Netanyahu’s Win and a Simmering Intifada Set Path for Annexation
This isn’t just another right-wing Israeli government, but may include extremists who want to expel all Palestinians from the occupied territories.
This time is different.
Photographer: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
Israel’s election last week brought former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into power yet again, but it’s hardly a case of the same old thing. First, it will usher in the most chauvinistic and religious government in the country’s history. Second, it occurs just as violence has been spiking in the occupied West Bank in ways not seen in decades.
Worst case scenario: a spiraling cycle of Palestinian insurgency and Israeli suppression not just in the occupied territories, but spilling into Israel itself. If that happens, Israeli annexation of the West Bank becomes not just a possibility but perhaps inevitable.