Sari Orabi
Benyamin Netanyahu’s new government represents an opportunity and a misfortune to the Palestinian people. While it exposes the Israeli occupation more than any time before and puts it in a difficult situation before the world, it encourages more extensive settlement policies in the Palestinians’ vital life aspects in Al-Quds and the West Bank in general at a time that the Arab position is not on the side of the Palestinians.  All this comes to add to the problem caused by the Palestinian division and the Palestinian Authority’s policies that reject confronting the occupation and abide by its positions that led to the current condition in the first place. 

Netanyahu’s former government, which coincided with the administration of Former US President Donald Trump, announced its project to annex large areas of the West Bank. Afterwards, Trump’s administration presented its project, the Deal of the Century, which aimed to dissolve the Palestinian cause. The administration announced other measures that only supported the Israeli violations and strangulated even the Palestinian Authority itself, all with the aim of wiping out the Palestinian rights and the pillars of the Palestinian cause. This comes at a time of increasing normalization and coalition with the Israeli entity. 

Amid these conditions, the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah movement declared some rapprochement with Hamas movement. As agreed by the two movements, this rapprochement was supposed to end up with a national unity that is based on gradual, comprehensive elections. Some argued that the Palestinian crisis could not be resolved through elections, but through changing the Authority’s policies. Fatah leadership/the Authority, indeed, cancelled the elections, which gives the impression that it only aimed to fill the political vacuum until the end of Trump’s administration with no honest intentions of changing its policies. 

Netanyahu’s current government gives the Palestinians a better chance of adopting new policies with militant efforts for several reasons. For instance, this government has formed coalitions with religious parties such as “Religious Zionism” and “Jewish Power”. This means reinforcing the settlement policies and accelerating, and even legitimizing, the annexation procedures of the West Bank. These factors, and the aggravating dangers that threat Masjid Al-Aqsa, allow adopting new Palestinian policies, especially after the Authority’s project was exposed and the settlement project was aborted. 

In addition, this government is supposed to grant the Palestinian Authority more room for work in the diplomatic, media, and juridical fields at the international level; due to the outrageous speach of Netanyahu’s allies about their potential policies on the ground. Furthermore, a better, more active Palestinian movement may make the Arab normalization and coalition with the Israeli entity more embarrassing. 

The contradictions in the Israeli scene, resulting from Netanyahu’s government’s expression of unprecedentedly bad Israeli conditions reveal the corruption in the political arena, which makes Netanyahu the center of both the proponent and opponent Israeli policies. This largely affects the Israeli democracy, which should weaken the Israeli unity that has always been based on this democracy. In addition, the pressure of the religious parties (both the Haredi and the Religious Zionists) on the Israeli secular life style and the power of the Religious Zionism in the military institution may affect the institution’s strategy; making its actions less rational. This can surly affect the Israeli scene as a whole. One should not also forget the contradictions in Netanyahu’s government itself between the Haredim and the Religious Zionism. 

All these are potential opportunities that have occurred due to Netanyahu’s government, but opportunities remain dreams until seized to change the Palestinian reality. The Palestinian actions cannot be correctly and actively directed without relying on a national unity, which requires Fatah leadership to reject the settlement project and adopt the militant struggle. Unless the Palestinians escalate their actions to the required level, this Israeli government would carry the most dangerous threats to the Palestinians, as it would harbor continuous oppression and settlement amid Arab normalization and international silence.