Netanyahu will assemble the most far-right government Israel has ever had | Opinion

Elections in a democratic country are usually about big issues: security, economy, immigration, environment and the such. Not so in this week’s Israeli elections. The biggest issue of all — what Israel is going to do about the Palestinian issue — was hardly mentioned. The voters went to the ballots pondering one question only: Are you for or against Benjamin Netanyahu, better known as Bibi.

Israelis’ answer was loud and clear. Of the 4 million votes counted on Tuesday, 2 million of them went to small parties, on the right and left of center. The other 2 million, who solely addressed the Bibi question, were split evenly: One million believe that Bibi is Israel’s king who should go on ruling us forever, while the other million are sick and tired of him and voted for an alternative.

Netanyahu will soon form his new government, and it will be the most far-right government Israel has ever had. It will consist of people from the United Right Party who believe that Israel should annex Area C of the West Bank, thus pounding the last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution. This will doom Israel to become one bi-national state, where Israel either loses its Jewish identity or its democracy.

Avigdor Liberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, another sure coalition partner, was until recently a defense minister who resigned, protesting the alleged soft stance of Israel toward Gaza and demanding a destruction of Hamas. His returning to the Defense Ministry might signal another land operation in Gaza, yielding nothing but more casualties to both sides. Gaza needs a carrot-and-stick approach, not stick only.

Not to mention Yariv Levin, of Bibi’s own Likkud who will probably be the next justice minister. He has been promoting an initiative to allow the Knesset to overrule decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court, which — in the absence of a Constitution and a Bill of Rights — is the only protector of civil and human rights in Israel.

Last but not least, Netanyahu will be highly dependent on two ultra-Orthodox parties — Shas and United Tora Judaism — each having eight seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Each of them alone would be able to topple his 65-seat coalition. This means enhanced religious pressure on the otherwise liberal Israeli lifestyle. It will also further aggravate the already sour relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community, which is largely non-Orthodox.

This is a bleak picture. However, there is an alternative. Unlike the American system, where every four years, half of Americans believe that the White House was hijacked by either a fascist or a communist, in Israel, the two big parties can form a national-unity government.

After the 1984 elections, when Labor won 44 seats (alas, Tuesday, it hardly grabbed six), and Likkud got 41. Since neither party could form a coalition, they joined together, with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir rotating as prime ministers. Enjoying a huge majority in the Knesset, Labor and Likkud didn’t owe any favors to small parties, and together they were able to make significant decisions and overcome awesome challenges: In the span of a few months, this National Unity government pulled most of our troops out of Lebanon and, overnight, killed three-digit inflation. Israelis’ wages were cut by 30 percent, yet nobody complained, because they felt that they government, which represented the vast majority of the people, was doing the right thing.

Though the chance of a national unity government now looks like a remote possibility, things can change quickly.

Netanyahu is facing corruption charges in three cases. He himself demanded that the attorney general withhold disclosure of the evidence of these cases, so it would not affect the elections. Now, the material will be released, or leaked, and the media will be running juicy stories on Netanyahu’s alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Unless — God forbid — Netanyahu and his emissaries change the laws so he can’t be indicted (they are talking about it openly, believe it or not), then Netanyahu will have to quit to defend himself in court.

Once Netanyahu clears the arena, the door will be open for a national unity government, which will be able to stand up to the challenges Israel is facing. This will be an omnipotent government, enjoying across-the-board support.

Is this a realistic option? I don’t know, but little wishful thinking never hurts.

Uri Dromi is director general of the Jerusalem Press Club.