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The era of King Bibi seems to have finally come to an end.
Well, that may certainly be saying too much, because with Benjamin Netanyahu, the architect
of modern Israel, you never know. Netanyahu has been central to everything in Israeli
politics and has piloted the country longer than any other leader.
He was Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and then again from 2009 to 2021.
Not only that, Bibi, as he is affectionately known, also held two of Israel's three most
important ministerial portfolios: foreign affairs between 2002 and 2003, and finance
between 2003 and 2005.
In other words, in one way or another, Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for almost
25 years. Twenty-five long years during which the country has undergone an enormous transformation:
We are talking about things as significant as the economic take-off that Israel has experienced
in recent decades;
its increasingly clear position of technological leadership on a global scale and its openness
to the world, including something that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago: I
am referring, of course, to the new diplomatic ties with the major Arab powers.
But, as the saying goes: every story comes to an end.
In June 2021, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, replaced King Bibi as Prime Minister. His
dismissal led, after an arduous journey, to the election of Naftali Bennett as the new
leader of the Hebrew State. And all this despite the fact that Bennett's party, Yamina, barely
won 7 of the 120 member seats that make up the Knesset.
So... What is behind Netanyahu's farewell?
More importantly, do you want to meet the new power figure of the Middle East and his
more than diverse government?
Well... In this video we give you all the key details. Let's get started.
(INTRO)
It turns out that, in the elections on 23 March 2021, Benjamin Netanyahu's party, Likud,
was once again, the power that gained the most votes by far. Despite this, King Bibi
did not manage to orchestrate a parliamentary majority in his favor. He came close but did
not succeed.
That’s partly because of the accusations that have brought him before the courts.
The fact is that Netanyahu is involved in three legal proceedings, Case 1,000, Case
2,000 and Case 4,000. In the first, he is accused of fraud and breach of trust, for
allegedly receiving boxes of cigars and champagne from businessmen. In total, the assets are
valued at US$198,000.
Then there is Case 2,000, in which he is accused of negotiating a deal with the owner of Israel's
best-selling newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, for better coverage in exchange for regulatory
benefits for the media outlet.
And finally there is Case 4,000, in which Netanyahu is accused of granting regulatory
favors to the country's leading telecommunications company, Bezeq Telecom Israel, in exchange
for positive coverage on a website controlled by the former chairman of the telco. Netanyahu
has therefore been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Those are the accusations that are on the table, and regardless of whether Netanyahu
is guilty or not, what is certain is that this litigation is something that has eroded
his public image.
And, despite this, according to polls only 52% of Jewish Israelis and 56% of Arab Israelis
were eager to see Bibi leave power.
We are not talking about a large margin and the fact that it was not a larger percentage
shows us to what extent Israeli society was divided over its historic leader.
In any case, the division of Israeli politics, the enormous parliamentary fragmentation and
Netanyahu's inability to achieve a new parliamentary majority was a scenario that Naftali Bennet
took advantage of like no other to place himself at the helm of the country.
Although to be fair, it is far from clear how solid his new government will be.
(Naftali Bennett becomes new PM as eight-party alliance topples Benjamin Netanyahu – Scroll)
And that explains why, a few weeks into his term of office, the problems began.
(War in the Israeli Parliament: Naftali Bennett loses his first battle to Netanyahu
The vote to extend a law that prevents the granting of Israeli citizenship to Palestinians
who marry Israelis widens the cracks in the fragile Executive. El Mundo)
But we will talk about all this later.
The fact is that this leader, together with Yair Lapid of the center-liberal Yesh Atid
party, the party that received the second-highest votes, managed to sell voters, above all,
on two things:
First, that after four elections between 2019 and 2021 Israel had to avoid repeating parliamentary
elections again at all costs. We are talking about four elections that had an estimated
economic cost of $4.24 billion US dollars.
Yes, that’s right, $4.24 billion in Uncle Sam's bills for a country of barely 9 million
inhabitants.
The reason for so much electoral celebration has to do with the fact that Israel is the
only country in the world where the Law obliges elections to be called if the parliament does
not pass a new budget within a certain period of time. In this case, Netanyhau's insufficient
majority caused the budgets to be postponed from 2018, which meant elections every year.
