Pieces falling into place for Netanyahu

Israel PM-designate signs deal with 2nd far-right party amid fears over firebrand

JERUSALEM — The Likud party of Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right Noam party signed a coalition deal on Sunday, moving Netanyahu one step closer to forming what is expected to be the most right-wing government in Israeli history.

Under the agreement, Noam's leader and its sole lawmaker, Avi Maoz, will serve as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office and would be in charge of a new agency called the National Jewish Identity Authority, Likud said in a statement.

Maoz will also be in charge of Nativ, a government bureau that maintains contact with Jews in the former Soviet republics and encourages them to emigrate to Israel.

Maoz is a strong advocate of Israel's Jewish identity and supporter of Jewish religious laws such as gender segregation in public venues, including universities, concerts and public transport.

It is the Likud party's second coalition agreement after Netanyahu was mandated to build a new coalition government in the middle of this month. Over the weekend, the party said in a statement that it had signed a deal with Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extremist politician who was given the newly created position of national security minister.

Ben-Gvir, the leader of the ultranationalist party of Jewish Power, has a record of hostility toward Palestinians. Likud's decision to appoint him to the new post has raised concerns over possible violence in the future.

The position would be an extended version of the public security minister. It would see Ben-Gvir put in charge of the police and paramilitary Border Police that operate alongside army soldiers in Palestinian areas, according to the statement.

The new government is expected to be led by Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, who was ousted just a year and a half ago and is standing trial on corruption charges.

Netanyahu and an alliance of three far-right parties and two Jewish ultraorthodox parties received the majority of the votes in the parliamentary elections on Nov 1, which came after almost four years of inconclusive elections.

Raising concerns

The prospect of the most right-wing government in Israeli history has raised concerns that Ben-Gvir might spark violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned against moving the Border Police, which has been under the oversight of the Defense Ministry, to Ben-Gvir's National Security Ministry. He accused Netanyahu of giving Ben-Gvir a "private army "and warned of "security chaos".

Former military chief of staff and lawmaker Gadi Eisenkot called the decision "a sad joke at the expense of the citizens of Israel". In a Facebook post, he added that the appointment has been done as part of the coalition's political horse-trading "without any connection to the reality and the state needs".

Nachman Shai, a minister with the outgoing government, warned of a possible change to the status quo in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Ben-Gvir, who visits the site frequently, has called to change the status quo at the site, which allows Jews to visit it but not to pray there.

Shai said the compound has been a focal point of tensions over the past years and due to its sensitivity, "any change at the site might shake the Muslim and Arab world" and spark another wave of violence.

Ben-Gvir, a 46-year-old from the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, promised during the election campaign to "grant legal immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot Palestinians", to deport Arab legislators, and to end Palestinian autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli ministerial coalition has signed a deal to abandon bilateral peace agreements signed under international auspices, a senior Palestinian official said on Sunday.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, told reporters that the declared agreements and understandings in Israel "constitute a blatant challenge to the international resolutions and establish a new stage in violation of international law".

Any Israeli attempt to give legitimacy to the settlements built on the land of Palestine "is rejected and condemned", he said.

Abu Rudeineh also called on the United States "to clearly define its position on these Israeli understandings, which defy international legitimacy and the positions of the international community, including the official US one".

Xinhua - Agencies