Netanyahu’s backward step is only a temporary one

Analysts of the Israeli occupation of Palestine have long said that the state is moving towards a system of apartheid. This is particularly evident in the West Bank, where around 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Over the years, separate roads and transport systems have developed for Israeli settlers and for Palestinians, a gradual system of ever-increasing segregation. Defenders of Israeli government policy argue that it is inflammatory to describe aspects of this system in the West Bank as apartheid.

Yet even those defenders were hard-pressed to justify a pilot scheme banning Palestinian workers from Israeli buses in the occupied territories. The plan had been approved by the defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, but was cancelled within hours of being announced after an outcry from Israeli opposition politicians and human rights groups.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have permits to work in Israel. Palestinians with entry permits, who mainly work in the construction industry, currently enter through smart crossings that register them, and can return by public transport without needing to register on their return.

The three month pilot scheme, which would have come into force on Wednesday, was aimed at controlling these workers. It would have imposed strict new controls on them, insisting that those who entered Israel through certain checkpoints must travel home through the same ones. This would have denied them access to shared buses, which do not go through these checkpoints. To put it simply, this would have segregated Jewish and Palestinian passengers onto different buses. Pro-settlement MPs, who are dominant in the governing coalition, have lobbied for the ban for months. It was enthusiastically welcomed by settler groups, who have long argued that Palestinians coming into the West Bank need to be monitored. Some Jewish settlers who take the same buses from Israel back to their settlements argue that Palestinian passengers pose a security risk, and have complained of theft and sexual harassment.

The scheme was roundly criticised by rights groups and the political opposition. Yariv Oppenheimer, from the campaign group Peace Now, was unequivocal, saying: “When something looks like apartheid and smells like apartheid, then it’s apartheid.”

Writing on his Facebook page, the leader of the opposition, Isaac Herzog, said: “The decision to separate Palestinians and Jews on public transportation is an unnecessary humiliation that is a stain on the state and its citizens … This is another one of the prime minister’s mistakes who is giving in to and supporting a horrible decision that has no connection to the security of the state.”

The leader of the left-wing party Meretz, Zahava Gal-On, condemned the plan in even stronger terms: “This is how apartheid looks. There is no better or nicer way to put it. Separate buses for Jews and Palestinians prove that democracy and occupation cannot co-exist.”

Many suspect that Netanyahu’s decision to overrule Ya’alon’s policy was due to concerns about international criticism. The timing of the launch – coinciding with visits from FIFA chief Sepp Blatter and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini – was certainly bizarre.

This was the first crisis for Netanyahu’s new right-wing government, formed earlier this month. The prime minister managed to cobble together a coalition with a majority of just a single seat. It means he relies heavily on ultra-nationalist, right-wing, pro-settlement parties, such as Naftali Bennet’s Jewish Home. Netanyahu’s concern about the rising popularity of these parties was evident during the election campaign, when he openly made a bid for these votes by declaring that Israel would never see a two-state solution under his premiership. Although he has tried to step back from some of his more extreme statements, the crisis over the bus segregation shows that Netanyahu – hardly a liberal himself – is, to a great extent, beholden to these extremist politicians. Over the coming months and years, it will be difficult for Netanyahu to reconcile the contesting demands on him: keeping these pro-settlement ultranationalist within his government happy, while also staving off criticism from the US and the EU, both pressuring Israel to continue with negotiations. Numerous analysts have predicted that the coalition will not last its full term.

While it is a good thing that the bus segregation plans were cancelled, a raft of other discriminatory measures remain in place. Under this overtly right-wing coalition, this will not be the last such measure to come through.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.