Not every gift pleases the spirits, not every gift is well received. Benjamin Netanyahu’s (73) Christmas presents could even trigger a new outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Holy Land: Just in time for Christmas, the re-elected Israeli prime minister is likely to present his government tomorrow, Wednesday. Also present: the designated Secretary of Homeland Security, Itamar Ben Gvir (46).
Netanyahu could not have chosen a more radical figure for the post: Ben Gvir, chairman of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, wants to evacuate the Palestinian West Bank and imprison the approximately three million Palestinians in de facto ghettos, and is thinking aloud about reintroducing the death penalty Follow Israel and advocate impunity for violent police officers.
Ben Gvir, who himself lives in one of the Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory that is illegal under international law, was convicted once in 2007 of supporting a Jewish terrorist organization. Until recently, the father of five posted a photo of Israeli mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 people and injured 135, some seriously, in a mosque in the Palestinian city of Hebron in 1994.
Misogynistic finance minister in emancipated Israel
The appointment of Ben Gvir as head of Israel’s police and border authorities to the Palestinian territories is like “making a pyromaniac into a fire chief,” said Peter Lintl, 41, an Israel expert at the Berlin Foundation for Science and Politics.
However, Netanyahu had no choice in filling the important ministerial post. “Bibi,” as Israelis call their record head of government, needed the votes of two ultra-Orthodox and three right-wing splinter parties within less than four years of Israel’s fifth national election to win a majority in Israel’s parliament and form a government. forms. These splinter parties recently torpedoed Netanyahu with their demands during week-long coalition negotiations—with success.
In addition to Itamar Ben Gvir, several other illustrious figures have also made it to Netanyahu’s new government team. The radical right Bezalel Smotrich (42), who sees women as birthing machines and infidels as enemies of the state, becomes finance minister. The Interior Ministry is likely to go to Arje Deri, the head of the radical-religious Shas party, who has been convicted of tax offences. Apparently, his party has also exempted ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.
Netanyahu wants to be judge and executioner
Of particular concern to Israel expert Peter Lintl is the attack that Netanyahu and his government colleagues are planning on the judiciary. For example, the decisions of the highest court must be overruled by a simple parliamentary majority and certain criminal offenses – such as embezzlement, of which Netanyahu himself is accused – must be removed from the law books. “Political majorities in Israel will hardly be put in place by the Supreme Court,” says Israeli expert Lintl.
Words of warning are already coming from the US, Israel’s closest and most powerful ally. US President Joe Biden’s team, 80, said it was hard to imagine working with the radical exponents of the new administration. And the New York Times opinion section described the latest developments as a “danger to Israel’s future.” Also the incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid (59) took the floor and declared Netanyahu’s political plans an “insult to the values of the state”.
The reactions on the Palestinian side were particularly violent. The frustration among the nearly three million Palestinians in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, is enormous. In addition to the aggressive rhetoric from Israel, the elderly Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (87) has been in power since 2009 without democratic legitimacy.
2022 was the bloodiest year in a long time
This year, several new radical groups have formed in the West Bank, most notably the “Brigade of the Lions’ Den”, which is planning attacks on the Israeli occupiers. Palestinian attacks in 2022 killed at least 31 Israelis. Israel’s military response cost at least 135 Palestinian lives. 2022 was the bloodiest year in the Middle East in a long time.
Nevertheless, according to a survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, nearly three-quarters of Palestinians support the actions of such groups despite the deadly reactions: For months, Israeli retaliatory attacks have been taking place almost daily, especially in the two Palestinian cities of Jenin and Nablus.
An attack on Nablus in October killed almost the entire leadership team of the “lion brigades”. To this day, children still play in the cramped squares of the metropolis with the amulets of the martyrs slung over their shoulders. The stone walls in the old town are covered with photo posters of fallen brigadier generals. In the Holy Land, instead of an atmosphere of peace, old hatred flares up again at Christmastime.