FermanMonteRae

Reshared for future reference

Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger

The American and European press tends to portray Israeli politics in fairly simplistic, one-sided ways: it’s either composed entirely of heroes or of villains. Reality, as you may guess, is quite a bit more complicated. The past few years have been more complicated still, as a right-wing coalition forged by Netanyahu has gradually shifted towards fascism, and he has worked steadily to weaken his most powerful and determined enemy: the military.

This is one of those ways in which Israeli politics are very different from other countries’: the Israeli military is universally respected across society, and it has also systematically been one of the clearest voices for restraint, diplomacy, and peace. Netanyahu, on the other hand, forged a coalition out of the ultra-Orthodox, ultranationalists, settlers, and the clever manipulation of Russian immigrants – groups either new to the country or historically at the sidelines of politics. (The largest ultra-Orthodox party, for example, spent years with their primary focus being on corruption. For it, not against it, in case that isn’t clear)

Fascinatingly, he has done this despite being widely hated and mistrusted. Much of his power came not from his own personal success, but through a combination of luck and planning keeping everyone else in chaos.

This article goes through the history of the political manoeuvers which allowed Netanyahu to achieve this unprecedented level of power. It doesn’t explain nearly everything; there are many dimensions beyond this, including the collapse of the left wing following the failed Camp David talks in 2000, the vacuum created by Ariel Sharon’s unexpected stroke in 2006, or the long-term effects of the project to convert second-generation Russian immigrants to the far right. (First-generation immigrants were offered inexpensive housing in settlements; existing (ultranationalist) settlers got to define how things like education worked in those areas.)

Nor, alas, does it explain why Netanyahu is such an asshole. But this appears to be our fate: Some men are born assholes; some achieve assholery; yet we all seem to have assholes thrust upon us.

(Article via medium.com/@TheSunday)