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| Netanyahu speaking to President Biden yesterday (TOI) |
If anyone would have suggested to me even a few short years ago that the K’nesset would have that many observant Jews, I would have laughed myself silly. But I am not laughing. It is a hard fact right now.
I had always believed that we observant Jews had more in common than we had differences. And that a religious K’nesset would be a boon for observant Jewry regardless of our political differences. But as has become abundantly clear, ‘Politics ain’t beanbag’ (...to quote the late great former Democratic Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neil). I wish observance was the great uniter, But it’s not.
Which is why it’s hard to celebrate this as a victory for observant Jews. The agenda of each of those parties are not exactly identical. So I wonder if anything of substance will be achieved for observant Israelis that can be agreed upon by the all the observant K’nesset members. I doubt it.
Not that this has any relevance to what I am about to say. I just thought it was an interesting fact to mention.
What will Israel’s relationship with the US look like? The ruling coalition will consist of a hefty number of Jews that are on the right ether politically, religiously, of both. How can the US which is currently under the influence of a liberal/left ideology possibly be OK with a hard right wing government? There is also speculation about ‘bad blood’ between Netanyahu and Biden. Is Israel doomed? Will the US reduce - or God forbid eliminate - its support for the Jewish state?
I don’t think so. The bad blood between them has been greatly exaggerated - if it exits at all. Biden called Netanyahu yesterday to congratulate him on his victory. From the Times of Israel:
According to a Hebrew statement from Netanyahu’s office, during the eight-minute phone call with Biden, the US leader told Israel’s presumed next premier that “we’re brothers” and “we’ll make history together.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden congratulated Netanyahu and “commend[ed] Israel’s free and fair elections.”
“The president reaffirmed the strength of the bilateral partnership and underscored his unwavering support for Israeli security,” she added, noting that the US would “continue to closely monitor the government formation process” and looked forward “to continuing to work with the Israeli government on our shared interests and values.”
United States Ambassador Tom Nides spoke with United Torah Judaism lawmakers Moshe Gafni and Yitzhak Pindrus, according to a statement Tuesday from the Haredi party.
According to the statement, the US envoy “congratulated them on the election victory of the religious bloc,” and vowed to continue to work to strengthen relations between the two countries.
This does not sound like a ‘farewell call’ to the US-Israel relationship. It sounds more like a strong commitment to continue it as is. Of course this doesn’t mean that there aren’t serious concerns by the Biden administration about the hard right turn upon which Israel’s new government is about to embark. Clearly there are. The 2 far right likely members of a new coalition government will surely get prominent cabinet ministries. Their uncompromising views about settling all of Eretz Yisroel will surely antagonize the Biden administration. And furthermore there is this:
Both have a long history of remarks against Arabs, Palestinians, LGBTQ individuals, and Judaism’s Reform movement. Smotrich was arrested during protests against the 2005 Gaza disengagement and Ben Gvir was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization in 2007 for holding up a sign at a protest that read “Expel the Arab enemy” and “Kahane was right,” referring to the late-extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, whom Ben Gvir has described as his mentor.
As I have said in the recent past, I believe that even these far right politicians will govern more from the center/right. Ben-Gvir said he has moderated his views and now disagrees with his former mentor. This doesn’t mean he has become a flaming liberal. But it does I think mean that he will not use his newfound power rashly. (I hope.) He has to know that doing so will cause great harm to the US/Israel relationship. Meanwhile the Biden’s State Department has wisely taken a ‘wait and see’ attitude:
Pressed for his reaction on the rise of the far-right in Israel, State Department spokesman Ned Price was careful to insist that the US would wait until the election results and government formation process were finalized. However, he did say that the US “hope[s] that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open, democratic society including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups.”
You never know. Sometimes good things happen when you least expect them. Like the Abraham Accords engineered by members of the Trump administration in conjunction with Israel. Trump was perceived as the most anti Palestinian administration in American history. Could happen again.
