23 March 2020

Netanyahu and Likud's Bid for Power


If you know anything about the rise of Likud you'll know it was rooted in quasi-fascist paramilitary movements dating back to the days before independence in 1948. Benjamin Netanyahu represents the second generation of this party... a party long associated with violence.


Belligerent toward Israel's enemies abroad and certainly the Palestinians at home, the party has also taken a very hostile and aggressive stand against its domestic Jewish rivals. Many blamed Netanyahu for fomenting the climate that led to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin at the hands of a radical member of the settler movement... a militant element within Israeli society that Netanyahu panders to. Additionally, he more than any other previous Israeli leader has forged strong ties with American Evangelicals and the politically symbiotic relationship has fostered militarism and aggression on both fronts. Netanyahu is a man of blood and now under threat of legal prosecution he seems willing to push Israel into dictatorship. He's using the crisis surrounding Coronavirus to restrict the power and reach of the Knesset and to hold on to power even though he cannot procure a majority in government, even after three elections. Loved by some, absolutely hated by others he has become the chief figure of Israeli politics for this generation and at present he's pushing his standing and legacy to the very edge.
Right now it looks like he's either going to seize power and rule in defiance of law or he's going to go down in flames. His power, money and allies may afford him time. The situation reminds one of Silvio Berlusconi who has continued to pivot and avoid serious legal accountability for his many scandals. But Berlusconi is now well into his eighties, while Netanyahu is just entering his seventies and (presumably) has quite a few years left to dodge these bullets or to hold on to power as he would have it.
As the linked editorial reveals, even those long willing to stand by him or give him the benefit of the doubt are now start to discern his true colours. In the end many a super-patriot or ultra-nationalist is revealed to be a self-absorbed sociopath who justifies their actions by wedding their own fortunes to the standing of the nation... an act of delusion and megalomania.
I for one will not weep if Netanyahu is marched out in handcuffs and spends the rest of his days behind bars, and yet he has powerful allies, especially in the United States. Like many politicians around the world Coronavirus may either make them or break them. In a time of growing volatility the stakes are high and danger mounts.
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