Why Netanyahu is ignoring growing Israeli-Palestinian tensions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would typically convene his Security Cabinet and security chiefs to avoid violence with the Palestinians, but this election season has altered business as usual.
A consensus continues to grow in Israel that another round of violence with the Palestinians is in the offing. The signs are evident in a series of events and escalations on all fronts. Despite this evidence and warnings by professionals and the heads of Israel’s security agencies, no one is lifting a finger to prevent a conflagration despite the potential for heavy losses on both sides. Why? Israel’s April 9 elections.
At any other time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — a generally responsible leader with an aversion to adventurism — would have convened the Security Cabinet and security chiefs and attempted to douse the flames. These, however, are not normal times.
Netanyahu is in the throes of a desperate battle for political and personal survival that leaves him disinclined to extinguish such fires. In this fight, Netanyahu is competing for the support of right-wing voters against the likes of the New Right's Naftali Bennett, HaBayit HaYehudi's Bezalel Smotrich and Yisrael Beitenu's Avigdor Liberman. Any move on his part signaling hesitancy or moderation could harm his prospects for victory.
In recent weeks, Bennett, Liberman, Smotrich and Netanyahu have been going at each other with combative declarations, vehemently right-wing positions and blatant contempt for the Palestinians even as tensions with the Palestinians increase. All that remains is to pray that the explosion can somehow be staved off until April 10 and hope that after election day someone somewhere will come to his or her senses and try to restore calm. For now, only the Egyptians are attempting to do so.
