Incoming Netanyahu gov’t making Israel 'non-Jewish and non-democratic': Ex-FM says

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has slammed the upcoming government of Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes extremist figures who will hold sensitive positions.

Livni, who held the position of minister of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2009, said transferring powers over the occupied West Bank to the “messianic ministers and anarchists” means annexation of the occupied territory “at the cost of a flare-up”.

“On the way to a non-Jewish and non-democratic state, and so that we do not feel that this is happening, they will destroy the Supreme Court and teach our children that a state without equality is good,” she wrote in a tweet.

Livni, who also led the Israeli opposition from 2013 to 2019, added that it is time to understand that “this is a problem not only for some minority, but for every Jew and Zionist”.

“This is not a single problem to appoint someone or enact a law. It is time to connect the dots to see the big picture. The conflict revolves around our comprehensive view of the world in all areas,” she continued.

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Fears prevail in Israel around the upcoming Israeli government, after coalition deals revealed that Netanyahu had agreed to appoint extremist figures to sensitive positions in the army, internal security and education.

In one the agreements, the far- right Religious Zionism Party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, was granted wide powers in the occupied West Bank, including the appointment of the coordinator of the Israeli government’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as the appointment of the head of the civil administration, a major general and brigadier general in the Israeli army. The two senior positions are currently appointed by the Chief of Staff.

The head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was also given the position of Minister of National Security with broad powers in the occupied West Bank including power over the Israeli border police.

The Palestinians fear the appointments will lead to further deterioration in the security situation, especially in the occupied West Bank, through the legalisation of settlement outposts, expansion and construction of settlements and the demolition of their homes.