The Prime Minister of Israel was forced to make serious concessions to his far-right allies, especially the nationalist Itamar Ben Gvir.

After seven weeks of negotiations, on Wednesday, December 21, Benjamin Netanyahu finally announced, 20 minutes before a deadline set by President Isaac Herzog, that he had a government. The cabinet, which for the first time in Israel’s history will consist exclusively of right-wing parties, writes Le Monde, citing Rador.

It was supposed to be a formality. But like any family business, there was tension and mistrust. By refraining from asking for a new term, Netanyahu is trying to limit demands from his allies and members of his Likud party, who want him to make written commitments before being allowed to return to office.

The ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and the religious far-right, which secured his victory in the November 1 legislative election, have shown little faith in the prime minister, who their elders have followed in power for fifteen years since the 1990s. the proposals must be accepted for a vote of confidence in the Knesset and the swearing-in of ministers by the end of the year.

Increasing the police budget

Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir gets an expanded ministry of national security. Convicted in 2007 of inciting hatred and supporting a terrorist organization, he negotiated an increase in the police budget. He wants to put the police chief under his direct authority to set policy on investigations and determine their duration. It is to end the army’s control of the border police, which has operated in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.

This requires a law that the Knesset must vote on in its third reading next week. On December 15, the country’s Prosecutor General, Gali Baharav-Miara, warned against the “politicization of the police,” which could lead to “a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law: equality, absence of arbitrariness, and absence of bias.” .” Ben Gvir spoke out against the sovereignty of the people and the elected, saying that he “wrongly considers himself the Prime Minister of the State of Israel.”

Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the far right in the colonies, will receive the Ministry of Finance. His party also gets a second ministry in the Ministry of Defence. The unprecedented position, which lawmakers must also legislate for, will allow Smotrych to influence the administration of the occupied Palestinian territories and settlements. To the great displeasure of the military, who were given a kind of proconsulship.

Regulation of entry and exit to the West Bank

Despite his brash, theocratic and self-consciously racist appearance, Smotrych is an effective operator. It is supported by immigrants who are used to influencing state institutions. He seeks authority over settlement development plans and the demolition of Palestinian homes, which is illegal under Israeli law. This could contribute to the implementation of a large-scale program, which is already being implemented or planned, regarding the development of infrastructure in populated areas (roads, water, electricity). It will help regulate the entry and exit of Palestinians and foreigners from the West Bank. His legal advisers, “like any civil servant [nu militar], will be forced to advance the interests of Israeli citizens, not Palestinians,” warns lawyer and human rights expert Michael Sfard. Smotrych plans to create a legal office that would turn the laws passed in the parliament into military orders.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, on the contrary, intend to strengthen the exclusive power of the rabbis over their community. They demand public school-level subsidies for their religious institutions, which exclude math and history. They want to pass a law on the exemption of Orthodox students from military service without quotas and fines.

This is a challenge to the Supreme Court, which protects equality against all discrimination. They demand that city halls do not prevent them from separating men and women at public events.

And a bill is already being prepared in the parliament. It is about allowing their MP Aryeh Deri to enter the government despite his conviction in 2021 for tax fraud. The Supreme Court could veto it. “This proposed amendment to the basic law of the country [care servește drept constituție] aims to solve the problem of one man, Aryeh Deri. This cannot be done in a state governed by the rule of law,” says lawyer Mota Kremnitzer.

Scandal from more than a hundred mayors

In the end, Avi Maoz, the sole MP from the small, ultra-Orthodox and homophobic Noam party, gained control of the huge budget allocated to associations working in the school system in the prime minister’s office. The deal sparked rare outrage among more than a hundred mayors, including Likud members.

Netanyahu is afraid of offending moderate right-wing voters who find it difficult to identify with this strongly ideological government. He opposes his allies on the issue of limiting the immigration of Jews from Russia and Ukraine. Last week on NPR, he reminded viewers that he, not his partners, would set the political line: “They’re joining me, not me joining them.”

For elected members of his own party, Netanyahu keeps royal affairs: defense, foreign affairs. But he cannot satisfy all their requests.

A fourth law being drafted in the Knesset is intended to prevent hardliners from splitting by increasing the number of deputies needed to form an autonomous faction.