A government led by Naftali Bennett would not be progressive, but political paralysis has only deepened the occupation
As Israel inches closer to ending two years of political stalemate and 12 consecutive years of Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, pressure on rightwing parties preparing to join a “change” coalition from pro-Netanyahu rightwingers, has reached a crescendo. Like other rightwingers in the “change” bloc, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, leaders of the hardline Yamina party, have been called traitors and collaborators and received death threats throughout the last month for their planned defection from Netanyahu’s camp.
As so often in Israeli politics, there is an American parallel: Bennett and Shaked’s predicament recalls the unforgettable moment the US senator Lindsey Graham, days after the 6 January Capitol riots, was harangued by Trump-cult followers, unhinged by Graham’s denunciation of their leader. But it didn’t take long for Graham to revert to his pre-January, pro-Trump affinity. Will Yamina do the same? At the time of writing, the new coalition does not yet exist; in part because of Shaked’s demands in the negotiation process to help advance her rightwing agenda. Moreover, any number of tactics Netanyahu is devising may yet derail the new government in the coming week before it is sworn in.
