Following last year’s November elections, which resulted in Likud obtaining the largest proportion of votes, it took until January 4th for a government to be agreed. It is important to remember that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, with all registered citizens, Jewish, Druze and Arab, entitled to vote.

Coalitions the norm

Unlike Britain, with only five political parties, Israel’s situation is bewilderingly fragmented (with 38 parties registered in 2022), and so, with proportional representation, a coalition government is the norm. Likud, although named the National Liberal Party, is widely seen as centre-right to right-wing in ethos. With 24.3% of the vote in November, and no other party having more than 10% of the vote, a complex coalition led by Likud was inevitable. Further difficulties arose because allegations of bribery and fraud against its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, meant understandable reluctance by some to work with him. Nonetheless, the people had spoken at the ballot box and his leadership was assured.

The coalition that resulted included Jewish religious parties, some characterised as extreme-right, leading Western commentators to apply this label to the new government. The coalition is formed by Likud, Shas (ultra-Orthodox) (8.2% of vote), United Torah Judaism (5.9%), and the collaboration of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength), Religious Zionists Party, and Noam (Orthodox) (10.8% in total). The Guardian described the leading personnel as “ultranationalist religious rulers”, but did not mention the proportion of the vote which came from Druze and Arab citizens.¹

Somewhat surprisingly, and not mentioned in the Western press, a significant number of Israeli Arabs voted for Jewish parties.

For example, Arab participation in these elections recorded a significant increase, from 44.6% in 2021 to 53.2%.² Somewhat surprisingly, and not mentioned in the Western press, a significant number of Israeli Arabs voted for Jewish parties.

Palestinian elections

In contrast, and unmentioned in the Western press, on January 9th Palestinian Media Watch reported that the Palestinian Authority’s chairman, Mahmoud Abbas began a nineteenth year in office. This is in bizarre defiance of the Authority’s constitution, which states that “The presidential office term shall be four years. He/she shall not be elected for more than two terms.”

Though 1,760,481 Palestinians were registered to vote in that long-ago election, Hamas boycotted it, and only 802,077 actually cast their vote. Of those who voted, only 501,448 voted for Abbas. In other words, Abbas was elected by only 28% of those eligible to vote.³ One wonders why this massively undemocratic situation fails to anger Britain’s mainly centre-left journalists.

Moreover, 2022 saw a substantial increase in Palestinian violence, which was in part fuelled by interference by Iran. Attending the virtual ‘Annual Global Jerusalem Day’ conference hosted by Iran was Ekrima Sabri, a leading Temple Mount cleric and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhala, who regularly attacks Israel.

One wonders why this massively undemocratic situation fails to anger Britain’s mainly centre-left journalists.

Perhaps surprisingly, alongside these was Hanna Atallah, the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. According to him, “Jerusalem was and will remain for its residents; the policy of the occupation [Israel] in it is illegal. The Islamic and Christian holy places are under attack and there are severe provocations in Jerusalem. We are in one boat in the defence of Jerusalem, and the occupation will not succeed in stealing it from its owners.”⁴ Any attempt to understand the rightward swing in Israel must surely take these serious matters into account. The vast majority of Western commentators do not.

Jewish archaeology desecration

Both Western and Palestinian media seem to completely overlook the mainly Islamist and often anti-Semitic incitements and aggressions against Israelis.⁵ Last week’s PT article exposed the abuse of ‘Al Aqsa’ and it seems that such is likely to be a running sore for Netanyahu’s government. Furthermore, Palestinian actions against historic Jewish sites continue, understandably bolstering Israel’s desire to exert more control.

In late 2020/early 2021 the Palestinian Authority wreaked havoc on the Biblical-era site of Joshua ben Nun’s altar on Mount Ebal, demolishing a wall and crushing stones from the area into gravel as part of a plan to make a new road near the city of Shechem (Nablus). According to officials in the PA, identifying the site as an Israeli altar is a denial of Palestinian history of the place and constitutes a “false use of archaeology” by Israel to take over the area, and they were acting to prevent this.⁶

Both Western and Palestinian media seem to completely overlook the mainly Islamist and often anti-Semitic incitements and aggressions against Israelis.

