Netanyahu's new right-wing extremist government: How will it harm the Palestinians?

In a provocative move that angered the Palestinians in particular and a number of world leaders in general, the far-right Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Tuesday for the first time since taking office.

Ben Gvir had mentioned in a tweet on Sunday that he intended to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque in the coming days. He said that Al-Aqsa is an important issue and that he plans to go up to the Temple Mount.

This step raised fears of an outbreak of clashes with the Palestinians in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In this regard, former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Monday considered Ben Gvir's step as a “provocation that will lead to violence,” calling for him to be prevented from doing so.

Ben Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman that his government will not give in to the threats of Hamas after the Palestinian government warned that this step is a “red line.”

This event is considered the first consequence of the formation of a new government in Israel, described as “the most extremist in history.”

The year 2022 ended with the camp of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu winning 64 seats out of 120 in the Israeli Knesset. Then, Israeli President Isaac Herzog assigned Netanyahu to form a government within 28 days. After that, he was granted an extension for an additional ten days, and in the last minutes, Netanyahu announced his success in forming a government.

This government came after four years of internal political crisis, during which the Israelis cast their votes in five electoral rounds in April 2019, September 2019, March 2020, March 2021, and then November 2022.

What is the new government like?

The new government consists of parties known as right-wing and far-right, namely the Likud party led by Netanyahu, the Religious Zionist party led by BezalelSmotrich, along with OtzmaYehudit led by Ben Gvir, and the Noam party led by AviMaoz. These four parties ran in the elections in a technical alliance but then broke up.

The four parties are described as extremist in their stances towards Arabs, gays, and women. It reflects the extremist Zionist religious current that stresses strengthening settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in addition to promoting the entry of Jewish groups into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Foreign Affairs magazine.

There are fears that this right-wing coalition, which was recently described by the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz as “the most extremist, racist, homophobic and most theocratic in Israel's history,” could deepen internal divisions further, curtail the rights of minorities, and further exacerbate the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, enjoys a comfortable parliamentary majority for the first time in years. He responded to his critics by relinquishing significant power to his coalition partners by dividing and redistributing ministries and government institutions, according to the Hill.

Ben Gvir, who holds the position of Minister of National Security, started his political career as a follower of the Kach movement, which is banned in the United States and Israel and is known for its hostile and extremist stances towards the Palestinians. Dozens of charges were brought against him of involvement in riots, destruction of property, and even incitement to racism and support for terrorist organizations, according to Reuters.

As for Smotrich, he held the position of the Ministry of Finance for two years and will also be a second minister in the Israeli Ministry of Defense. 

Smotrich is the head of the Religious Zionist party and was also the leader of the rebellion against the plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip settlements. He was charged with incitement and detained for weeks. He has always called for using force against the Palestinians, according to the New York Times.

The Knesset passed several controversial laws to ensure the possibility of fulfilling the promises included in the government coalition agreement before the government took the constitutional oath, according to Deutsche Welle.

On Tuesday, November 27, two days before the government was sworn in, the Knesset approved the so-called Deri Law, named after the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri.

The amendment allows him to be appointed as a minister in the government, despite his conviction of tax offenses and a suspended prison sentence.

Israeli rights groups have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the amendment.

Also controversial is the fact that Smotrich, himself part of the settler movement, has taken control, through another modification, of parts of the Civil Administration Agency that operates under the Ministry of Defense. The agency manages Israeli and Palestinian affairs in the West Bank. This gives him potentially broad authority to expand Jewish settlements located in Area C, which makes up about 60% of the West Bank. Critics argue that this could lead to “de facto annexation” of the region, according to Deutsche Welle.

Before announcing the formation of the government, the Knesset approved another controversial legal amendment called the Ben Gvir Law, relative to the name of the appointed Minister of National Security. The amendment would give him expanded powers over the police in Israel.

During the election campaign, Ben Gvir said he wanted to “relax” shooting restrictions to enable police officers to shoot stone-throwing demonstrators, strengthen the legal immunity of security forces, and increase the number of police officers.

Netanyahu also accelerated his efforts to legislate a law that allows obtaining the powers of a minister in the Ministry of Defense by amending the Basic Law of the Government to appoint an additional minister in the ministry.

Another point of concern, according to Deutsche Welle, is the participation of the far-right Noam party, which is hostile to gays, women and Arabs, in the coalition.

Party chairman AviMaoz is expected to become a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office and also in charge of the newly created Jewish National Identity Authority.

This new body will have authority over content taught outside the regular curriculum in Israeli schools. This gives him control over the informal bodies that are assigned to teach in the schools.

Maoz is also known for his hardline anti-gay stances. He said he wanted to cancel the annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem and restore family values.

Recently, Israeli newspapers, including Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, revealed that Noam's party had prepared a “black list” of dozens of gay Israelis working in the field of news and media, as well as left-wing women who were described as extremists.

What is the direction of the new government toward the Palestinians?

Fears are growing that the new government may increase the violation of Palestinian rights and promote settlement in the West Bank, in addition to changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which could herald the outbreak of a new Palestinian uprising (Intifada), according to the BBC.

The BBC quoted Israeli media sources as saying that a representative of the OtzmaYehudit party asked, during the negotiations to form the government, to discuss changing the status quo regarding the Temple Mount in order to discuss allowing Jews to pray there.

The sources pointed out that the Likud party, led by Netanyahu, rejected the request. The issue was not brought up for discussion in the final framework of negotiations between the two parties.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the Religious Zionist party, led by Smotrich, reached an agreement with Netanyahu on presenting a government decision within 60 days of the government taking the constitutional oath to legalize the so-called “young settlements” throughout the West Bank and recognize the evacuated Homesh settlement file.

According to the Israel Hayom newspaper, the Likud and OtzmaYehudit parties agreed, within the framework of the negotiations to form the government, to enact a death penalty law for Palestinians who carried out attacks until the approval of the 2023 budget.

The two parties did not agree on the wording of the law. However, the plan is for Ben Gvir to introduce a law that gives the possibility, through the Civil Penal Code, to enact the death penalty for those who carry out operations against Israel, as this death penalty exists today only in military law.