The fixed and variable things in the new Israeli government

Changing the faces and the parties is just a formal change; this does not affect the substance, does not affect the constants and the starting points, does not eliminate the priorities, and does not cancel the fundamentals. Change here does not give up the constants, beliefs and convictions, for the lack of an extremist Minister does not mean that a moderate one would take his place. Moreover, this does not mean that the government that is missing right-wing people has become a moderate one, but the same fanaticism is scrambling, and the Israeli extremism is competing.

The Israelis all together agree on the objectives and visions, and are not at odds regarding the intentions and the interests, and that is why the alliances are formed, and the blocs are built so that to achieve the same objectives, which are inherited and continuous. The Israelis are keen to follow the old resolutions, and to implement previous recommendations, in a way that gives the work of their governments the form of institutions that work according to programs and plans. Thus, the new continues the work of the old, and the old draws the plans and develops strategies to enable the one coming after to complete and follow-up. This makes the degree of change in the policy of the Israeli government become limited if not to say it is totally missing regarding its conflict with the Arabs and the Palestinians, its security, the safety of its existence, and the future of its survival, as well as regarding everything related to the city of Jerusalem in terms of its unity, purity and being the eternal unified capital of the Israeli entity. However, the Israeli governments compete among themselves to serve the Talmudic concepts and to make the Jewish dreams represented in the return of “God’s chosen people” to the city of “Jerusalem” come true. According to them, “the Lord” wanted this city to be a gateway to their autonomy and a capital to their entity.

The survival of the Israeli governments and their continuation depends on being stick to the constants and maintaining the assets and the ideological and historical legacies of the Jews.

However, some Israeli governments and partisan coalitions might face some change in the general form of the political, economic and social life in a way that does not harm the Israeli constants, does not raises any doubt or mistrust around them, and does not cause any minimal damage to them, only regarding the Israeli citizen personally, as well as regarding everything that is reflected on his/her life and gains. Therefore, the great Israeli governmental coalition that was formed between the three partisan electrodes; the Likud, Kadima and Labor, would make changes in some special aspects of the Israeli life, at a time when the Israeli historical and emerging fundamentals will be strengthened. This comes because their survival relies in the constants and their tactics and reasoning relies in the variables.

At the domestic Israeli level, this coalition might weaken the role and influence of the “Israel Our Home” party, headed by the Israeli Foreign Minister Avagodor Lieberman, and perhaps Netanyahu wants to exclude Lieberman and his party and wishes to get rid of his impact and influence, for he knows that Lieberman was an opportunist in his alliance with him and has been able to dictate to him and to the Likud party his own conditions. He also knows that he is the fundamental guarantor for the stability of the government, and that without him Netanyahu will not be able to form his government. The Israeli President Shimon Peres was possibly going to assign the Kadima party’s leader at that time Tsifana Livni to form the government, since her party was the most representative party in the Israeli Knesset, but Lieberman’s standing with Netanyahu enabled him to form his longest government ever, which was the most stable among his previous sessions. However, the late coalition might weaken Leiberman’s paper, might make him lose his role and impact, and might deprive him of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he was running for nearly three years, causing to his president and country great political and diplomatic crises with a lot of the friendly and ally countries.

It is expected that the influence of the religious extremist right-wing parties might decrease, as well as the hard-line voices in the Likud party itself, because they know that they will not be able to weaken the ruling coalition if they left the ranks of the party and formed new parties. This comes since the number of people supporting this coalition will be larger and stronger and would not be affected by the withdrawal of one or more members, who would move to the weak and small opposition.

The next Israeli government will be firmly sticking to its laws with the demands of the religious parties claiming to exempt it from the military service, and the government will find itself free to re-draft the laws on this matter. Hence, this will force the religious Jews to perform the mandatory military service, and would deprive them from the possibility of being released from serving in the army, and this is what the hard-line religious parties have sought to achieve, for they consider that they have the enough power and influence that would make the Israeli prime minister be subjected to them and respond to their requests.

The new coalition, which has a secular color, would be able to pass a new electoral law that would change the rules of the voting system that is creating large and numerous mosaic partisan statuses that would have their own terms and complications. This would force the prime minister and his party to submit to their terms, to obey to their wishes, to implement their agendas, and to meet their demands, even if they were expensive, awkward, affect the effective functioning of the government and shackle it, and might be a reason for its short term or its poor performance. Therefore, such a coalition could establish a new electoral law, which would go beyond the voting system, and would be based on the basis of a direct election, and this would enable the major parties to increase their representation in the Israeli Knesset, and would reduce the number of members of the representatives of religious parties.

In fact, the religious parties are what previously made the Likud party reach to power for the first time in 1977 in the Israeli government, and also enabled Netanyahu in his current and previous governments to maintain the stability of his government, despite the fact that their parliamentary majority was most of the time weak.

The new Israeli alliance might succeed in jumping above some of the economic challenges that have caused Netanyahu great anxiety, and drove out the Israeli public to the streets and squares to protest against the economic programs of his government that are based on austerity and tax increases. The Israeli popular protests were almost similar to the Arab spring revolutions, including those demanding to topple Netanyahu’s government, asking him to give up his position, and to leave along with his government. The coalition government might adopt some of the emergency laws and procedures that would revitalize and revive the Israeli economy and restore trust in it, but it would certainly be one of the most extreme and radical Israeli governments, and perhaps its three pillars confirm this description and deny any opposite saying. It is a government of a militia, a coalition of killers of dreams, and shadows and glories of Generals of wars.