Friday, October 28: Israeli Elections
Checking in on the 'healthiest democracy in the Middle East'
Next week, Israel is holding its fifth election in less than four years, a sure sign of a healthy, functioning democracy if I’ve ever seen one. The former prime minister and apartheid aficionado Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself in a bit of a pickle. His personal and political futures are intertwined, as becoming prime minister again is probably the easiest way to escape the consequences of his criminal trials…sound familiar?
Netanyahu, who is still facing three separate corruption charges, has chosen to team up with the worst of the worst, joining forces with anti-Palestinian extremists to try and drum up support. Polls predict that the rightwing alliance will fall short of a majority in the next Knesset (Israeli parliament) by just one or two seats. But if turnout in the Arab Israeli population is low, it’s possible that the most far-right government in Israeli history will come to power.
The 1.8 million Palestinian citizens of Israel, also referred to as Arab Israelis, have been discriminated against since Israel’s creation in 1948: the 2018 nation state law, which specified that the right to exercise national self-determination is “unique to the Jewish people”, was widely seen as codifying their status as second-class citizens. Naturally, many Palestinian citizens of Israel are hesitant to even vote, frustrated with being used by the political class as a tool against the return of Netanyahu. Add on to that the disillusionment with government failure to address systemic racism and many Arab Israeli’s may not go to the voting booth at all. Analysis in the run-up to the election next week suggests the community’s voter turnout could be as low as 40%.
“We are not desperate yet, but this election is very important. Just one seat, just 35,000 votes, could make the difference. It is a huge challenge to convince people that anything can change, but we have a lot to fight for yet.”
-Ahmad Tibi, leader of the Arab nationalist party Ta’al
There’s no foreseeable outcome that truly benefits the Palestinian people, only varying degrees of bad results. The continued rise of far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir and his Religious Zionist party is an additional point of concern. Ben-Gvir built a legal career defending Jewish suspects charged with terrorism and hate crime, and has been indicted more than 50 times for incitement. His alliance is currently expected to win the third-largest share of the vote in next week’s election, thanks in part to Netanyahu, who has reportedly promised the former lawyer a cabinet position in his next government.
Side Items
New Chief Twit in Town: The world’s richest man purchased the world’s biggest microphone yesterday, just weeks before an important election. Elon Musk finally took control of Twitter, after months of speculation and court battles, and almost immediately fired four top executives of the company. Musk has unironically labeled himself a “free speech absolutist”, saying he wants to make the social media platform a more open place for all types of commentary. He also hinted at reversing the ban of Ol Donny Trump from Twitter
New English Royalty: Rishi Sunak, the unelected incoming Prime Minister in the UK, is somehow even wealthier than the monarchs of England (also unelected). His family’s wealth rests on his father-in-law’s founding of Infosys, an outsourcing company based in India. It’ll be interesting to watch a near-billionaire prime minister try to guide a struggling empire through what looks to be a long, cold winter. I give him six months
My Favorite Named Sporting Event: Yesterday in La Liga MX, the Mexican pro soccer league, two teams combined for one of my favorite showdowns all year; Toluca vs. Pachuca. Knowing little about the Mexican league, I picked out my favorite teams based solely on their names, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a better combo than these two. Yesterday’s match ended with a dominant Pachuca win, 5-1, but hopefully the game’s festivities were enough to cheer up Toluca fans