Elections in Israel have a particularly high cost not only because of the heavy security
measures that are deployed to ensure the security of the elections but also because election
day is considered a holiday for workers and any work activity has to be paid as overtime
at 200% of the regular salary.
And, of course, since Netanyahu was not able to consolidate a clear majority in the first,
second, third or fourth instance, the message was clear.
Secondly, the parties in opposition to Netanyahu saw in the judicial processes as a golden
opportunity to get rid of King Bibi.
For this reason, one of the strangest agreements in the political history of Israel was set
in motion, a real mishmash government made up of people who would hardly be caught dead
with each other or be trusted to spend time in the same space without the risk of ending
up in a police station. We are talking about eight parties of all kinds of ideologies and
with a leader who barely won 7 deputies in the elections.
But having said that, what is Naftali Bennett really like, and what could Israel's new Commander-in-Chief
mean for Israel and Middle Eastern policy?
Well, let's take a look.
(BENNETT, THE "MODERATE RADICAL")
Naftali Bennett. Keep that name in mind because it may make a lot of headlines in the coming
months. The new Israeli prime minister is anything but an ordinary politician.
The son of US parents, Bennett is a former high-tech entrepreneur who sold his company,
Cyota, for $145 million. But don't think that's all there is to him.
Bennet, who as a young man had served in the Israeli army's special corps and despite being
a millionaire, participated as a reservist in the Lebanon War in 2006, leading a unit
of 67 special corps commandos.
A battle after which Bennet was recruited as Chief of Staff by Netanyhau himself. It
was his leap into politics. Since then and before becoming Prime Minister, he has held
six ministerial portfolios under Netanyahu's governments, among them two of the most important:
economy and defense.
Then, in terms of religion, he professes Modern Orthodox Judaism, which is a branch of Judaism
somewhat more fundamentalist than that followed by the current majority in Israel, but more
secular and politically and socially moderate than the Haredi or Ultraorthodox.
And in fact, as a side note, Bennett has become the first prime minister to wear a kippah
all the time. Yes, you know, the characteristic Jewish cap.
But beyond personal issues, what matters most to us on VisualPolitik is, logically, the
leader’s political positioning.
And here, well, even Bennett describes himself as "more to the right of Netanyahu." Both
economically and socially. And although as he has moved closer to power in Israel he
has become more and more conciliatory....
("This whole notion of leftists being traitors and all of this nonsense is unacceptable.
[...] What Bibi did for ages... the dog whistle against this group or that group, I don't
go there. I'm more right-wing than Bibi, but I don't use hate or polarization as a tool
to promote myself politically." – Naftali Bennett)
... the truth is that the newspaper archives do not allow us to describe the new Israeli
leader as a moderate.
For example, Bennett is a staunch opponent of the idea of two states, Palestinian and
Israeli, as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. So much so that he went so far as
to say that it would be national security suicide for Israel.
And don't think that he said these things in a discreet way in a meeting behind closed
doors, or far from an open microphone, no way... he said it in 2014 to significant media
outlets such as the New York Times and CNN.
("The old models of peace between Israel and the Palestinians are no longer relevant. The
time has come to rethink the two-state solution." – Naftali Bennett on The New York Times,
in 2014)
("The era of these negotiations is over. [...] The approach that we've been trying for twenty
years now clearly has reached its end." – Naftali Bennet on CNN, in 2014)
The problem is that by discarding the two-state solution, he is not arguing for the existence
of a single State, but rather he is proposing to maintain Palestine as a kind of protectorate
or permanent colony, a protectorate, of course, subordinated to Israel. And that, well many
would define that as a form of Apartheid.
In fact, Bennett also defends the military occupation of the West Bank, because, he says,
this territory was won by Israel during the Six-Day War. Of course, in no case does he
propose to grant Israeli citizenship to the nearly 3 million inhabitants of this territory.
In the same vein, he was Director General of the Yesha Council, an organization that
defends the interests of Israeli settlers in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Because
yes, the new Israeli Prime Minister supports settlements on Palestinian soil.
But this is not the only issue where he is completely frank:
In 2018 Bennett said that if he were Minister of Defense, he would implement a "shoot-to-kill"
policy on the Gaza border against all those Palestinians who engaged in aggression against
Israeli security forces.
Moreover, when asked if this would include children, he answered very clearly. Check
it out.
