NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 | 45

In addition, the Bennett-
Lapid alliance brought a self-de-
clared anti-Zionist Arab party 
into government for the first 
time. Without the Ra’am Party, 
the anti-Netanyahu bloc could 
not have assembled its bare 
1-seat majority in June 2021. 
The ideologically disparate 
alliance lasted barely a year to 
the day, with Ra’am wavering in 
its support of the government 
during major Israeli security 
operations in Gaza, as well as in 
Judea and Samaria.
Ra’am’s unprecedented par-
ticipation in government was a 
major source of contention for 
Israel’s traditional voter base and 
contributed to the present right-
wing resurgence. 

SURPRISE SURGES
The surprise electoral surges in 
support during this fifth round 
both occurred on the right wing.
In the first, the Religious 
Zionist Party, once a fringe 
group in Israeli politics, soared 
to become the third-largest 
party in the Knesset with 14 
mandates. The party, a techni-
cal bloc of smaller right-wing 
factions, is led by longtime par-
liamentarian Bezalel Smotrich. 
Second on the candidates list is 
up-and-coming political fire-
brand Itamar Ben-Gvir, a former 
supporter of the banned Kach 
political party.
While arousing controversy 
among many detractors, Ben-
Gvir has garnered tremendous 
support from young voters who 
feel disenfranchised by longtime 
political leaders. He is calling for 
enhanced security, greater pro-
tections for soldiers and police 
officers operating against ene-
mies in the field, and tougher 
conditions for terrorists sitting 
in Israeli prisons. The growing 
support for his views is itself a 
referendum on security policies 
carried out by a left-wing polit-
ical and defense establishment, 
which led to a dramatic increase 
in terror in the year since 

Netanyahu left office.
The second surge in sup-
port came in the nation’s 
two Orthodox sectors. Both 
the Ashkenazi United Torah 
Judaism party and the Sephardic 
Shas party secured mandate 
totals that exceeded the pre-elec-
tion forecasts. In particular, Shas 
soared by three mandates up to 
11 seats on Election Day. The 
Orthodox communities typically 
have low voter turnout. The 
sudden high turnout gives the 
Orthodox parties representation 
matching their growing share of 
the population.
More important, the rise of 
the two Orthodox parties plus 
Religious Zionist demonstrate 
their constituents’ strong desire 
to safeguard Israel’s traditional 
and uniquely Jewish national, 
religious and social values. 
Strengthening the values that 
make Israel unique runs counter 
to the leftward, globalist trends 
affecting many of the Jewish 
state’s Western allies.
The election of a broad right-
wing government is a clear 
rejection of the progressive 
values Yair Lapid and his left-
wing allies attempted to foist 
upon the electorate — without 
a clear mandate to do so. In 
particular, the failure of the far-
left Meretz Party to cross the 
electoral threshold is a stinging 
defeat for the progressive camp. 
The left-wing Labor party barely 
crossed the threshold to receive 
the four-mandate minimum, a 
historic low for Israel’s former 
ruling party.
Members of the left-wing 
are now turning their animus 
on left-wing leader Lapid for 
cannibalizing the votes of the 
smaller parties in his bloc. And 
while Yesh Atid did improve 
to 24 seats, up from 17 in the 
previous election, an eight-seat 
gap behind Likud is not enough 
to convince anyone in Israel that 
Lapid deserves to remain in the 
prime minister’s chair that he 
co-opted as a “caretaker” once 

Naftali Bennett resigned.
Naftali Bennett and Yair 
Lapid now both hold the con-
secutive distinctions of being the 
shortest-lasting prime ministers 
in the state’s history. Bennett 
has since resigned from politics 
altogether. Lapid is now set to 
become head of the opposition, 
where he will continue his end-
less campaign to delegitimize 
Netanyahu.
Lapid is likely to be sitting in 
the opposition for a long time. 
Unlike previous alignments, 
the incoming Netanyahu-led 
right-wing government has 
great potential to last a complete 
four-year term. After years of 
instability, a full term is just 
what Israelis need to secure their 
national interests.
Any attempts to delegitimize 
Netanyahu or his right-wing 
allies would be an affront to the 
voting public who have defin-
itively ended Israel’s political 
deadlock. In contrast, it was the 
left wing that used every tool at 
its disposal to break precedents 
and hijack Israel’s democratic 
processes. 
In a fair and democratic 
election, the public has finally 
rejected the anti-Netanyahu 
bloc’s efforts and sent a clear 
message that the left-wing and 
Arab parties belong on the 
benches of the opposition.
Once the dust settles, 
Netanyahu will need to quickly 
set his policy agendas. Issues 
that his government will need 
to address include mounting 
Palestinian violence, Iran’s pur-
suit of nuclear weapons, the 
Abraham Accords agreements, 
and rapidly rising costs of hous-
ing and living.
Another will be to try and 
heal the rifts caused by Israel’s 
repeat election cycles. With 
strong governance, Israel may 
not enter another such cycle for 
at least four years. 

Alex Traiman is CEO and Jerusalem 

Bureau Chief of Jewish News Syndicate.

Several Jewish 
Organizations 
Express Concern

TIMES OF ISRAEL

Several American Jewish 
groups have raised concerns 
over the presumed inclusion of 
the far-right Religious Zionism 
party in the next Israeli gov-
ernment following the Nov. 1 
elections.
While some groups praised 
Israeli democracy without dis-
cussing the results themselves, 
more progressive organizations 
immediately expressed serious 
misgivings about past com-
ments and actions by members 
of the Religious Zionism party 
against Arabs, the LGBT com-
munity and others.
The Anti-Defamation League 
stated, “We believe that includ-
ing these far-right individuals 
and parties in an Israeli gov-
ernment would run counter to 
Israel’s founding principles, and 
impact its standing, even among 
its strongest supporters.”
The ADL added that it “will 
not shirk from calling out 
expressions by, and policies 
of, the Israeli government and 
Israeli leaders that are hateful, 
racist, anti-Arab, homophobic 
and anti-democratic.”
The National Council of 
Jewish Women released a fierce 
response on Nov. 3.
“We support the electoral 
process in Israel and respect 
the outcome of its elections. 
And we are deeply concerned 
by the statements and ideolo-
gies of the parties that appear 
to be forming the next coali-
tion government — particularly 
the anti-LGBTQ+, anti-women 
and anti-Arab rhetoric from 
the parties that make up 
the Religious Zionism Slate, 
including Ben Gvir’s Otzma 
Yehudit party, the Noam party 
and the Religious Zionism 
party,” the organization’s CEO 
Sheila Katz said.
“NCJW will always stand 
up for justice, democracy and 
diplomacy, and we refuse to 
normalize racism, incitement 
or discrimination,” she said. 

