OPINION: Election result reflective of wider global trend in populism
Richard Pater, the chief executive of BICOM, based in Jerusalem, reflects on the results of the Israeli election and Netanyahu's return – with the backing of the extreme right.
If the results are as projected at the time of writing, Netanyahu and his right wing bloc will have won a substantial and significant victory.
Various factors aligned to bring us to this point. In the lead up to the elections, Netanyahu worked diligently behind the scenes to enforce a technical bloc between Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power faction and Bezalel Smotrich’s National Union, adding the homophobic Noam Party for good measure, united, they ran as the Religious Zionist Party ensuring no hard right wing votes were lost.
Similarly Netanyahu ensured the two factions that make up the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi Party United Torah Judaism; Degel Hatorah and Achdut Hatorah remain united despite animosity and internal rivalry. On the other side of the spectrum, Lapid failed to convince Labour and Meretz, or the rival Arab parties to combine forces.
The result appears to be six seats worth of left wing votes failing to pass the threshold.
The success of the Religious Zionist Party, is particularly striking. Never have the hard right had such electoral success, and as this paper asked last week; where’s the outrage?
Their success is attributable to a combination of factors. In part its reflective of wider global trend in populism, similar to US support for Trump or the French for Le Pen, or Meloni in Italy.
In Israel, Ben Gvir was cultivated as a contrary, charismatic and provocative media celebrity, his infamy striking a cord particularly among first time voters; both secular and religious.
He successfully tapped in and exploited Israelis fears over personal security, exacerbated by recent terror attacks.
Now it’ incumbent on Netanyahu (assuming the victory is confirmed) to build his coalition, as of last week he outlined his approach will be to first lock in his natural allies and only then look to broaden his coalition with centrist parties.
Netanyahu said he intends to keep the three most important portfolios (Finance, Defence and Foreign) inside the Likud, meaning other senior roles including Justice and Public Security (which oversees the police) could be available for his right wing partners.
However, there is likely to be an effort, led by President Herzog to encourage the emergence of a unity government. In his speech on Tuesday night Benny Gantz the leader of the National Unity Party did not explicitly rule out sitting with Netanyahu.
Instead he repeated his party’s mantra that they will put the country’s need above everything else. Perhaps Gantz could be persuaded to join a Netanyahu government if doing so would dilute the influence of the hardline Religious Zionist Party.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
