Against all odds, Binyamin Netanyahu won the election, ensuring that he would continue to lead Israel at this difficult time in its history. Netanyahu’s Likud Party won 30 seats out of 120 in the Knesset and will forge an alliance with like-minded parties to keep the second largest group, the Zionist Union, out of power. In any case, Isaac Herzog, the leader of the Zionist Union which won 24 seats, has said that his party could not work with Netanyahu, whose hardline stand on key issues was unacceptable. Foremost among them is the creation of a separate Palestinian State. Netanyahu, during the campaign, had avowedly stood against negotiating for a separate Palestinian state, saying that if elected, he would not countenance one. Now that he is set to be Israel’s prime minister for the fourth time, positions in West Asia are set to harden further. Already, in a cynical reaction to his win, leaders of Iran and other key West Asian nations have said that the outcome of the poll in Israel does not materially alter the situation for the long-suffering Palestinians, who must suffer untold hardships at the hands of the Israeli security establishment. It is not that Israeli society itself is united on the question of Palestine. There are quite a few Israelis who believe that in the absence of a compromise with Palestinians, their security will continue to remain hostage to terror attacks by the victims of an aggressive and expansionist Israeli State. Over the years, Israel has not only expanded its footprint in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but refused to allow Palestinians basic freedoms for them to be able to determine their own future. Denying them citizenship rights, while holding them virtually captive as second-rate citizens, is said to be in the interest of Israeli security. Indeed, in recent years, all attempts by the US and other western nations to persuade Israel to reach a respectable settlement with the Palestinian groups have foundered due to the hardline approach of its leadership. In particular, President Obama had been targeted by Netanyahu personally for pursuing negotiations with Iran. In an extraordinary move, Netanyahu arranged to address the US Congress on the eve of the Israeli election, criticising the ongoing P-5 talks with Iran on the latter’s nuclear programme. This, the aggressive Likud Party leader maintained, was dangerous for the security of Israel and, therefore, would not be acceptable under any circumstances. Netanyahu’s belligerence in the US Congress is said to have played a part in his victory in the poll. Though President Obama has reason to feel upset at his unexpected victory, as per the demands of diplomacy, his Secretary of State John Kerry called Netanyahu to congratulate him.
Quite clearly, Netanyahu has rubbed the Obama administration the wrong way and would have to mend fences sooner, rather than later, given that the US is the single-most important friend of Israel in its fraught ties with the larger Arab world. Notably, despite Netanyahu’s surprise win, the US has reiterated its resolve to find a peaceful solution to the vexed Palestinian problem. A State Department spokesman said after the results of the Israel poll that his country was committed to push for a Palestinian State, something which might appear antithetical to Netanyahu’s publicly stated position. However, it is hoped that the surprise win would persuade Netanyahu to try and work for a lasting legacy and make his country less insecure not by erecting further barriers between Israelis and Palestinians but by accommodating the latter in a spirit of trust and partnership. Unending strife can prove destructive for both sets of protagonists in the long-standing Israel-Arab confrontation. A strong leader like Netanyahu is better placed to pursue peace than anyone else in Israel’s polity at this juncture.
