Netanyahu back as PM in hard-right coalition
Says ending conflict with Arabs one of top priorities alongside curbs on a nuclear Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel’s Prime Minister again yesterday in a comeback at the head of a hard-right cabinet.
The 73-year-old political veteran, who is on trial for graft charges he denies, has sought to calm concerns about the fate of civil rights and diplomacy since his bloc of nationalist and religious parties secured a parliamentary majority in a November 1 election.
His allies include the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties, which oppose Palestinian statehood and whose leaders — both West Bank settlers — have in the past agitated against Israel’s justice system and its Arab minority.
Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged to promote tolerance and pursue peace. He told parliament that “ending the Israeli-Arab conflict” was his top priority, along with thwarting Iran’s nuclear programme and building up Israel’s military capacity.
Expensive partners
Opponents heckled him with chants of “Weak! Weak!”. They say Netanyahu had to make costly deals to secure new partners after centrist parties boycotted him over his legal woes.
His government secured 63 of a possible 120 parliamentary votes in a confirmatory ballot, before the cabinet was sworn in.
For Palestinians, Netanyahu’s line-up has darkened an already bleak outlook, with violence surging and Jewish colonies set to expand in the West Bank — among territories where they hope to build a future state.
Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party said in its guidelines for the government that it would “promote and develop settlement” on lands to which “the Jewish people has an exclusive and unassailable right”.
Most world powers deem colonies built on land captured in war illegal.
“These guidelines constitute a dangerous escalation and will have repercussions for the region,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said.
This year has already seen some of the worst West Bank violence since 2015 as Israeli forces have cracked down on Palestinian unrest and militant attacks. Abbas has criticised the new government, saying its “motto is extremism”.
Such sentiments have been echoed within Israel, 21 per cent of whose population are Arab and often identify with the Palestinians.
Palestinian economic growth, a more modest aim endorsed by Netanyahu, could also suffer should the conflict flare up anew. “The political horizon influences the economy and all indications tell us the political situation will be bad” Ibrahim Barham, a Palestinian businessman, said.
Netanyahu says he will serve all Israelis.