Israeli Internal Developments and the Horizon of a Political Settlement

A Research Paper on the Internal Israeli Political Movement Between the Right Wing and the Generals

The "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation constituted a turning point in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, coming as it did amid the presence of an Israeli government described as the most extreme in Israel's history, made up of Benjamin Netanyahu — in his sixth term at the head of the government — along with figures considered the most extreme in Israel, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who had been on the margins of political life and became central to it. Netanyahu preferred to ally with them and with the Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, in order to form this unprecedented right-wing coalition, which came in line with an agenda of "settling the conflict" with the Palestinians — as promoted by the leader of the Religious Zionism party, Smotrich — and which seeks to impose right-wing dominance over life inside Israel, in addition to Netanyahu's attempt to save himself from the corruption trial in which indictments have been filed against him.

This operation opened the door wide to a set of questions, including: how did the Al-Aqsa Flood operation affect the internal Israeli scene? What are the chances of the "generals' party" rising to power in Israel and forming a new government? — in connection with numerous developments in Israeli political life, as revealed by opinion polls — and what is the American administration doing in favoring one side over the other, especially amid the Israeli public's desire to see the generals take power? And what are the prospects for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, through renewed talk of the importance of resolving the Palestinian issue and the inability to bypass it, as Netanyahu has attempted through normalization with some Arab states?

Prepared by Dr. Ahed Farwana