Israel’s far-right moves to the top to stoke apartheid

No matter how much we anticipated it, the victory of the extreme right in Israel, grouped under the name of religious Zionism, will still mark a date in the history of this country. By doubling the number of its deputies (14 seats in the Knesset) and allowing Benyamin Netanyahu to form a government majority (a coalition must have 61 votes out of the 120 in the Knesset), this extreme right has become a kingmaker. It is certain that, in such a position, it will impose its men (and more rarely its women moreover) in key positions, in particular those of the police (to put down any revolt of the Arabs) and of agriculture (to better controlling land, a central parameter in occupation and colonization). Among others.

What has just happened is highlighting a shift in Israeli society, which is increasingly Zionist and increasingly religious. The Zionism/religion symbiosis, a problem inherent in the movement initiated by Theodor Herzl at the end of the 19th century, translates into a religious and supremacist conservatism vis-à-vis the Palestinians. The latter, little spared in recent years by successive governments, know that the new government that will see the light of day in a few weeks will be even more terrible for them. Colonization will accelerate, the occupation will worsen and repression will be even more terrible. As Gideon Levy, a journalist with the daily « Haaretz », points out, « two out of ten soldiers voted for religious Zionism, two out of ten soldiers are in favor of the transfer (of Arabs out of Israel – editor’s note), annexation , of “death to the terrorists, death to the Arabs”. If the leader of the extreme right, Itamar Ben Gvir, becomes Minister of Police, the case is heard: the Palestinians will not be treated as Jews, whether they are in the occupied territories or in Israel . It will be a reinforcement of the already existing apartheid. It remains to be seen how the countries that support Tel Aviv will now react.