call them the left, call them liberals or progressives, call them what you like, but the Nov. 1 election in Israel was a body blow from the electorate that knocked them out. It leaves open the question whether this force in Israeli society can ever recover to fight another day for the democratic character of the Jewish state.
How Hamas has become Netanyahu’s savior
Yossi Mekelberg
May 25, 2021 22:44
Benjamin Netanyahu refers to a slide during a briefing of ambassadors to Israel at the Hakirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo)
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Just as 12 years of unbroken Benjamin Netanyahu premiership seemed only hours away from coming to an end, it was Hamas inadvertently or perhaps even deliberately that threw him one more lifeline. As recently as the beginning of this month, Israel’s prime minister seemed destined for a seat on the opposition benches, as President Reuven Rivlin tasked the leader of Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, with the arduous but not impossible job of forming a coalition.
Biden has to step up a gear if he is to mend US-Palestinian ties
Yossi Mekelberg
February 16, 2021 22:10
Benjamin Netanyahu at the announcement of Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan in the White House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 2020. (AFP)
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New US President Joe Biden and his administration have some long and arduous tasks on their to-do list. Much of that list is about rectifying the damage and restoring some order after the chaos left by the previous administration. On an extremely busy agenda in the midst of a pandemic, one of the issues requiring extensive fence-mending is Washington’s relations with the Palestinians.