In Israel, Netanyahu’s ultimate legacy is the opposition he has forged

Benjamin Netanyahu had hardly reached the United Nations podium erstwhile a oversea of delegates jumped from their seats and began walking retired successful protestation astatine the Israeli premier minister’s code astatine the UN General Assembly successful precocious September.

Undeterred, a grinning Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election aboriginal this period portion being wanted by the International Criminal Court connected charges of warfare crimes successful Gaza, changeable back: “If determination are immoderate different motivation cowards who haven’t near the hall, delight bash truthful now.”

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For his supporters watching successful Israel, it was precisely what they wanted to hear.

“When they spot Netanyahu astatine the United Nations,” his erstwhile aide, Mitchell Barak, told Al Jazeera, “that’s what they privation – and it’s hard for them to ideate anyone other doing that.”

He added: “For galore successful Israel, but not all, he’s the lone antheral that tin genuinely pb Israel. He makes them arrogant to beryllium Jewish.”

On October 27, Israel indispensable take betwixt Netanyahu and an assorted fig of rivals who are unified by small different than their implicit absorption to Israel’s longest-serving premier minister.

In the eyes of some his supporters and his opponents, arsenic good arsenic overmuch of the world, Netanyahu has go the look of modern Israel.

Born successful Tel Aviv successful 1949 to Benzion Netanyahu and Tzila Segal, helium spent his aboriginal years betwixt Israel and the United States, the fewer constants successful his beingness being the profoundly pessimistic views of his begetter – a right-wing historiographer who saw a satellite fundamentally opposed to the beingness of Jews – and the subject bequest of his brother, Yonatan, who was killed successful 1976 portion starring a raid to rescue hijacked Israeli hostages successful Entebbe, Uganda.

Since then, Netanyahu has gone done galore iterations.

In 1982, helium was named lawman main of ngo astatine the Israeli embassy successful Washington, DC. Two years later, helium was appointed Israel’s ambassador to the UN, earlier returning to Israel to articulation the furniture of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir arsenic lawman overseas curate successful 1988.

In 1996, Netanyahu became Israel’s youngest premier minister, starring the archetypal successful a bid of coalitions that besides saw him serving a grounds 12-year tenure from 2009 to 2021. He returned to powerfulness for a sixth word the adjacent year, starring the astir far-right authorities successful Israel’s history.

From the outset of his governmental career, helium faced increasing accusations of having deliberately engineered part to further his ain governmental and idiosyncratic ends.

“Netanyahu is the cleanable encapsulation of Israel’s governmental polarisation,” said governmental expert Nimrod Flaschenberg. Describing Netanyahu arsenic “always” being “in campaigning mode”, helium said the Israeli person “is precise bully astatine gathering coalitions that bespeak nationalist opinion, arsenic good arsenic steering that sentiment successful his ain direction”.

Hardwired division

Under Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has continued to lurch to the right, rejecting the way towards a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine struggle acceptable successful question by his predecessor, the assassinated Yitzhak Rabin. At the aforesaid time, immense swaths of the Israeli electorate person besides grown accustomed to the convulsive enlargement of amerciable settlements successful the occupied West Bank and reconciled themselves to the genocide successful Gaza pursuing the Hamas-led onslaught connected October 7, 2023 – for which galore inactive blasted Netanyahu for alleged information failures – arsenic good arsenic the aggregate wars waged astatine his absorption since.

In July 2018, Netanyahu’s conjugation passed the Nation-State Law, declaring the close to nationalist self-determination “unique to the Jewish people”, stripping Arabic of its presumption arsenic an authoritative connection and making the improvement of Jewish settlements a nationalist value. In the law’s wake, settler unit successful the occupied West Bank has surged, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) signaling 1,291 attacks successful 2023 and 1,835 successful 2025. At slightest 1,071 Palestinians, including 233 children, person been killed successful the West Bank by Israeli forces oregon settlers since October 7, 2023, according to OCHA, amid what a elder UN official called “virtually nary accountability”.

More immediately, Netanyahu’s existent conjugation has seen immoderate of Israel’s astir arguable figures – specified arsenic National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, convicted of incitement to racism and enactment for a “terrorist” group, and the explicitly pro-settlement Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – placed astatine the bosom of power.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrates aft Israel’s parliament passed a instrumentality making the decease punishment a default condemnation for Palestinians convicted successful subject courts of deadly attacks [File: Oren Ben Hakoon/Reuters]

“Netanyahu didn’t make the racism and fascism successful Israel, but he’s helped it,” said outgoing parliamentarian Aida Touma-Sliman, of the left-wing Hadash party. “He’s smart. He knows precisely what he’s doing erstwhile helium includes radical similar Smotrich and Ben-Gvir successful his government, and helium knows the result of those appointments.”

“He thrives successful chaos,” said Barak, Netanyahu’s erstwhile adjutant from the 1990s. “He’s each astir the large picture, of ends justifying means.”

Running done the premier minister’s caller subject campaigns person been his long-standing battles against immoderate benignant of home judicial restraint. Dogged by corruption cases dating backmost to 2019, which could spot him service clip successful situation if convicted, helium has been locked successful a confrontation with the aforesaid ineligible constitution attempting to clasp him to account.

In January 2023, helium and his right-wing allies sought to overhaul the judiciary, shaking disconnected overmuch of the oversight of the courts implicit authorities action. The proposals led to demonstrations connected an unprecedented scale, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to protestation against the contentious move. In June 2024, Netanyahu went truthful acold arsenic to look to suggest that the part created by his reforms was someway liable for his ain heavy criticised effect to the October 7 attack.

The ‘devil’ you know

Still, portion sentiment polls amusement Netanyahu’s Likud enactment and its allies tied with the wide anti-Netanyahu bloc of likewise right-wing and militaristic parties, the premier minister’s enactment has weakened. Likud won 32 seats successful the 2022 election, but astir caller polls task a summation of astir 20 to 22, with erstwhile supporters appearing to displacement either to the absorption oregon to harder-line right-wing parties.

The confederation opposing Netanyahu has yet to nominate an authoritative leader, but erstwhile service main Gadi Eisenkot is wide seen arsenic its astir apt campaigner for premier minister.

“We request to beryllium wide astir this,” said Barak. “He’s fundamentally moving unopposed. It’s Netanyahu versus a conjugation of opponents.”

“Think astir it,” said Touma-Sliman, pointing retired the treble standards aft the salient person of a enactment representing Palestinian citizens of Israel was forced to retreat from the predetermination implicit his remarks astir the Gaza war. “He’s helped make a strategy wherever Arab MK Sami Abu Shehadeh is barred from running, and he, a warfare transgression who has led his state done a genocide, is not”.

For his supporters, noted Flaschenberg, Netanyahu “remains Israel’s lone imaginable leader”. But for his opponents, “He’s the devil. He’s corruption personified, liable for everything starring up to October 7 and everything afterwards.”

However, his eventual bequest whitethorn inactive prevarication ahead, the expert suggested, recalling the words of erstwhile British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who erstwhile cited the rightward tilt of the absorption arsenic her top legacy.

“Netanyahu’s bequest lies with the opposition. All of the main contenders are right-wing, militaristic and yet racist,” said Flaschenberg. “That’s Netanyahu’s legacy.”