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Netanyahu once again prime minister with most far-right government in Israel’s history [1]

['John Yang', 'Dan Sagalyn']

Date: 2022-12-29 18:45:23-05:00

John Yang:

As a new chapter in Israel begins, with Netanyahu extending his record as the longest-serving prime minister.

There are all sorts of potential implications of this new Israeli government within Israeli politics, Israeli society and between Israelis and Palestinians.

David Makovsky is a longtime Israel watcher. He's director of the Project on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

David, welcome.

How different is this coalition government from the other coalitions that Netanyahu formed?

David Makovsky, Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy: The winning strategy for Netanyahu and the reason why he's won five terms until now is, he's identified with this idea of Bibi the stabilizer, which is, bring economic prosperity.

Israel's high-tech industry has helped power Israel. Its GDP is now equal with Germany and ahead of France and England. And that's just not him, by the way. There's other Israeli prime ministers that have been involved. Talk tough on the Palestinian issue, maybe, but, at the same time, be very careful not to be an adventurist and not getting people killed in Israel.

And, also, be vigilant on the Iranian nuclear program and try to keep good ties with the United States. That has been his winning formula. He's kind of thrown his playbook out the window. And instead of going with kind of a center-right independence and the like, he's moved over to a more populist, I would even say radical right.

And his belief that well, what can I do? The center-left boycotts me because they say — because I'm on trial for corruption. These are the only partners I have. So, I have to come to the dance with the ones I brought.

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/netanyahu-once-again-prime-minister-with-most-far-right-government-in-israels-history

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