T S Chandrashekar
Israel is in the News in 2021 for three reasons. Firstly, it vaccinated and fought COVID-19 at the root and was successful. Secondly, when Jihadist Hamas attacked the Independent Democratic Government of Israel, the nation stood single and rooted Terror Group Hamas with less damage to them. Thirdly, the successful Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s who ruled iron grip for 12-year has been removed as Prime Minister by the historic Israeli parliamentary coalition taking the form of eight wildly diverse parties across the political spectrum.
The New Right-wing Prime Minister is Naftali Bennett 49. His Yamina the right-wing party claimed just 6 per cent of total votes in the recent election. It is said that he has the most to gain, he also has much to lose between party members defecting, an enraged voter base and threats on his safety he is paying a steep price for joining forces with the Arab and left-wing parties. Naftali also joined with centrist Israel politician Yair Lapid, 57. Naftali said the start of his term was the “beginning of a new day.” As part of the agreement between Bennett’s Yamina party and Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Lapid will serve as Israel’s prime minister for two years after Bennett has served two years.
In Democracy the Coalition Governments are always under threat as their aims and ideals are different from Majority Political Party. Coalition Governments cannot take stringent and hard decisions. They will be internally and externally very much vulnerable as their survival will be of interest than a commitment for the long term. In the 1980s, Israel was ruled by a highly successful unity government under Yitzhak Shamir of the Likud party and Shimon Peres of Labor. Will this Coalition be like that is the question. The New PM Bennett said that in order to maintain the ideologically diverse government they have formed, “we must all maintain restraint and moderation in ideological terms.”
However outgoing PM Netanyahu vowed to regain power shortly before Bennett was sworn in, telling supporters, “We’ll be back.” The New Coalition has from Islamists to secularists, settlers, to environmentalists this coalition was united around a shared commitment to dethrone long-standing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mansour Abbas and his Ra’am party have stolen the headlines as they break rank from the traditional refusal of Palestinian citizens of Israel to serve in an Israeli parliamentary coalition. In doing so, Abbas has obtained some of the most ambitious policy commitments for the betterment of his constituents approximately $16 billion worth of funds dedicated to advancing safety, infrastructure and economic well-being for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The new administration under Bennett said his government would prevent the nuclearization of Iran and would not permit rocket fire on Israeli citizens from the Gaza Strip. He made a point of starting his address by praising outgoing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his hard work over the years for the State of Israel. He said the state of Israel is not ‘just another country’. It is the dream of generations of Jews from Marrakesh to Budapest, from Bagdad to San Francisco a dream we merited to see realized every day before our very eyes. Each generation has its own challenges, and out of each generation comes the leaders that can overcome them.
Finally the happenings in Israel are very important to India as Israel is one of India’s natural ally in the region has stood with us in difficult times. The happening in Israel is watched carefully in India. India wants a peaceful Israel but the Terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Al Qaeda, should not take advantage of the political developments there. India needs a strong leadership in Israel who can take their decision strongly as it is their internal affairs India will never forget PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s who stood and welcomed PM Narendra Modi ‘We have been waiting for you for 70 years.’
Finally Former PM Netanyahu, known by all as “Bibi,” leaves behind a booming economy, newfound international respect and a decade without bus bombings by Palestinian militants. To critics, he leaves a country more divided, less equitable and largely indifferent to peace with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Naftali Bennett on being sworn in as Israel’s new prime minister and said he looked forward to meeting him and deepening their countries’ strategic partnership as they celebrate 30 years of the up-gradation of diplomatic ties next year. In his tweets, Modi also conveyed his “profound gratitude” to Benjamin Netanyahu, whose long tenure as Israeli prime minister ended. For now, Israel is moving in a different direction which the world will see in interest. But ultimately Israel as a nation should win then terror and selfish politics for immediate and target gains?
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