Madhvi Sharma for BeyondHeadlines
On Wednesday Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party won 30 seats out of 120 seats in the Knesset. Leftist party Zionist Union emerged as the second largest party winning 24 seats while Joint List (a coalition of arab parties) came third by sweeping away 13 seats. Now the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin will invite the head of the largest party to form the government. So Benjamin Netanyahu is headed for the fourth term. But how did Bibi manage this victory when he was losing in all opinion polls few days back?
The first hundred days of his campaigning strategy was a total disaster. It was a replica of his 2013 campaign where he raised the slogan ‘When Netanyahu talks the world listens’. He turned a blind eye to social issues like cost of living and housing and tensions between secular Israelis and the ultraorthodox. He aggravated voters’ rage by talking about Iran’s threat on state comptroller’s report on housing crises. He ran his campaign on racism and portraying himself as a victim of foreign powers. But in the last few days before the elections he gave many interviews and a speech before the US congress which was a ploy for his domestic politics. Even after running an uninspiring campaign the voters shifted towards him.
However his rival Zionist Union headed by Issac Herzog also did well in these elections. Israel had been ruled by the left Mapai party for over three decades. This is Labour party’s best performance since 1999. Although Herzog launched an aggressive campaign against Netanyahu but he only had four months to prepare for it. But the surprise element was Joint List which is a coalition of parties who have united to oppose the anti minority policy of Israel. It is unlikely that they will form the government as a day before elections Netanyahu called them ‘droves of Arabs’.
The mandate is clearly swinging towards right wing politics but the scenario is unlikely to change. Last year Israel saw a war with Gaza and unrest in east Jerusalem is isolating it on the international stage. It’s relationship with the US and EU is in a tense and febrile phase. Netanyahu who is unwilling to form a Palestinian state can compound the situation.
Also, on 1st April Palestine will join International criminal court and its president Mahmoud Abbas can introduce cases against Israel which can cause frictions. A Palestinian newspaper Filastin has reacted to it as ‘additional arrogance’ while an Iranian newspaper has said it to be the ‘worst possible situation’. Even though Bibi has won, peace is still awaited.
