Netanyahu's Knesset Speech Highlights Deep Political Crisis

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inflammatory speech at the opening of the 26th Knesset session on Tuesday, November 10, revealed a serious political predicament and his entrenched views on the status of Arab citizens in Israel. Netanyahu used hateful, false, and racist rhetoric to delegitimize Arab votes and representation in the Knesset, aiming to thwart the formation of a government led by Gadi Eisenkot, which would rely on the support of the United Arab List and the abstention of the Joint List. The intensity of the speech reflects Netanyahu and the far-right's understanding that Arab citizens' votes, a response to government policies, denied his bloc the necessary majority to form a new government and foiled his attempt to decisively settle the political conflict in favor of the far-right's agenda.

The speech also exposed Netanyahu's hierarchical view of citizenship, where only Jews possess the right to influence political outcomes and government formation, while Arab citizenship is deemed superficial and fragile, with their votes and representation questioned when they become decisive. The new far-right bloc failed to decisively win the political conflict against the opposition, largely representing traditional right-wing factions. The decisive factor was the Arab community's electoral behavior, with high participation and Arab lists securing nineteen Knesset seats, preventing the far-right bloc from achieving a parliamentary majority.

This outcome is viewed by the far-right as an intervention from outside the Jewish community, which they consider the sole legitimate entity to determine the state's identity and political system. The new far-right, characterized by populist traits, sees itself as the sole true representative of the people, denying this status to opponents regardless of their electoral strength. This stance aligns with the rise of the Israeli far-right over the past decade and a half, shifting from a predominantly secular focus on occupation and the "Greater Land of Israel" to emphasizing the state's Jewish character and opposing traditional elites and democratic institutions.

Netanyahu's failure to achieve a political victory through his alliance with religious and Haredi parties was compounded by the results of the US midterm elections. The Democratic Party's clear victory and the election of candidates opposing Israeli policies created a more challenging political environment in Washington, casting doubt on the future of US support. Some Israeli media analyses suggest these results are a strategic blow, especially after Vice President J.D. Vance linked Republican losses to the war and US support for Israel, and former President Donald Trump alluded to the war's electoral cost. These developments raise serious questions about Netanyahu's political future, given his domestic electoral setback.