Israel enjoyed a honeymoon of sorts over the past 500 days when it came to the international media’s reporting on its politics and government. The diversity of the government formed by prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, the presence of the United Arab List in the coalition, and the absence of current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu all contributed to the relatively positive coverage.
Based on how Tuesday’s election has been covered by press around the world, that honeymoon is now over.
The homogeneous right-wing government that could potentially be formed by Netanyahu is being called “far-right,” “alarming,” and “the most right-wing in Israel’s history.”
So what is the media missing about Israel’s election? And is it all gloom and doom?
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Some have suggested that the rightward shift is partly connected to the wave of Palestinian terror attacks that have shocked the Jewish state in recent months, and which also contributed to bringing down Israel’s outgoing government and forcing the election.
Between April and September (the last month for official data), there were 1,263 terror attacks against Israelis, in which 10 people were killed and 51 people were injured. In the month ahead of the race, there were 382 attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Terror attacks have been pushing Israelis rightward since the suicide bombings of 1995-96 that helped unravel the Oslo Accords and bring Netanyahu to power for the first time. Netanyahu has succeeded at persuading many Israelis that he can help them feel safer than any other potential prime minister.
The Palestinian Authority, which officially took responsibility for maintaining security in West Bank cities in the Accords, has notably failed to stop the murders of the Lions’ Den terror organization. Such inaction has pushed more Israelis to embrace more hardline rhetoric.
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The Arab riots in mixed cities in the spring of 2021 also helped strengthen Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party head Itamar Ben-Gvir, who made a point of being in the frame of TV reports from every attack.
A media creation who became Israel’s third most interviewed politician, he knew how to make political headway from justifiable fears following the stabbing and shooting attacks in the spring that made Israelis worried that they could be the next victim.
Otzma Yehudit rose in the polls only after Ben-Gvir somewhat softened his prior stance regarding the expulsion of Arabs deemed disloyal, instead publicly calling for the expulsion of convicted terrorists. It is yet to be seen whether or not this is a genuine political evolution or a means to avoid being banned by the Israeli courts from running for election and to improve his image.
The Israeli Right is enduring political trauma from being misled by Bennett, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, and their allies. Right-wing voters who had cast ballots for Bennett’s Yamina Party wanted to make sure that this time, Israel would not end up with a coalition that included an Arab party or the most left-wing Zionist party, Meretz.
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Sephardi and Mizrahi voters are especially turned on by Ben-Gvir, whose parents are Iraqi and Kurdish and who included the late chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu’s grandson on his list of candidates. Netanyahu has also championed the cause of his political base of traditional Sephardi voters in the periphery.
In his victory speech at a Likud rally in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said his government would serve all the people and expand both external and internal peace.
As Reuters reported correctly, Netanyahu, who in 2020 forged formal diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, said a government under his leadership would act responsibly, avoid “unnecessary adventures” and “expand the circle of peace.”
Indeed, throughout his political career, Netanyahu’s track record has proven him more pragmatic when in power than when on the campaign trail.
Netanyahu’s victory came as a result of the 71.3% turnout in the election, the highest since 1999 and an impressive achievement for Israel’s democracy considering that it was the country’s fifth election in 3.5 years. The Arab turnout of some 54% was significantly higher than pollsters predicted throughout the election.
The family members of Kiryat Arba resident Ronen Hanania, who was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist on Saturday night, even left their Shiva mourning period to come and vote.
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One of the reasons Israelis voted for Netanyahu was the frequency of Israel’s recent elections. So-called “stability voters” made ending the political stalemate their top priority and voted for Netanyahu — even if they disliked him — because he had the best chance of forming a stable government.
The end of the political chaos in Israel and the potential formation of a government that could last more than a year takes away an argument for the critics of Israeli democracy, who used that point to mock the Jewish state even during its honeymoon with the media that is now over.
Chaim Howard Lax and Rachel O’Donoghue contributed to this report
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