December 5, 2022.  First off, the prime minister will be Benjamin  Netanyahu who has a long record of using anti-Arab hate for political gain.  Also, he has been on trial for some time for corruption.  Above anything he needs to have the new coalition figure some maneuver to end the legal proceedings against him.

 

Further extreme than Netanyahu and his Likud are the politicians from the Religious Zionism party, the second largest group in Netanyahu’s coalition.  From this party Itamar Ben-Gvir will become the  National Security Minister.  That means he’ll be head of all Israeli regular police and the Border Police (including its undercover unit that goes into Palestinian areas of the West Bank) and prisons and the environmental so-called Green Police.  A Haaretz article states, "there are growing fears that the unit will be used to crackdown on unauthorized construction in Bedouin towns, many of which are unrecognized." 

 

Bezalel Smotrich will become the Finance Minister for two years.  He will also get to name the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) as well as the head of the Civil Administration (which rules over the Palestinians).  Currently the Civil Administration is headed by an army officer who is named by the chief of staff alone.  Now it will be done along with Smotrich and Netanyahu

 

The Religious Zionism party will also have a representative in the Defense Ministry ""to be given complete responsibility for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, areas of operation and the head of the Civil Administration.”

Essentially Netanyahu is giving the West Bank to the Religious Zionist party leaders.

 

But we’re not done.  Avi Moaz will become Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.  He will also control the Education Ministry department in charge of external programing for public schools.  He will be put in charge of a newly created Authority for National Jewish Identity.

 

Who is Moaz.  He’s head of the section of Religious Zionism (which is actually a coalition itself) called NOAM.  According to an article in the Jerusalem Post, “"Maoz is a racist homophobe, rejects Jewish pluralism, believes that the place of women is in the kitchen, and that their main function is to give birth to and raise children."  The Times of Israel reports, “ Maoz said he would work to legally abolish an annual Pride Parade in Jerusalem and indicated that he would seek to roll back a Health Ministry ban on so-called conversion therapy, allowing “psychological consultations for those who don’t want to be gay.”  A 2019 campaign video from NOAM compares Reform Jews, left-wing activists and gay rights advocates to Nazis and Palestinian suicide bombers, said the article.

 

As for other policy ideas in the new Netanyahu coalition, Smotrich has "doubled down on his support for amending the Law of Return".  His idea is that immigrants with at least one Jewish parent would be eligible for "aliyah" and automatic citizenship.   Right now all you need is one Jewish grandparent.  A Haaretz article notes," 3 million people with Jewish roots – the overwhelming majority of them from America – could lose their right to immigrate to Israel." 

 

The incoming coalition is in negotiations on so-called “judicial reform”.  The main idea is to establish an override clause.   It would enable the Knesset to re-legislate laws struck down by the High Court with a  61-strong majority in the 120-seat parliament.  To make a parallel to the U.S. if such an override law existed in the 1950’s our Congress could have struck down by a simple majority vote the “Brown vs. the Board of Education” Supreme Court decision which ended legal segregation.

 

Thus develops “the only democracy in the Middle East”.