Protests In Tel Aviv; Netanyahu More Extremist Than Ever!
The January 21 rallies in the occupied cities of al-Quds, Tel Aviv and Haifa in protesting the policies of new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought numerous reactions inside and outside the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the Israeli Hebrew language newspaper Haaretz, over 2,500 Israelis in Haifa and more than 100k people poured into Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv to hold protest rallies against Netanyahu’s policies.
Netanyahu, who formed a powerful coalition of the extreme right and Kahanists (extremist religious Zionist) succeeded in concluding the Knesset voting in favor of his own party, handed over the most vital ministries such as the Ministry of Internal Security, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior to extremist politicians, for instance Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Rabbi Aryeh Deri. The move forced the opposition faction namely the leftists to create a wave of criticism against Netanyahu and his new cabinet. Hence, his opponents triggered people to participate in the protest rallies and they themselves attended the protests as well.
The former Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Army Aviv Kokhavi and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid declared Saturday night that they will contribute to the countermeasures against Netanyahu’s policies concerning the reform of the judicial system. Yair Lapid publicized on last Wednesday before the protest rallies that the objective of the protest would be to halt the crazy behaviors by Netanyahu and his cabinet members. The former foreign minister also said that we will support our beloved country in the face of the obliteration of democracy through participating in the protest.
Even though the most comments by the opposition faction and the leftist party against Netanyahu have their roots in competitive and political agendas; however, it should not be neglected that following the new developments in occupied territories of Palestine and the West Bank, the leftists are expected to adopt vigilant policies in dealing with the Palestinian people.
At the onset of the formation of the new cabinet, Netanyahu attempted to annex Judea and Samaria Area to Israel – which encompasses the entire West Bank that was occupied by the regime since 1967 but excludes East Jerusalem – unilaterally based on an extremist attitude to show that his cabinet came to marginalize the Arab people of the West Bank and attract the support of the religious Jews, the Haredi and the Kahanists endlessly.
It is obvious that the formation of the extremist cabinet has no other motivation than to enhance racism, which is a government that prefers ultra-orthodox Judaism to human rights and behaves even the Israeli Arab citizens like foes. The new Israeli government considers the democratic and liberal thoughts as foreign plots, which seek to decline the Jewish identity; thus, the leftists are entitled to take on a leadership role, when it comes to the protests and encourage the opponents of Netanyahu to take part in the rallies.
One of the most blatant examples of the extremist policies of the Netanyahu government is the measures, which have been done by Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. The minister, who is known as the most famous politician of the right-wing “Jewish Power” Party, appeared in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in the occupied Jerusalem and violated the holiness of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and made harsh statements on the expulsion of Arab people from Palestine, which brought about strong criticism against Netanyahu and the new Israeli cabinet. The behaviors, which are even out of Israeli legal principles and regulations as well as provocative measures that triggered anger among the Arabs who are on the verge of a new intifada, prompted the Israelis to react to the extremist cabinet. Therefore, the protesters in the downtown streets of Tel Aviv raised up the Israeli flags and banners that were written on them: “Our kids are not living in a dictatorship” and “Israel, we have problem!” The protestors held up placards of Ben-Gvir’s caricatures as well.
Netanyahu’s financial charges case is still under investigation; so, in spite of the protest rallies, the new premier declared that he will keep on his plan for the judicial reforms. However, the opponents consider the reforms as an attempt to revise the constitution in a way that Netanyahu would be able to get rid of the trial. Israel’s judicial shortcomings, which are considered as a source of shame by the opponents, involved Netanyahu’s cabinet members. A day after the protest rallies and following the Israeli Supreme Court’s verdict that ruled Rabbi Aryeh Deri is not competent for the ministry post over his constant financial crimes, PM Netanyahu ordered Rabbi Aryeh Deri’s dismissal in a cabinet meeting. Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power merely three weeks ago, faces the court’s ruling as a serious blow to his reputation. Rabbi Aryeh Deri, who is the chairman of the religious party of ultra-orthodox Jews named Shas and is also the most senior minister and an ally in the Netanyahu coalition, took the helm of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health and he was supposed to take the helm of the Ministry of Finance, when it would come to rotating the cabinet positions in the middle of the government’s lifetime.
Several experts in political affairs mentioned that the continuation of the process will add to the protest rallies in Israel and the circumstances will push the regime and the Netanyahu government to face grave social and political challenges. On one hand, the opponents and the leftists; and on the other hand, the Arab people of the West Bank, who have encountered racist attitudes, have been prompted to respond in a reciprocal manner.
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