Netanyahu crushes his dissenters once again

James Zogby on the Israeli prime minister's overtures towards Avigdor Lieberman and his lurch towards the far right

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) had become increasingly annoyed by Moshe Yaalon, his outspoken defence minister, who had recently taken to defending the right of the military to speakShow more

For weeks now, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has been engaged in public negotiations designed to bring Isaac Herzog, chair of the “centrist” Zionist Union bloc, into his coalition government. And then, out of the blue, Mr Netanyahu did a complete reversal, dropping Mr Herzog and instead bringing the far-right Avigdor Lieberman into his government.

The move caught Israelis and much of the rest of the world by surprise.

Just a day before Mr Netanyahu’s announcement, liberal commentators were salivating over the prospects of a Netanyahu-Herzog coalition, basing their assessments more on wishful thinking than sound political analysis. Some speculated that national unity might moderate the government.

A few days ago, when Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El Sisi offered to help facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks – and both Mr Herzog and Mr Netanyahu in rapid succession issued statements supporting the Egyptian proposal – commentators were positively gleeful. Many even speculated that Mr El Sisi’s move had been orchestrated to help spur the Israeli unity effort.

Still others saw the entry of the Zionist Union into a hard-line government as an insurance policy guaranteeing that the Obama administration would not take action against Israel at the UN for fear of disrupting a new and fragile Israeli unity government.

One respected Israeli writer called it a “stroke of genius”, a classic move by Mr Netanyahu: a feint to the left providing his government with a fig leaf to mask its aggressive settlement policy in the occupied territories.

As much as Mr Netanyahu and Mr Herzog, each for their own reasons, wanted this unity charade to succeed, it was not to be.

The prime minister had become increasingly annoyed by Moshe Yaalon, his outspoken defence minister, who had recently taken to defending the right of the military to speak out against the excessive use of force.

Mr Netanyahu wanted to replace him. Mr Herzog appeared willing to accept the role but wanted other key cabinet posts for his bloc as well. This would have required Mr Netanyahu to displace other coalition partners, a move that would have fractured his right-wing alliance.

And so, still needing to remove his troublesome defence minister and to expand his one vote majority coalition government, Mr Netanyahu abruptly turned to the right and invited the controversial Mr Lieberman (who once called for beheading Israeli Arab “traitors”) to join the government, offering him the defence portfolio.

With all of these, Mr Netanyahu has revealed key aspects of his governing philosophy.

He is a master tactician, but despite his occasional feints to the left, he is a right-wing hardliner at his core. He has no interest in ending the occupation or providing justice for the Palestinians.

Even if Mr Herzog had joined the coalition, it would only have been to shield Mr Netanyahu from western critics. In other words, it would not have represented a serious move toward peace.

Equally important to note is that far from being a strong leader, Mr Netanyahu is weak and constantly fearful of others, both inside and outside his government, who may challenge his authority. Alongside his core belief in maintaining Jewish control over Israel stands his concern with maintaining his personal power.

These two goals define the man and explain his bullying and his tactics.

His behaviour has been shameful, but so too is the extent to which Israelis, Americans and others continue to enable his malevolent rule.

As one Israeli military leader noted last week, Israeli society is on a slippery slope and is becoming increasingly tolerant of racist violence.

Even though some of the most disturbingly bigoted personalities are in the Netanyahu government, the leader of the “centrist” opposition was desperate to join this coalition to protect it from western critics.

The Europeans continue to threaten sanctions in the face of ever expanding settlement construction in occupied lands. On this issue, Mr Netanyahu has been especially defiant. During his tenure in office, the settler population has increased by more than 100,000.

Despite this behaviour, the Europeans have allowed themselves to be silenced and bullied into inaction by Mr Netanyahu.

As for the Americans, they have repeatedly expressed displeasure over Mr Netanyahu’s settlement policies and his blatant interference in US internal politics.

Nevertheless the Obama administration is now debating whether to reward his government with a 10-year-aid package valued at $35 billion (Dh128bn), while Mr Netanyahu is brazenly holding out for up to $50bn.

And so, operating with virtually no restraints, Mr Netanyahu continues to manoeuvre and to aggressively advance his hardline agenda. He maintains his grip on power. Israeli society continues to become more extreme and intolerant. Palestinians are more despairing and desperate, and peace is more remote.

Dr James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute

On Twitter: @aaiusa