Now, official documents of the PA’s Local Government Ministry reveal a construction plan for dozens of plots in the area of Joshua’s Altar. Though the plan at this stage asserts that the altar will be preserved in a ‘green’ zone, according to Israelis the construction of homes will entail most of the area of the site, which is to be first razed to gravel, and whatever is left will be out of Israeli control once the Arab neighbourhood swallows it up.⁷

Mount Ebal

An earlier example of systematic Palestinian inroads on Jewish archaeology is found in Jericho. Under the Oslo Accords, the ruins of King Herod’s Third Palace were made the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority. In 2017 a team from the Kfar Etzion Field School visited the site and was appalled to find that the Palestinians had built housing around it. Some homes were constructed on the grounds of the palace itself. In places, the remains of the palace were being systematically demolished to construct a road and elsewhere its stones are being stripped and supporting pillars and arches have been defaced.⁸ The consequent tensions contribute considerably to the political situation faced today by Israel’s politicians.

Judicial reform movement

Superimposed on all this is the furore regarding Netanyahu’s proposed reform of the Israeli judicial system. On January 15th the BBC reported “More than 80,000 Israeli protesters have rallied in Tel Aviv against plans by the new right-wing coalition government to overhaul the judiciary. The reforms would make it easier for parliament to overturn Supreme Court rulings, among other things. Protesters described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed changes as an attack on democratic rule.”⁹

Rushing to judgment on the new government, especially by Western media, is unwise and potentially disruptive.

With scary irony, on January 9th, Benny Gantz, a current MK in the National Unity Party (a former Deputy Prime Minister) said, “If you continue on the path you are following, you will be responsible for civil war in Israeli society,”¹⁰ Yet leading the reform movement is the legally-experienced new justice minister, Yariv Levin, formerly deputy chairman of the Israel Bar Association and twice elected Knesset speaker by his colleagues. “The situation of ‘judicial rule’ is not democracy,” Levin told Army Radio, adding that “the time has come for clear legislation to define the authority of the attorney general, which is supposed to advise, and not make decisions instead of the government, not dictate to it.”¹¹ Rushing to judgment on the new government, especially by Western media, is unwise and potentially disruptive. Israel’s political system seeks to deal with a highly complex situation, whether domestically or internationally. Given the results of the latest election, it is wise to give its widely-democratic members the opportunity to settle in. For Christians in the UK it is even more important for us to “Watch and pray”.

ENDNOTES
1. Israel’s far right hits ground running, and ripple effects are already being felt (The Guardian 7 Jan 2023)
2. Arab Society in Israel and the Elections to the 25th Knesset  Tel Aviv Uni, Nov 20, 2022.
3. Congratulations to Mahmoud Abbas PMW Analysis, 08 Jan 2023.
4. Palestinian, Greek Orthodox Clergy Participate in Iran’s Anti-Israel Hate-Fest United with Israel 04 May 2022.
5. Criticizing or Whitewashing Israel: Netanyahu’s New Government Accentuates West’s Hypocrisy Palestine Chronicle, 04 Jan 23.
6. Palestinians Damage Site of Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal  United with Israel 11 Feb 2021
7. Report: PA Constructing Illegal Settlement in and around Joshua’s Altar The Jewish Press, January 13, 2023.
8. Palestinian Destroying Important Israeli Archaeological Site in Jericho | Americans United with Israel, 20 Dec 2017.
9. Over 80,000 Israelis protest against Supreme Court reform BBC News, 15 Jan 2023
10. Gantz says judicial reform plan will lead to 'civil war'; urges Israeli masses to take to the streets Times of Israel, 09 Jan '23
11. https://worldisraelnews.com/is-judicial-reform-a-threat-to-israeli-democracy/ 15 Jan 2023