Consider This from NPR - Israelis And Palestinians Await A Far-Right Government With Bated Breath

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

Jewish ultranationalists are about to have a lot more power in Israel. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to return to office after his far-right coalition won elections last month. And he's already named two of the most incendiary figures in Israeli politics to key positions in the government.The new government could stir internal divisions among Israel's citizens, push to erode the rights of minorities and set off further conflict with Palestinians.NPR's Daniel Estrin has been talking with Israelis and Palestinians about the future they see under what's expected to be the most right-wing government in Israel's history.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University is committed to moving the world forward, working to tackle some of society's biggest challenges. Nine campuses, one purpose. Creating tomorrow, today. More at iu.edu. Whenever there is a confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis, Itamar Ben-Gvir is often right there. The Arabs tried to take every chance to attack us, so we are forced to defend ourselves. That's him speaking to NPR a decade ago as a spokesman for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank where, at the time, there was a shoot-to-kill order if Palestinians

approached. Last year, NPR's Daniel Estrin watched him and other far-right Israeli activists confront Palestinians in a Jerusalem neighborhood called Sheikh Jarrah. Oh, wow. There's a clash. Okay, there's some clashes now. Let's get out of the way. Conflict over that neighborhood would spark 11 days of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

A few weeks ago, Ben-Gvir was back at the same spot during another street fight. Except this time, he took out a gun. He said, if they throw rocks, shoot them. Itamar Ben-Gvir has been an emblem of Israel's far-right, ultra-nationalist fringe. He's a longtime follower of a notorious anti-Arab rabbi, and he was convicted in Israel 15 years ago for supporting what Israel classifies as a Jewish terrorist group. But he's not on the fringe anymore.

He and his Jewish power party celebrated victory in elections last month, aligned with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. And now Itamar Ben-Gvir is about to take his spot in Israel's leadership as the next minister of national security. Consider this. Israel is about to usher in the most right-wing government in its history, and there's concern that the Jewish ultra-nationalists within it could stir internal divisions among Israel's citizens, push to erode the rights of minorities, and set off further further conflict with Palestinians.

From NPR, I'm Juana Summers. It's Tuesday, December 6th. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. Support for NPR and the following message come from Carnegie Corporation of New York, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. More information at carnegie.org. It's Consider This from NPR. NPR's Daniel Estrin has been reporting on how the new far-right government might change the nature of Israel's democracy and whether it could escalate ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

We caught up with him to hear what he's learned. And we started at perhaps the most combustible place, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. This is the most revered holy site in the Holy Land. It is often the eye of the storm here. This is a place that's sacred to Muslims around the world. It's associated with the Prophet Muhammad. It's also sacred in Jewish tradition as the spot where the ancient temple stood in biblical times. And nationalist Jewish groups have been asserting their presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound more and more. They want the right to pray there. Whenever we've seen that Palestinians perceive Israelis are encroaching on this site, we've seen violence and that violence spreads. And there is the chance

that the potential for violence could be higher under the incoming Israeli government. Itamar Ben-Gvir has been a longtime proponent of Jewish prayer at this Muslim-run site. He is tapped to oversee the police as the Minister of National Security. And so nationalist Jewish groups who visit there every day are feeling really good right now. They're feeling that they're going to get more rights at what they consider to be the Temple Mount. I was there with them recently. So who were you with and what did you see there? Yeah, I was with a group of 20, about 20 Orthodox Jews. They walk the perimeter of this compound

every morning. This group was flanked by about seven police officers. And usually in the past, the Israeli police have prevented Jewish groups from praying at this site. But that is not really the case anymore. I saw them openly flaunting the police ban on prayer. They were reading the Jewish morning prayers from their smartphones. And when I spoke with one of the Jewish activists, Rabbi Shimshon El-Boim, he says, listen, our strategy is baby steps.

He's hoping that this new Israeli government might start with allowing them more expanded visiting hours for Jews, and more and more, maybe eventually leading to Jewish prayer. I asked him, could Jewish prayer at this Muslim-run site inflame the entire Middle East? And he says, you know, Israel, the country, also came into being through war. No one gives up their dreams just because it comes with a price. So Daniel, what do Palestinians at this religious site

think about what the new Israeli government might end up doing? I spoke about that with a member of the Muslim Advisory Council there, Mustafa Abu Suay. And he says, you know, listen, this is a mosque complex. It's administered by Jordan. It's been a Muslim-run religious site for hundreds of years. And he thinks Jewish groups are trying to change that. I am worried. I am very worried. I'm really worried. He does think that Itamar Ben-Gvir will allow mass Jewish prayer at this site. Ben-Gvir, I think, is willing to open the Pandora box. He's hoping that the U.S. will pressure incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to let Ben-Gavir make those changes.

