Opinion Editorials, May 2015

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The new Israeli coalition government is likely to be the most extremist since Israel's creation in Palestine 67 years ago. The composition of the government leaves no doubt as to the direction it will take and policies it will adopt at the domestic front, toward the Palestinians and internationally.
 
The Israeli opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, has labeled the new government "the weakest, the most extortionist, and narrowest government in Israel's history." Writing on his Facebook page, Herzog described the new coalition as one "of no responsibility, no governance and no stability." These epithets and descriptions can be viewed as controversial, coming from the leadership of a political party that lost the recent elections.
 
However, from a third-party perspective, e.g. a Palestinian view point, and in light of the composition of the new coalition, we can assume that the next Israeli government will be the most fascist, most extremist, most pugnacious and most anti-peace government in the Jewish state's history.
 
The government will include explicitly murderous elements, including Ayelet Shaked, who openly called for murdering innocent civilians, including children.
 
The new government will be a government of settlers, for the settlers and by the settlers. Indeed, with a fanatical settler leader the aforementioned Shaked becoming "Justice Minister," it is expected that the entire justice system in Israel will be manipulated in the service of the fascist-minded settlers and their crazy ambitions, namely the seizure of more Palestinian land and property as well as the possible expulsion of many Palestinians from their ancestral homeland.
 
Needless to say, the settlers' strategy is to establish a racist Jewish state, "unspoiled and uncontaminated by goyem."
 
The new government is also expected to complete the process of killing and burying the already moribund peace process.
 
Given the clear-cut fascist mindset of the bulk of its coalition partners, the new government will strongly resist any potential international pressure coming from the West, including Israel's guardian-ally the United States.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and right-wing allies already view U.S. President Barak Obama with utter contempt. Netanyahu's obvious disrespect of the man in the White House was brazenly illustrated shortly before the Israeli elections, when the Israeli premier flew in the face of the White House by delivering a speech in Congress, against the wishes of Obama.
 
One Israeli commentator intimated that Netanyahu's unspoken words then sounded like this:  'I, not Obama, call the shots, in Washington."
 
Now, with the Republican Party sheepishly groveling at Netanyahu's feet, the self-absorbed Israeli premier is likely to display more arrogance and recalcitrance, not only vis-à-vis the helpless Palestinians but also in his approach to the rest of the world. 
 
Open war on the Palestinians
 
The new Israeli government is likely to seek to further narrow Palestinian horizons as never before. This might include a number of draconian repressive measures against Palestinians including a marked escalation in land seizure, a marked escalation in house-demolition and a marked escalation in the especially cruel policy of detaining Palestinian activists for prolonged periods without charge or trial.
 
In the Gaza Strip, Israel under the new government would probably perfect the already hermetic blockade of the coastal enclave. Moreover, Israel may be allured to carry out another war of aggression on Gaza, if only to appease the sadistic urges of various coalition partners.
 
This week, Israeli “defense” minister Moshe Yaalon, who will retain the post in the new government, on Tuesday said Israel would attack entire civilian neighborhoods during any future assault on Gaza or Lebanon.
 
“We are going to hurt Lebanese civilians to include kids of the family. We went through a very long deep discussion … we did it then, we did it in [the] Gaza Strip, we are going to do it in any round of hostilities in the future," Yaalon was quoted as saying at a conference in Jerusalem this week.
 
The next government is also likely to give the manifestly fascist settlers a free rein to harass, torment, dispossess and even murder innocent Palestinians. The unbridled settler violence could eventually lead to a bloody showdown between Israel and the Palestinian people as the weak Palestinian Authority (PA) would find itself in an unviable situation, being utterly unable to protect its own citizens from the unrestrained ghoul, while having to rely on Israel for its very survival.
 
More provocations at al-Masjidul Aqsa
 
In addition to settler violence, it is widely expected that the new Israeli government will give Messianic Jewish extremists a carte blanch to carry out more provocations against Muslims at the Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.
 
This could trigger a huge conflagration in the region as no other issue has the potential of galvanizing Arabs and Muslims against Israel. This in turn would create real problems for neighboring states, such as Jordan and Egypt, which have peace treaties with Israel.
 
All in all, a brazen Israeli insolence, met with official Arab impotence, would probably make extremist groups, such as al-Qaeda and IS, ever more appealing to the disillusioned masses. Even relatively moderate political groups like Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic liberation movement, could lose some of its luster in favor of the more radical groups. Moreover, in countries such as Jordan, popular indignation and rage would reach unprecedented levels.
 
This situation might induce certain regional powers to "fish in troubled water" by creating, financing and even arming "Houthis-like cells" for the purpose of destabilizing certain Arab countries. This would be more than just "creative anarchy and chaos." It would be a nightmare coming true.
 
Coupled with the inevitable collapse of the  peace process, or whatever has remained of it, a heightened tension over al-Masjidul Aqsa, accompanied with various levels of violence and bloodshed, would make this summer distinctively "hot," as the region might witness  paradoxical forces moving in opposition directions, including millions of people boiling with anger, regimes struggling  rather desperately to survive in the face of simmering discontent in the Main Street, and, of course, a recalcitrant Israel hell-bent on fulfilling its Messianic aspirations
 
From my vantage point here in the West Bank, will continue to hope and pray for peace. However, the looming portents don't seem auspicious at all. They look rather very very gloomy.
 

Khalid Amayreh is a veteran Palestinian journalist and political affairs commentator living in Occupied Palestine

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah & ccun.org.

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