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The Impact of the Israeli 2019 Elections on the Israeli Right
Abstract
This paper will assess the immediate, medium, and long-term impact of the Israeli elections on right-wing politics in the country, particularly in the context of the leading role of the Right over the last ten years under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu (2009-2019) and, more generally, in the context of Israeli politics since the rise of the Right to power in 1977 under the leadership of Menachem Begin. The paper will note that since the 1970s the Israeli Right has dominated Israeli politics by emphasizing the perceived threats to Israel by the establishment of a Palestinian state, a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict that has grown in popularity since the Six-Day War (1967). The Israeli Left succeeded in challenging this Right leaning paradigm rather infrequently and for relatively brief periods (e.g. under Rabin in 1992-5 or Barak in 1996-9). Under Netanyahu, in what the paper calls “Neo-Revisionism of the 21st century”, the Rightwing Likud was successful in leading the country into a “status-quo position”, preventing it from adopting active diplomatic initiatives designed to reach a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians (along the lines of the 1993 Oslo Accords or the Camp David negotiations of 2000). Netanyahu has been highly successful in resisting any and all attempts (domestic and international) to move beyond the status quo, thereby establishing in effect an Israeli de facto annexation of the West Bank while preventing a formal annexation. The paper will assess the likelihood that this status quo position will be sustainable, able to resist annexationist pressure from the Far Right (represented by several parties in the 2019 elections) and countervailing pressures from the left and the international community toward a negotiated solution.
Discipline
International Relations/Affairs
Geographic Area
Israel
Sub Area
None