For weeks now, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been engaged in public negotiations to bring Isaac Herzog, chair of the “centrist” Zionist Union bloc, into his coalition government. And then, out of the blue, Netanyahu did a complete reversal, dropping Herzog and instead bringing the far right Avigdor Lieberman into his government. The move caught Israelis and much of the rest of the world by surprise. Just one day before Netanyahu's announcement, liberal commentators were salivating over the prospects of a Netanyahu-Herzog coalition, basing their assessments more on wishful thinking than sound political analysis. Some speculated that national unity might moderate the government and ease international pressure on Israel. A few days ago, when Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi offered to help facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, both Herzog and Netanyahu in rapid succession issued statements supporting the Egyptian proposal. Commentators were positively gleeful. There was even speculation that Al-Sisi's move had been orchestrated with Netanyahu and Herzog to help spur the Israeli unity effort. Still others saw the entry of the Zionist Union into the hardline Netanyahu government as an insurance policy guaranteeing that the Obama administration would not take or support any untoward actions against Israel at the United Nations for fear of disrupting the new fragile Israeli unity government. One respected Israeli writer called it a “stroke of genius” — a classic Netanyahu move: a feint to the left providing his government with a fig leaf to mask its continuing aggressive settlement policy in the occupied territories. As much as Netanyahu and Herzog, each for his own reasons, wanted this unity charade to succeed, it was not to be. The prime minister had become increasingly annoyed by his outspoken minister of defence, Moshe Ya'alon. Netanyahu wanted to replace him. Herzog appeared willing to accept the role but wanted other key cabinet posts for his bloc as well. This would have required that Netanyahu displace other coalition partners, a move that would have fractured his right-wing alliance. And so, still needing to remove his troublesome defence minister and to expand his one-vote majority coalition government, Netanyahu abruptly turned to the right and invited the controversial Lieberman (who once called for “beheading” Israeli Arab “traitors”) to join the government, offering him the defence portfolio. With all these manouevres, Netanyahu has revealed key aspects of his governing philosophy. Despite his occasional feints to the left, he is, at his core, a right-wing hardliner. He has no interest in ending the occupation or providing justice for the Palestinians. Even if Herzog had joined the coalition, it would have only been as a fig leaf to shield Netanyahu from Western critics — not a serious move toward peace. Equally important to note is that far from being a strong leader, Netanyahu is weak and constantly fearful of others, both inside and outside of his government, who might challenge his authority. Alongside his core belief in maintaining Jewish control over “Eretz Israel” stands his concern with maintaining his personal power. These two goals define the man and explain his bullying and his manoeuvring. His behaviour has been shameful, but so too is the extent to which Israelis, Americans and others continue to enable his malevolent rule. As one Israeli military leader said last week, Israeli society is on a slippery slope, becoming increasingly tolerant of racist violence. Even though some of the most disturbingly bigoted personalities are in the Netanyahu government, the leader of the “centrist” opposition was desperate to join the coalition to protect it from Western critics. The Europeans continue to threaten sanctions in the face of ever-expanding settlement construction in occupied lands. On this issue, Netanyahu has been especially defiant. During his tenure in office, the settler population has increased by more than 100,000. Despite this behaviour, the Europeans have allowed themselves to be bullied and silenced into inaction by Netanyahu. As for the Americans, they have repeatedly expressed displeasure over Netanyahu's settlement policies and his blatant interference in internal US politics. Nevertheless, the US administration is now debating whether to reward his government with a 10-year aid package valued at $35 billion, while Netanyahu, supported by allies in Congress, is brazenly holding out for $45 billion to $50 billion. And so, operating with virtually no restraints, Netanyahu continues to manoeuvre and to aggressively advance his hardline agenda. He maintains his grip on power. Israeli society continues to become more extreme and intolerant. Palestinians are more despairing and desperate, and peace more remote. The writer is president of the Arab American Institute.
