Netanyahu and his Electorate

Israel’s election last week appears to offer more of the same: Half of the country voted for Netanyahu and/or for parties that have declared that they would not join a coalition without Netanyahu.

Half of the country voted for Netanyahu, despite the fact that his main motivation now to hold on to power, is to ensure some deal that would grant him immunity from trial on various very serious corruption charges that are awaiting him.  

Netanyahu’s main opponent, a party that is headed by three former chiefs of staff, is not an opponent in policy, only in personality. They are not offering a new policy on settlements or on peace, indeed, they speak the one language that seems to be a prerequisite for almost any Jewish politician in Israel: being tough with Arabs.

Israel has no constituency for peace, none for a departure from the occupied West Bank, none for a dismantling of its illegal settlements, none for a compromise and fair deal with the Arabs.

21% of Israel’s population are Arabs, yet their only political party, a sectorial Arab party, which got 11% of the votes, is not considered to be a worthy coalition partner by the majority of the country’s Jewish population.

Full stop.

Perhaps, a charismatic post-Netanyahu politician will appear one day, able to convince the Israeli electorate to take a new course. Currently, there is no one.

Full stop.