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The new Israeli administration led by Benjamin Netanyahu has placed settlement expansion in the West Bank at the top of its list of priorities, vowing to legalize dozens of illegally built settlements and annex the occupied territory as one of the priorities in its coalition agreement with ultranationalist allies.
Just one day before the inauguration of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, the agreements of his coalition to govern were made public, which includes a text that supports discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people on religious grounds, controversial judicial reforms, as well as generous stipends for the ultra-Orthodox who prefer to study rather than work.
The text is a preview of what Netanyahu’s government could be and would put him at odds with much of Israeli public opinion, as well as with his allies abroad.
The guidelines begin with a commitment to “advance and develop settlements in all parts of the land of Israel,” including “Judea and Samaria,” the Biblical names for the West Bank.
Israel seized the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. For their part, the Palestinians want the West Bank to be the heart of a future independent state. Israel has built dozens of Jewish settlements there, where some 500,000 Israelis currently live along with some 2.5 million Palestinians.
Most states in the international community consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinian leadership stressed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved through the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Without a negotiated two-state solution, “there will be no peace, security or stability in the region,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas. Although the United States has not yet ruled on the matter, the Joe Biden government has declared that it opposes the expansion of the settlements and in the past has rebuked the Israeli authorities for it.
The coalition of the new Netanyahu government, the most vertical and hardline ruler in Israel’s history, is made up of ultra-Orthodox parties, a far-right ultranationalist religious faction affiliated with the West Bank settler movement and its Likud party. Netanyahu, who was prime minister for 12 years, returns to power after being ousted last year.
A Government that worries inside and outside Israel
The inclusion of the Religious Zionism and Jewish Power parties raised concerns inside and outside the country, given their leaders’ opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and their agitation against the Israeli judicial system, the Arab minority and the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals.
Religious Zionist party leader Bezalel Smotrich has been appointed finance minister and will have authority over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Smotrich affirmed that he will “strengthen the freedoms of all citizens and the democratic institutions of the country.”
In an article published in the ‘Wall Street Journal’, Smotrich commented that the Israeli extreme right wants to “get closer to the American liberal model”, which would imply guaranteeing freedom of worship and reforms to “balance” the judicial system.
Suggesting that he would drop his earlier calls for Israel to annex the West Bank, a move that could lead to a diplomatic break with Washington and Arab states, Smotrich said his settlement plan “does not imply changing their political or legal status.” .
This year saw some of the worst violence in the West Bank, as Israeli forces cracked down on Palestinian demonstrations and militant attacks.
On the eve of Netanyahu’s inauguration, several laws were passed to satisfy coalition partners, including a bill giving Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir more leeway as designated minister for police.
Ben-Gvir was convicted in 2007 of inciting against Arabs and supporting an illegal Jewish militant group. President Isaac Herzog reminded him of “concerns” in Israel and among foreign Jews over his rise during a recent meeting.
Herzog’s office quoted Ben-Gvir as saying it would “enhance the feeling of safety on the streets for all of us” and that his party and Religious Zionist “have no intention of excluding or harming any section of society.”
Another of Netanyahu’s key ministers, Aryeh Deri, an interior portfolio appointee, also has a criminal record. Deri was jailed in 2002 for bribery and pleaded guilty to tax fraud earlier this year, but Netanyahu and his coalition this week passed a law allowing her to serve as a minister despite his conviction.
For his part, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas regretted on Saturday what he described as “the establishment of an Israeli government whose motto is extremism and apartheid.”
The government’s guiding principles uphold the so-called “status quo” at holy sites, which includes Israel’s ban on Jewish prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which is also the holiest site in the world. Judaism and vestige of its two ancient temples.
With AP and Reuters
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