And remember, last year, tensions at this site concerning Israeli police violence against Palestinian demonstrators, that escalated into a full-fledged war with Gaza. As you pointed out, conflict at that site has led to actual war between Israel and militants in Gaza. So I'm curious, what about inside Israel? How could this new government affect relationships between Palestinians and Jewish Israelis who sometimes are sharing the same towns? That's right. We're talking about the 20% of Israel's citizens who are Palestinian Arab. And this is a big question that Israel faces. Can it be a Jewish state and still protect democracy and equal rights for its Palestinian citizens? These are people who frequently face discrimination in Israel. And this new Israeli government is going to be prioritizing

Israel's Jewish character. So a good place to imagine how these tensions might be playing out is a city called Lod. This is a city where Arabs and Jews literally live in the same apartment buildings side by side. Last year, when there was tension at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian citizens in Lod protested, and there were street fights. I was there. I saw burned out cars. I saw synagogues and mosques that were damaged and attacked. Arab and Jewish neighbors in this city were killed. And when I went back to that city last week to ask people about what they're thinking about this new Israeli government, I met a rabbi there, Haggai Greenfield.

His synagogue was damaged last year, and he is happy about the new government. The story is a struggle between identities, the Jewish identity and the Arab identity. And it won't be solved by regular civilian rights. It cannot be solved by that way. It has to be solved by showing the Arabs that the Jews are the ones that rule over. And he told me that he only felt safe last year when armed Israeli volunteers, basically militia, were roaming the streets. And Itamar Ben-Gvir was actually the one who encouraged those armed Israelis to go to that

town last year. And now, as Minister of National Security, he wants tougher policing of Arabs and Palestinians. This has Palestinians in the city worried, that this is just a preview of what is to come under the new government. I spoke with an Arab city councilman from a neighboring city. His name is Mino Abu Laban. He told me a man like Ben-Gvir, who incites against me, is now going to be responsible for my safety. So, Daniel, we have talked about Palestinian-Israeli relations, Arab-Jewish relations. What else can you tell us about what these incoming far-right leaders plan to do in government?

They're talking about a lot of far-reaching policies that could affect pluralism and could affect democratic institutions in Israel. I attended a meeting of democracy activists who are trying to map out what to expect. This is Shatil, an umbrella organization that advises NGOs, civil society groups in Israel. They were sitting around a big table and they had a screen up talking about threats and they were mapping out potential threats to democracy under this new government. There was talk of learning lessons from weakened democracies in Hungary and in Turkey and the far right that has risen in Italy. And they're predicting that the first major step this Israeli government could take is a major overhaul of the legal system, the independence of the judiciary, making the Supreme Court not be the final say

in Israeli legislation. And remember, the Supreme Court in Israel is historically the branch of government that defends Palestinians and minority rights and protections for African asylum seekers and so many more. We are already seeing civil society standing up, hundreds of Israeli school principals saying they're not going to cooperate with the incoming deputy minister, Avima Oz, who may want to cancel pro-LGBTQ curriculum in schools. The politics in Israel have been moving rightward for decades now. So should this new far-right government be all that surprising? This is a point that Palestinians, many Palestinians make, that, look, the extremist

far-right elements of this incoming government are no aberration. This is an unmasking of the real Israel that Palestinians have experienced for a long time under Israeli occupation, and now, you know, reaching Israelis' own doorstep. This is a point Palestinian activist Issa Amro made recently. He spoke to Israeli activists over a megaphone. You know, you are being silent about the Israeli occupation, and now you're facing the consequences with far-right leaders like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bitzel El-Smotrich. His point to Israelis is ignore the extremism of your country's occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank. It'll affect your lives, too, and now it is.

Daniel, you've described a number of scenarios so far, and it begs the question, will Benjamin Netanyahu let his far-right allies really do all of these things? It's an excellent question because the far-right does have a lot of leverage over Netanyahu. He is on trial for corruption, and his far-right allies are willing to manipulate the legal system to shield him from prison time. Now, Netanyahu is making the case he's going to manipulate the legal system to shield him from prison time. Now, Netanyahu is making the case he's going to be the one in control here. He's going to be protecting LGBTQ rights. He's going to be responsible with policy.

But another big question here is how will the U.S. view all of this? The Biden administration is concerned about Israeli democracy under this new government. It's concerned about policy it might take toward Palestinians. The question is, how much will the Biden administration be willing to push back on the far right in Israel's new government? NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem.

It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Juana Summers.