ST Explains: What is the Israeli far-right bloc that’s key to Netanyahu’s comeback?

JERUSALEM - Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 73, has served in the post five times before. But when he returns to office after the Nov 1 elections, it will likely be, for the first time, as the head of a government coalition in which his Likud party is the most moderate member.

The expected inclusion of a far-right bloc risks igniting tensions both within Israel and between the country and its most important ally, the United States.

What is the far-right bloc? 

Known as Religious Zionism, it is a merger of a party of the same name, headed by former transportation minister Bezalel Smotrich, and several others including Jewish Power, led by controversial firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir, 46.

Barring a surprise in final voting, the bloc was on track to have 14 of 120 seats in the next Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Preliminarily, Mr Netanyahu’s Likud had 32, and the other parties in the likely government coalition, both representing Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews, had 18.

Why is Ben-Gvir controversial? 

As a teenager, he led the youth wing of the Kach party, which campaigned for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. It was later banned from politics and designated a terrorist organisation by Israel and the US.

Mr Ben-Gvir was spared from a prohibition from political office because he was underage. But he was barred from military service due, he says, to his past involvement with the party. He went on to train as a lawyer, and in 2021 he became a Knesset member as the leader of Jewish Power, which has previously advocated for the deportation of Arab citizens seen as “disloyal” to the state and for extending Israeli sovereignty to the occupied territories.

He caused a stir earlier this year by suggesting that some of his fellow Knesset members, Jewish and Arab both, should be deported for their political views. His party advocates dismantling the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority – which, under the terms of a 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accord, administers limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. The party argues that the authority is “corrupt” and “jihadist”.

What does Ben-Gvir say?

He and Jewish Power have sought to distance the party from the Kach movement. His team insists that he has moderated some of his more extreme views and that the party is now focused on law and order issues. Its proposals include relaxing the rules of engagement for soldiers confronting what the party calls terrorists. 

How does Likud compare with the far-right bloc on these issues?

Traditionally, Likud has taken a sceptical approach towards conceding land in the occupied territories, where the Palestinians hope to establish their own state alongside Israel.

However, Mr Netanyahu has been cautious about abrogating previously signed agreements.

As prime minister in 2020, he proposed annexing about 30 per cent of the West Bank, rather than all of it, as Jewish Power has urged.

Mr Netanyahu does not question the basic rights of Israeli Arabs, who make up more than 20 per cent of the population. But he pushed legislation that explicitly defines Israel as a Jewish state and urged supporters to vote to prevent Arabs from gaining political power.

What would be the domestic implications of the bloc’s inclusion in the government?

It would likely exacerbate strains among the Arab citizens of Israel, who complain of being treated as second-class citizens. In early 2021, tensions between Arab and Jewish Israelis boiled over into the most serious clashes in decades.

Any effort to revive negotiations for a Palestinian state would likely be futile. Expansion of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank is a realistic possibility.

The bloc has thrown its support behind proposals to reduce the independence of Israel’s judiciary, which many on the right see as biased against them. Some of the ideas could favourably impact Mr Netanyahu, who faces multiple corruption charges, although he has said he would not back legal changes that would apply retroactively. 

What about foreign relations? 

US officials have stated publicly and privately that the inclusion of far-right figures in the next government could negatively affect US-Israel relations. A number of Jewish groups in Europe and the US have also said their inclusion could harm ties. BLOOMBERG