Netanyahu: Israel’s Renowned Statesman Lost on the International Stage

OPINION — Over the course of his many decades in Israeli politics, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earned a reputation as Israel’s premier statesman and the country’s most savvy politician. But since the November 2022 elections, when Netanyahu established his dependency on far-right parties to create a majority bloc in Knesset (Parliament), Netanyahu’s policy has looked less like 3D chess and more like whack-a-mole. He may not have been enthusiastic about his new partners, nor were they about him, but the lack of realistic alternatives for each convinced both sides to hold their noses and join forces.

The center-right (Likud) and far-right (Otzma Yehudit) parties were viewed, at least from the outside, as natural coalition partners. But cracks quickly appeared in their ranks as they sought to advance their respective agendas, and it became apparent that they have distinct strategic goals and priorities. This is not to say Israel’s ruling coalition will collapse anytime soon, as each side knows that there are few other constellations which would allow them to remain in power. With the survival of the coalition likely for the foreseeable future, a struggle for control over the government’s agenda has ensued and created what can best be described as “stable disarray.”