Many question meaning behind Likud party’s latest victory
Following a few heated months of Israeli politics – with a sense of optimism steering towards a brighter future – fear triumphed over hope on March 17, and newly founded dreams were cast aside once again.
The reigning victor of the recent Israeli governmental elections is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which in Hebrew means “the consolidation.” The Likud party was conceived in 1973 by Menachem Begin; it was and remains secular, with a heavy reliance on Zionists and nationalist values. The party’s decisive victory in the 1977 elections marked two very important movements in Israeli politics: the first time a right-wing party ruled Israel, and the first appearance of Israel on the financial map of the world due to the party’s capitalist amendments.
The Likud ideology is fairly simple, but divisive nonetheless. Their platform emphasizes national security policies backed up by a robust military force, particularly during times of persistent hostility towards Israel – which is most of the time.
Based on the party’s 1999 charter, Likud emphasize Israel’s right of settlement, noting that “the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values.” As such, settlement of this land would be “a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel,” constituting “an important asset in the defence of the vital interests of the State of Israel.”
The party’s economic standings are also reflective of its ideologies: free market capitalism with a liberal agenda – emphasizing the role of large multi-national and domestic Israeli corporations in the promotion of Zionist ideals – are core to the party’s economics.
The Likud party’s controversial schema regarding the Palestinian people is much more straightforward, “flatly” rejecting any “establishment of a Palestinian-Arab state west of the Jordan river” and noting that “the Palestinians can run their lives freely […] but not as an independent and sovereign state.”
Gill Troy, professor of history at McGill University, elegantly portrayed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the defining character of this phase of Israel’s history,” deeming this “the post-founders generation.”
Son of a prominent Zionist scholar and brother of national hero, Benjamin Netanyahu is a walking, talking, ambition machine – though, according to some, one not suited for the state in which Israel currently resides.
Many believe that hostility towards Israel, both from within and from the world at large, will only strengthen Likud’s stance. Some raise concerns regarding the party’s most recent win at the polls, as many Israelis do not agree with the majority of Likud amendments, and neither living standards nor Palestinian-Israeli relations have been bettered under the Likud government.
As internal tensions continue to increase, a rather gloomy shadow may have been cast on the future of Israel, as citizens have come to fear the very thing that differs the nation from many of its neighbours: democracy.