("They are not children, they are terrorists. We are fooling ourselves." – Naftali Bennet
in 2018)
And beyond whether or not you agree, or whether or not many children are indeed indoctrinated
and trained by Hamas to attack Israel, these kinds of messages reveal the new Prime Minister's
not only hard, but staunchly hard line.
However, territory and security policy are not the only items on his agenda.
Just as Bennett is a clear example of a nationalist politician, he is also a devoted advocate
of free markets, low taxes, deregulation and the reduction of union power and privileges.
For now, in the draft of the state budget for Israel that was agreed on with the eight-party
coalition that has brought him to power, a tax freeze for 2022 was expressly included.
Likewise, in matters of social rights, despite his status as a modern orthodox, he is relatively
open-minded. For example, he advocates that LGBT people have the same rights as any heterosexual
person.
In other words, Israel has a new prime minister with a pro-business agenda, experience in
private and public management, a long career as an officer in the army's special corps,
including real combat experience, and a strong nationalist emphasis.
In short, it’s as he defined himself:
Politically we talk about Bennett being to the right of Netanyahu, specifically to the
nationalist right.
But just because he is Prime Minister does not mean he will have free rein. Bennett heads
one of the most diverse governments we could imagine. A Frankenstein government.
And why do I say this? Well... listen up.
(A FRANKENSTEIN GOVERNMENT)
Nationalist right, national-liberalism, liberal center, Zionist social democrats, green left,
Islamists... Eight Parties and coalitions that literally come from all over the political
spectrum.
This random mix is what makes up the new Israeli government, composed of 28 ministries.
A number of ministries that may seem huge to you... Until we take into account that
the last Netanyahu government had 36.
Yes, that's Israeli politics: Everyone has to get their share of the pie.
In addition, the government will have two different terms. For the first two years,
Bennett will be the prime minister, and for the remaining two years Yair Lapid, of the
liberal and secular centrist Yesh Atid party, will be the prime minister.
If they manage to get that far.
We are talking about a huge shambles that was set in motion with a single objective:
to throw King Bibi out of power.
The question is, will this work out? Well, the truth is that many analysts and experts
in Israel and Middle Eastern politics, if not most, believe that this government won’t
last five minutes, and that Lapid will not become prime minister, at least not with the
current coalition.
And, of course, the very broad and contrary ideological spectrum of the parties that comprise
it make it very difficult to reach consensus, especially when the going gets tough.
I am thinking, for example, of another escalation of violence with Hamas in Gaza. Without looking
too far, in this new government, there is an Israeli Arab from the Ra'am party, of Islamist
ideology, as deputy minister of Arab affairs.
We are talking about Mansour Abbas. It is difficult to imagine him supporting from within
the government a military escalation with Gaza, greater control in the West Bank, or
a forceful response in the event that Hamas decides to return to its old ways with rockets
or terrorist attacks.
But not only that... Among Abbas's political objectives within the Israeli government is
to increase [and greatly] government spending on Arab towns and villages in Israel, something
that doesn’t seem very compatible with Bennett's advocacy of Jewish settlements in the West
Bank....
In other words, the biggest challenge for the new Israeli government, above anything
else related to politics, defense or economics, is its own existence, to be able to stand
on its own feet.
As much as Bennett himself says he prefers to put aside the differences....
("Our principle is: We will sit together, and we will forge forward on that which we
agree – and there is much we agree on, transport, education and so on – and what separates
us, we will leave to the side." – Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel)
The clashes will come. This government has not been formed here with a political project
but with a single mission: to throw Bibi out of power.
And to top it off, we are not talking about a coalition with a very large majority either.
We are talking about 61 MPs against 59 who support Netanyahu.
Commander-in-Chief of Israel's policy and defense.
On VisualPolitik we will follow the situation closely and we will tell you all the news
both in new videos and in our exclusive bulletin for the Patreon community. To receive it you
just have to join VisualPolitik's Patreon program. We’ll leave you all the details
in the description.
At this point it's your turn:
What do you think of the anti-Netanyahu bloc's move to oust Bibi from power? Does this coalition
have a future or will it end up a chaotic mess ? Do you think Israel will be in better
hands now that you know the new prime minister and his new government?
As always, we love to hear your opinion, so leave your comments below and, if you liked
this video, don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel.
Best regards, and see you next time.