After a year in opposition and years of political chaos caused by his ongoing corruption trial, the veteran politician planned a comeback in Tuesday’s vote. His majority means the period of electoral deadlock is likely over for now and Netanyahu – already the country’s longest-serving prime minister – is set to remain in office for at least the next four years. Returning to power, the 73-year-old’s first priority will be to seek to stop his trial. He denies all charges. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party won 32 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, making it the largest party, and his bloc managed to win 64 seats overall, largely thanks to a doubling of support for the extremist Religious Zionists. In Israel’s political system, coalition building is essential to governance, and the new government is likely to be the most extremist in Israeli history. News of Netanyahu’s dramatic victory was greeted by right-wing and nationalist leaders around the world: Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orban were among the first to offer their congratulations after the final tally was announced. votes on Thursday night. Israeli media reported on Friday that Netanyahu had instructed Yariv Levin, considered the longtime leader’s right-hand man in the Knesset, to open talks with Religious Zionism and two ultra-Orthodox parties for portfolios. Far-right list leaders Bezalel Smotrich and the popular Itamar Ben-Gvir, both known for anti-Arab rhetoric, are expected to take key ministerial posts as horse-trading began on Friday. Ben-Gvir has said he wants to become public security minister, a position that would put him in charge of the police, and Smotrich has publicly said he wants to become defense minister. The slate’s shopping list includes immunity from prosecution for Israeli soldiers, the expansion of illegal settlement building in the occupied West Bank and rollbacks of LGBT-friendly laws. Netanyahu shares little in common with his new partners except opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and a mutual desire to allow parliament to override the supreme court, which would help dismiss his corruption charges. Elevating the Religious Zionists to the security office will not be simple: the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, is unlikely to be comfortable sharing information with many members of the party in which they keep records. Israel’s Western partners, including the US, have reportedly sent messages to Likud that they would have limited contact with ministries led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, if they cooperated at all. Netanyahu’s return to the world stage comes as violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soars: fighting in Nablus and Jenin since the spring means 2022 is set to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005. “The situation is so inflammable that a single match could ignite it – and this is the moment Netanyahu has chosen to release the chief arsonists,” columnist Amos Harel wrote in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Friday. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed concern over the worsening situation in the West Bank in a phone call Thursday to thank outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, centrist Yair Lapid. Blinken expressed “his deep concern about the situation in the West Bank, including the heightened tensions, violence and loss of life of both Israelis and Palestinians, and underlined the need for an urgent de-escalation of the situation by all parties,” Washington said. in a statement. Israel’s commentary has already begun to speculate whether Netanyahu may seek to ditch his new far-right partners, after they helped overturn corruption charges against him, in order to improve his standing internationally. However, having burned bridges by betraying political partners in the past, it is currently unlikely that any other party would be willing to join a Netanyahu government.
