One reason for the incoming prime minister's political comeback, familiar from the rise of fascism in Europe, is that the political center and left were preoccupied with petty squabbles and divisive rivalries. The most extremist coalition in Israel’s history was brought to power by a popular-vote margin of no more than 3,000.
TEL AVIV – Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led bloc of Jewish supremacists, messianic nationalists, and ultra-Orthodox theocrats has won Israel’s general election after suffering four consecutive defeats in less than four years. None of these elections was about ideology or policies, but rather about Netanyahu’s own fitness to serve as prime minister. Netanyahu succeeded this time for two reasons.
TEL AVIV – Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led bloc of Jewish supremacists, messianic nationalists, and ultra-Orthodox theocrats has won Israel’s general election after suffering four consecutive defeats in less than four years. None of these elections was about ideology or policies, but rather about Netanyahu’s own fitness to serve as prime minister. Netanyahu succeeded this time for two reasons.