Good luck trying to unpack this one. Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel who has brought destruction and devastation to Palestine during a brutal three-year war, has been accused of ‘going soft’ on the territory by some of his political opponents.
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Netanyahu branded ‘father of Palestine’ by far-right opposition
The remarkable statements have been made by members of Yisrael Beiteinu – who are more conservative and right-wing than Netanyahu’s Likud Party. Avigdor Liberman is the chairman of the group, and he has been amplifying his message on social media, leaving outsiders baffled in the process.
It is estimated that upwards of 77,000 Palestinian citizens have been killed in the conflict since October 2023, following the brutal Hamas-led attack on Israel soil almost three years ago to the day. Netanyahu recently referred to the October 7 attacks as being ‘multiple times worse than 9/11’.
Infrastructure has been levelled, entire cities have been razed, and Israel routinely finds itself accused of committing genocide – allegations the state firmly refutes. But there is perhaps one allegation, more than any else, that Bibi Netanyahu would not expect to be hearing.
Israeli Elections may spell jeopardy for Netanyahu
With elections taking place in Israel later this month, Liberman has shared some campaign materials which label Netanyahu as ‘the father of Palestine’, listing some of his previous actions and describing them as being ‘favourable’ towards Palestine and its people. Good grief…
“Netanyahu is the father of the conception and the founder of the Palestinian state. He is the only one who spent hours with Arafat, recognized a Palestinian state in the Bar-Ilan speech, invited Abu Mazen from the UN podium to speak in the Israeli Knesset, and referred to Judea and Samaria as the ‘West Bank’.”
Which way will Israeli voters lean?
Opinion polls currently have the election balanced on a knife-edge. In total, a party requires 62 seats in the Knesset to win an outright majority. But neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor his political opponents are on course to reach that magic number.
More than one poll shows that Likud and Yashar (a more centre-right outfit) are neck-and-neck in the polls, both forecast to win between 50 to 54 seats. It means another coalition government will have to be formed, and power will likely be decided on who can consolidate the strongest voting bloc