As Netanyahu Regains Power, the Far-Right Flourishes

With nearly all votes counted from the Nov. 1, 2022, Israeli election, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to return to the role, continuing his reign as the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. As his Likud party and several right-wing coalition partners obtained a stable parliamentary majority, there may be an end in sight for Israel’s protracted political crisis, which has sparked five snap elections since 2019.

Netanyahu, who formerly served as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and 2009 to 2021, leads the center-right Likud party. His decades-long political career has overseen the Oslo Accords, both Intifadas, disengagement from Gaza and the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu’s position on Palestinian statehood has shifted many times. After opposing a Palestinian state early in his career, he reversed course in his 2009 Bar Ilan speech, supporting a two-state solution as long as the Palestinian government agreed to demilitarize. However, he condemned a two-state solution ahead of the 2015 Israeli elections, and many of his coalition partners support full Israeli annexation of the West Bank. 

Within Israel, Netanyahu advocates for free-market principles — he has eased Israeli foreign exchange controls, reduced the size of the public sector and passed anti-monopoly and anti-cartel laws to increase economic competition. Regionally, he has attempted to maintain a delicate power balance with Iran and Saudi Arabia, strongly condemning any Western nuclear deal with Iran as a threat to Israel’s security. And despite his alignment with religiously conservative parties, Netanyahu himself comes from a secular background and supports some progressive social issues like same-sex marriage. 

In 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, all of which he denies. The investigation into these charges is ongoing; a loophole in Israeli law requires officials under investigation for corruption to resign from all government offices except that of prime minister, allowing Netanyahu to take office despite his legal battles. His trial resumed on November 7 — the Jerusalem District Court will hear testimony regarding the Gifts Affairs, in which Netanyahu and his wife are accused of accepting $200,000 in gifts from billionaire Arnon Milchan in exchange for helping him obtain a U.S. visa and securing tax exemptions. 

Israel is a parliamentary democracy — the Israeli President, whose power is mostly ceremonial, nominates a member of the parliament (Knesset) to become Prime Minister, typically the leader of the largest party. The nominee is then tasked with creating a multi-party coalition with at least 61 out of 120 Knesset seats to retain power. This election was the fifth in four years due to a parliamentary crisis over Netanyahu’s leadership — the liberal wing of the Knesset has refused to create a coalition with Netanyahu, while Likud has insisted on keeping Netanyahu as party leader, resulting in an unstable coalition majority.

In this election, Likud secured 32 Knesset seats, the largest share of any party. The Yesh Atid coalition, led by outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, earned the second-largest share with 24 seats. Netanyahu has begun coalition talks with the Religious Zionism, Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, which won 14, 11 and seven seats, respectively. Overall, the coalition will hold 64 seats, safeguarding it against the fragility of past coalitions with smaller majorities.

The far-right Religious Zionist party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, merged with Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party to gain 14 Knesset seats and join Netanyahu’s coalition. Ben Gvir is associated with the Kahanist movement and Kach party — both banned by Israel in 1994 due to incitement of terrorism and racism against Arabs and labeled as terrorist organizations by the United States, the European Union and Japan. Ben Gvir, who was disqualified from service in the Israeli Defense Forces due to his radical views, has faced dozens of hate speech charges and called for the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel viewed as disloyal to the Israeli government. 

The domestic agendas of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit espouse religious conservatism — both parties oppose same-sex marriage and call for increased federal funding for religious studies. Additionally, Religious Zionism has expressed aims to vest the Knesset with the power to override the Israeli High Court. Right-wing leaders have heavily criticized the High Court for rulings on settlement construction, detention of African asylum seekers and the ability of Reform and Conservative Jewish converts to gain Israeli citizenship. 

While Netanyahu distanced himself from Ben Gvir on the campaign trail, the leaders met in coalition talks in Tel Aviv on Nov. 7. Ben Gvir expressed his aim to become public security minister, a role that manages police oversight and training. 

The success of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit came at the expense of the Israeli left. For the first time since its establishment in 1992, left-wing party Meretz failed to pass the electoral threshold and gain any Knesset representation. Meretz leader Zehava Galon denounced the Religious Zionist party and labeled the election results a “disaster for Meretz, a disaster for the country, and yes, a disaster for me personally.” Prime Minister Yair Lapid has garnered blame for blocking coalition efforts between Meretz and Yesh Atid, claiming that both parties would securely pass the threshold. English Track first-year Roey Ofer has supported Meretz in the past five elections due to their resistance to West Bank annexation and advocacy against human rights violations. Ofer rejects the narrative that Lapid is solely culpable for left-wing failures: “I believe the respective leaders of each party are to be blamed for not being willing to unite their lists as well as providing voters with a solid ideological alternative which is not merely a negation of their opponents.”

Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash Ta’al increased their seats to five each, while the Balad party failed to cross the electoral threshold. The three parties, along with Mada, previously comprised The Joint List, a coalition of Arab-majority parties that served as the third largest faction in the Knesset. However, the coalition dissolved in September after several members from different parties left due to ideological disputes. Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up nearly one-fifth of the Israeli population, have much lower voter turnout rates than Jewish Israelis — only 55 percent cast votes this cycle. 

While second-year Sama Nabulsi attributes this low turnout to the Knesset’s disinterest in ameliorating Palestinian conditions, she doesn’t believe that past anti-Palestinian legislation or disillusionment from prior coalition shortcomings should discourage Palestinian citizens from voting: “I think Palestinians with the ability to vote should vote for three main reasons. First, to push the power away from far-right and generally racist parties. Second, if they choose to vote for Arab parties, to be able to secure some control and representation in the parliament. And third, to be able to build strength in the Palestinian voice for future elections and parliaments, a higher voter turnout creates an efficient voting bloc that would help constitute what the future government may look like. I don’t know how far a Palestinian voice can go in the makeup of the Israeli parliament today, but I believe that the battle isn’t over yet.”

Reversing trends seen globally, the rightward shift in this election was primarily driven by young, first-time voters — supporters of right-wing, religious parties specifically skewed young, male and Orthodox. A pre-election survey from the Israel Democracy Institute found that 71 percent of Israelis under age 24 identify as right-wing, compared to 47 percent of those 35 and older. Once a political pariah, Itamar Ben Gvir enjoys support from the incoming prime minister, and Religious Zionism is now the third largest party in the Knesset. Regarding overall election consequences, an anonymous second-year said, “there are many concerns that arise from this election, from the incorporation of once extremist and radical views into the Israeli political mainstream to dangers to Israel’s democracy, especially within the judiciary.” They also noted increased division within Israeli politics: “the high number of Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers and the ever-increasing rift between Israel and Diaspora Jews also offer little reason for hope.”

Despite his cumulative 15 years in office, Netanyahu’s third term is unlikely to bring stagnancy to Israeli politics. Emboldened by his strong coalition majority, Netanyahu can pursue an ambitious agenda — he has highlighted normalization with Arab countries as a key priority, building upon the 2020 Abraham Accords he signed with former U.S. President Donald Trump. However, questions remain about the impact of his religious, right-wing coalition partners — will they significantly shape Israeli security and social issues, or will Netanyahu work to temper their aims and maintain the status quo? After two political comebacks and an ongoing legal battle, this term presents Netanyahu’s final opportunity to alter his legacy.