Israeli elections: Another Deadlock

Despite being described as the only democracy in the Middle East, and the country with the most stable political system, Israel held its 4th parliamentary elections in just 2 years.
While the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, aimed to grab more domestic supporters through the latest normalization deals with the Arab states, the Likud Party failed to secure more than 59 seats in Tuesday’s election.
   

Experts believe that for Nenatyahu to succeed, he will have to bring Israeli hardliners and the United Arab list, a small Arab party, to his side.
“I stretch out my hand to all [members of the Knesset] who believe in this path; I don’t rule anybody out. I expect all who believe in our principles to act in a similar fashion.” said Netanyahu in his latest speech in Jerusalem.
 

Netanyahu will have to rely on his traditional allies from the ultra orthodox factions, such as Aryeh Deri, who’s known for his extremist stance against women. Additionally, he might need backing from another extremist group known as, Religious Zionism, whose leaders demand the expulsion of “disloyal” Arabs from the state of Israel.
 

Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the Religious Zionism group, kept a photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, an American-Israeli settler who shot dead 29 Palestnians during their morning prayer.
On the other side, Yair Lapid’s party- that represents the opposition camp in Israel- has secured around 17 seats, ranking as the second largest group after the Likud.
 

“Three months ago, we brought down the government. We were the fourth largest party in Israel and now we are the second largest and leading the change bloc,” Lapid said at Yesh Atid’s election party.
Lapid added “At the moment, Netanyahu doesn’t have 61 seats but the change bloc does. We’ll wait for the final results but as it stands there won’t be a government based on the votes of the racists and homophobes,” 
 

Netnyahu and Lapid are competing to secure 61 seats. However, neither Netnyahu nor Lapid will succeed in forming the government, if they fail to grab the support of small parties. .
While Raam, an Arab party in Israel, is less hostile to the Likud party, in comparison to other Arab parties, it is less likely to join Netnyahu’s government. This is due to the fact that the Religious Zionism party has announced its refusal to join the coalition, if Raam became part of it.
On the other side, the opposition camp is divided, and its less likely to form a coalition government. In this regard, it is predictable that a 5th election might take place, if the deadlock continues.
 

Analysts believe that the outcome is important. When it comes to the Arab Israeli conflict, a right-wing government will resume Israel’s racist policies, especially the settlement one. Add to this, the situation might become worse, when it comes to Palestanins’s vaccination ;a right wing party will refuse to provide the underprivileged Palestinians with enough vaccines. Finally, the outcome will affect Netnyahu’s trial on charges of corruption. If a right-wing government is formed, it will block the trial from proceeding.
All this furthers exposes the myth of Israel as a democracy.