Thursday, December 29, 2022

Bibi's Ominous Return




Disgraced former Israeli Prime Minister and Trump ally Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's far right, ultra religious coalition is set to take power today, as a result of winning a majority of seats in the Knesset in Israel's November elections. With him, he'll be bringing a assortment of ultranationalist firebrands and zealous religious advocates who are positioned to enact some of the harshest policies toward Palestinians and, many say, toward democracy. From the Associated Press:

"Netanyahu’s new government has pledged to prioritize settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, extend massive subsidies to his ultra-Orthodox allies and push for sweeping reform of the judicial system that could endanger the country’s democratic institutions. [snip]

Netanyahu heads a government comprised of a hard-line religious ultranationalist party dominated by West Bank settlers, two ultra-Orthodox parties and his nationalist Likud party.

His allies are pushing for dramatic changes that could alienate large swaths of the Israeli public, raise the risk of conflict with the Palestinians, and put Israel on a collision course with some of its closest supporters, including the United States and the Jewish American community."  (our emphasis)

Netanyahu's coalition has made it clear that, in time, the claims of the Palestinians to the West Bank will be vacated, and the territory absorbed into Israel, previous agreements and treaties notwithstanding:

"Netanyahu’s government published its platform, which stated that 'the Jewish people have exclusive and indisputable rights' over the entirety of Israel and the Palestinian territories and will advance settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. That includes legalizing dozens of wildcat outposts and a commitment to annex the entire territory, a step that would draw heavy international opposition by destroying any remaining hopes for Palestinian statehood and add fuel to calls that Israel is an apartheid state if millions of Palestinians are not granted citizenship."  (our emphasis)

His resemblance to the Malignant Loser is striking, minus the stupidity and buffoonish behavior. On an international level, Netanyahu not only has a close relationship with the Malignant Loser, but he's cultivated warm relations with other authoritarians like Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's murderous Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman, relations that are likely to deepen. He still has bribery and corruption charges hanging over his head from his previous term in office, something that he may succeed in overturning. The next couple of years in the Middle East with Netanyahu forging ahead with his regressive policies, coupled with Iran's sinister alliance with Putin, should be of real concern to the U.S.

 

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