Israel edges closer to an ultra-nationalist religious government

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud party leader and Israel's prime minister-designate, edges closer to assembling an ultra-nationalist religious government after signing power-sharing deals with two extreme parties, 'Jewish Power' and 'Noam'.

An agreement between the Likud and Religious Zionism appears imminent following announcements that the two had reached an understanding regarding significant issues. 

MK Bezalel Smotrich, a fanatic settler, is seeking control over the Civil Administration, the branch of the Israeli army that runs the day-to-day affairs of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In addition, Smotrich appears set to become the minister of finance after his bid to take the defence ministry met domestic and international opposition. 

"The coming government in Israel is going to consist of full-fledged fascists, messianic theocrats and real neo-Nazi bigots," Knesset member Ofer Cassif told The New Arab. Cassif is a member of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality party, also known as the al-Jabha. Cassif's party, together with the Arab Movement for Renewal, secured only five seats in the 25th Knesset. 

Netanyahu's next goal is to reach agreements with the two ultra-orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism. 

Religious Zionism, originally made up of three parties, mustered fourteen seats in the Israeli parliament following the national election on 1 November. However,  the three parties disbanded the alliance and negotiated separately with the Likud. 

Avi Maoz, leader of the one-person party, Noam, and a settler in the occupied West Bank spearheads the opposition to LGBTQ rights in Israel. 

Homophobic rhetoric, however, comes from multiple members of Netanyahu's coalition partners, including the Likud. 

Itamar Ben Gvir (here kicking a Trans woman, 2008), the new Israeli minister for national security, would be in charge of:
Police
Border Police in the West Bank
"Green patrol" (against Beduins)
And his party in charge of:
heritage and archaeology
"Negev and Galilee development" pic.twitter.com/buLahDz3iJ

— Yair Wallach (@YairWallach) November 25, 2022

 Under the agreement with Netanyahu, Moaz gets the post of deputy minister and control of an agency that oversees Jewish immigration from Russia. 

ההסכם עם אבי מעוז ומינויו המסתמן לסגן שר במשרד ראש הממשלה הוא נקודת שפל. מי שקרא לנו סוטים, פדופילים ובעלי נטיות הפוכות, מי שכל פעילותו עוסקת באובססיביות ברצון לשלול מאיתנו זכויות ולהכשיר שנאה כלפי להט״ב- אינו ראוי לכהן כסגן שר בממשלת ישראל.

— האגודה למען הלהט"ב בישראל | The Aguda (@AgudaIsraelLGBT) November 27, 2022

"The agreement with Avi Maoz and his apparent appointment as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office is a low point. The one who called us perverts, paedophiles and those with the opposite tendencies, the one whose entire activity is obsessively concerned with the desire to deny us rights and train hatred towards LGBT people - does not deserve to serve as a deputy minister in the Israeli government," wrote an Israeli LGBT group. 

Moaz has denied the legitimacy of non-Orthodox Judaism, including the Reform and Conservative movements, which are marginal in Israel but dominant in the U.S. and have long provided the country with financial and diplomatic support.

The deal with the Likud was the "first step in returning the soul to the country," Moaz said, who looks to spread his vision of "Jewish identity" and "normative families" among Israelis. 

Earlier, the Likud signed an agreement with MK Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party. Ben Gvir, a settler with numerous offences, is set to become the national security minister, with sweeping powers over the police. 

Control over the police gives the rash Ben Gvir oversight on the day-to-day police work in the sensitive Muslim site of the al-Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. 

Al-Haram al-Sharif is revered by Palestinians, and its significance has transcended the spiritual and religious. 

Jews refer to the site as Temple Mount. Over the past years, an increasing number of observant Jews have been pushing Israeli governments to allow Jewish prayer on the site—a dangerous step. 

Jordan is the custodian of Islamic sites in occupied East Jerusalem, and any shift in the status quo would no doubt have diplomatic consequences vis-a-vis its relations with Israel.  

The National Security Ministry will also have control over the Green Police, tasked with environmental protection but now may be used chiefly to go after Palestinian Bedouin communities in the periphery of Jerusalem and the South. 

Ben Gvir is reportedly contemplating appointing close associate and right-hand man Chanamel Dorfman as head of his office. 

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted Dorfman at a protest against African asylum seekers in south Tel Aviv as saying: "The only problem with the Nazis is that I was on the losing side."

"The Palestinian people and democratic Jews are under immediate and certain danger, and that includes a threat to Al-Aqsa," warned Cassif. 

Yehuda Shaul, a founder of Breaking the Silence, wrote in a tweet, "Illiberalism, anti-Palestinian incitement, and entrenching the occupation," are at the core of Netanyahu's coalition. 

Over the past year, violence against Palestinians by Israelis has increased considerably. The Israeli army's daily raids on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank have killed at least 132 Palestinians this year, according to United Nations figures. Nineteen Israelis have been killed, by Palestinians, in the same period. 

Last week, several cars were torched in the Arab villages of Abu Gosh and Ein Naqoba near Jerusalem. 

One resident of Abu Ghosh believes the arson attack is a reprisal coming from adjacent Jewish locales against the residents' "Arab and Palestinian identity."

Yousef Abu Ghosh says this is the third arson attack in the area in as little as two years. 

"[This attack] comes in the context of the supremacist colonial mentality of Israelis," Yousef told TNA. 

Perpetrators also sprayed graffiti in Hebrew letters, calling for the expulsion of Arabs.

"It's a punishment for choosing to vote for the Arab parties and not voting for Israeli parties," he added. 
 
On Tuesday, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in three separate incidents in the occupied West Bank. One Israeli soldier was seriously hurt in a car-ramming attack. 

"I call the international community, the Arab and Muslim world to intervene and prevent those dangers before the world deteriorates into flames and bloodshed," MK Cassif stated.