In the lead up to Israel’s election, Benjamin Netanyahu threw caution to the wind by making blatant appeals to scare voters into returning him to office. He did not care who he alienated or what the other consequences might be of his behaviour. I have always argued that there is no creature more dangerous than a panicking politician and, in the past few days, Bibi was one such creature.
The day before votes were cast, Mr Netanyahu gave a series of interviews developing themes that preyed on Israeli fears: of Palestinians, of “foreign conspiracies”, and of Israel’s own Arab citizens. He charged, for example, that if his opponents won they would submit to the pressures of the international community leading to the creation of “Hamastan B” in Jerusalem. In another interview, he said: “Anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian State and evacuate territory, gives territory away to radical Islamists.” And when asked if that meant there would be no Palestinian state if he were re-elected, Mr Netanyahu responded: “Indeed.”
He further charged that “there is a massive effort ... to mobilise the Arab vote to support Herzog.” He baited Israel’s Arab citizens warning that “[if] Herzog and Livni become the prime ministers ... with the backing of the Arabs ... causing a monumental shift in policy that will endanger the security of Israel”. And on the day of the election he warned “Arab voters are coming out in droves to the polls”.
This was the honest Mr Netanyahu, stripped of any veneer – not the one who once feigned support for peace or who grudgingly pledged support for the idea of a Palestinian state. And this was the Bibi who won.
This was the same Mr Netanyahu who once greeted the Oslo Accords with a campaign to discredit Yitzak Rabin in Israel and by teaming up with Newt Gingrich to stymie the Clinton administration’s efforts in Washington. This was the Mr Netanyahu who was elected in 1996 on a platform committed to ending Oslo, and then acted on his commitment by burying the peace process.
And this was the same Netanyahu who, when pressured by the West, presented himself as a leader who wanted nothing more than peace, while he pursued policies that only further humiliated and provoked Palestinians.
But Mr Netanyahu is also a wily operator. When pressed by Bill Clinton to sign an agreement with the Palestinians, he did. Upon returning to Israel, however, he did nothing to implement that agreement and acted to sabotage it. Similarly, when he was pressed by Barack Obama, he stated his support for a “two-state solution”, but then added caveats that made mockery of this support.
In his last two governments, Mr Netanyahu sought to hide his contempt for the peace process by adding to his coalition individuals who could provide political cover.
Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni were known figures in the West, and Mr Netanyahu cleverly used them to shield his government from criticism, while he aggressively pursued his anti-peace, settlement expansion agenda.
Now the cover is gone and Bibi stands naked before the world. He made clear his rejection of the two-state solution and his contempt for the Arab citizens of Israel. And he won.
Now Mr Netanyahu must govern. He has just enough votes on the far right to form a coalition government that can pursue his agenda. His coalition will include Avigdor Lieberman who recently said that Israel “needs to pick up an axe and cut off the head” of any Israeli Arab “who is against us”, and Naftali Bennett who said that Palestinians were like “shrapnel in your rear end” and pledged that “I will do everything in my power to make sure they never get a state”.
Mr Netanyahu knows that this collection of like-minded thinkers will only damage Israel’s relations with the West. And so just a few days ago, Mr Netanyahu once again attempted to cover his nakedness by denying that he had actually backed away from support for a two-state solution.
Looking at the polls in Israel, it was clear that the centre-left never had much hope of forming a stable government. In the best case scenario, they could have only secured the seats they needed by relying on the strength of the Arabs’ Joint List.
The bottom line is that Israelis succumbed to Bibi’s race-baiting and fear-mongering and elected the government they wanted. It is as if George Wallace had won the US presidential race in 1972.
The mask is off. The peace process is dead. What will the West do in response? Will they buy Bibi’s act one more time, or will they call his bluff and use the pressure they have long been hesitant to use? Captive Palestinians losing all hope while living under an occupation will not wait long for an answer.
James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute
On Twitter: @aaiusa