The toxicity of far-right politics manifests itself in myriad ways — and not only here in America.
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has engineered a continuance of his grip on power, this time by forging an alliance with far-right Zionist leaders. Netanyahu won Israel's national elections earlier this month by agreeing to form a coalition between his center-right Likud Party and the far-right Jewish Power Party and the Religious Zionism party.
Just how extreme are Netanyahu's new partners? The Jewish Power Party's leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, campaigned on the promise of broadening Israeli security forces' authority to shoot Palestinians during demonstrations, and lionizes a man who once massacred 29 Palestinian worshipers at a mosque. The head of the Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, describes himself as a "proud homophobe" and has backed the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers in maternity wards at Israeli hospitals.
For "Bibi," it's a partnership motivated by his need for political survival.
Israelis, particularly the nation's younger generation, increasingly lean far right, and Netanyahu tethered himself to ultranationalists to ensure his comeback. His group got the necessary 61 seats to assume power. Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid's cobbled coalition of anti-Netanyahu parties — centrists, conservatives and pro-Arab parties — could only win 51 seats in the Knesset. The alliance's leftists were virtually shut out of parliament.
Netanyahu, who will formally announce a new coalition government within the next few weeks, also had a more urgent reason to win by linking up with the far right. Although he has denied all wrongdoing, he is facing down a trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Members of his new alliance could simply pass legislation granting Netanyahu immunity from prosecution as a sitting prime minister. They'll want something in return, but with the potential for a conviction and prison looming, Netanyahu is likely to accommodate his new friends.
None of this bodes well for Israel, its commitment to democracy, and its role in the volatile Middle East. It also complicates foreign policy for the Biden administration at a time when the American president already has too many fires to put out.
The prospect of a two-state solution has been grim for years, but the ascent of the far right into Israeli leadership outright dooms that hope. Palestinians can expect an expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, perhaps incentivized or aided by state investment. With that dynamic, no long-term resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible.
