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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Israel: a setback for Netanyahu

by our Arab affairs correspondent

ISRAEL’S GENERAL ELECTION is over. It’s a setback for Netanyahu. Though his Likud-led coalition has lost its overall majority it is still the biggest in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The communists and the Arab list MPs, now hold the balance of power in the Knesset. They say they’re ready to work with the Zionist opposition to get Netanyahu out. And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the authority that runs the “autonomous” parts of the West Bank says he hoped the formation of a new Israeli government would create an opportunity to resume serious political dialogue and achieve peace in accordance with international law.

In the run-up to polling day the Likud camp spread rumours that Netanyahu and Trump would launch a devastating attack on Iran after the American mid-term elections to “finish the job” and establish Israeli-American hegemony throughout the Middle East.

Though music to the ears of the Arab-hating Zionist fanatics who still dream of a “greater Israel” it didn’t go down well with those who had been on the receiving end of the Islamic Republic’s missiles –especially after Iran warned the Israelis of the “surprise” in store for them in any third round of all-out war.

Voters turned out in droves in this election, 74.3 per cent according to the Central Elections Committee and the highest recorded in Israeli history. And the result?

Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset while the opposition Eisenkot bloc secured 48 seats. The communist and Arab list parties won 19 seats. The mainstream Zionist opposition platform led by General Gadi Eisenkot is close behind but cannot form a government without the support of the communists and the ‘Israeli Arab’ parties – something most, but not all, of Eisenkot’s allies have dismissed out of hand.

Professor Yousef Jabareen, the chair of the communist-led Joint List said that his faction was ready to assist in replacing the far right Netanyahu government. “Netanyahu has continued to incite against the Arab public, and therefore we say clearly today: it is either the continuation of racism, exclusion, and supremacy – or a true Jewish-Arab partnership,” Jabareen said.

“We are also saying: whoever wants to offer a substantive and real alternative to Netanyahu’s bloody government will have to talk to us to pave the way for the change that the public in Israel is hoping for. Yes, we are ready to pave the way for Netanyahu’s ouster”.

Now the fun begins as the Knesset faction bosses try to cobble together workable coalitions to form a new government. General Eisenkot said “the days of Netanyahu using state institutions against Israeli interests for his personal needs are over”. The former chief of the general staff who entered politics after he retired from the army in 2021 said that no spin could change voters rejecting Netanyahu’s government at the polls.

Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar [Upstanding] party, met former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the Together party, to discuss ways to form a new government “as quickly as possible”. Eisenkot also met the social-democratic Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, the only member of the opposition alliance who openly supports forming a coalition with the ‘Arab’ and communist-led bloc.