Palestinians predict Israeli coalition will be ‘against peace’

The Palestinian leadership has predicted that Israel’s new right-wing religious coalition will be belligerent and will work against peace.

Former chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said Binyamin Netanyahu’s fourth government, which will be sworn in next week, “will be one of war which will be against peace and stability in our region”.

Mr Erekat said the coalition will “set its sights on killing and reinforcing settlement activities.”

His remarks came after Mr Netanyahu succeeded in establishing a narrow majority of just 61 out of 120 Knesset members, only hours before the midnight Wednesday deadline.

Despite the frosty personal ties between US president Barack Obama and Mr Netanyahu, the White House congratulated the Israeli prime minister on the formation of his new government.

A White House statement said Mr Obama looked forward to working with Mr Netanyahu and his new government, emphasising Washington's close military, intelligence and security co-operation with Israel, which reflects "the deep and abiding partnership" between both countries.

“We also look forward to continuing consultations on a range of regional issues, including international negotiations to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and the importance of pursuing a two-state solution,” the statement read.

The new government’s wafer-thin majority and the dominant role of the far-right Jewish Home, the party supported by most West Bank settlers, leaves little hope for breaking the deadlock on the Palestinian issue despite the growing frustration of the international community.

Likely scenario

A more likely scenario is that the Jewish Home will pressure Mr Netanyahu for massive settlement construction, both in the West Bank and in Jewish neighbourhoods constructed in east Jerusalem over the 1967 green line.

The Peace Now anti-settlement watchdog claimed yesterday that approval had been granted for 900 new homes in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem, although an interior ministry official said the move was a “technicality” and concerned a planning stage for projects already approved.

Knesset members from Mr Netanyahu's Likud party reacted angrily to the last-minute concessions the Jewish Home forced out of Mr Netanyahu as the price for joining the government.

Senior Likud members said they will not forgive Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, the new education minister, for his “extortion” and predicted the government will be expanded in the future with the Labour party joining, forcing the Jewish Home into opposition.

To keep open such a possibility, Mr Netanyahu will keep the foreign ministry portfolio for the time being and may offer it to Labour leader Yitzhak Herzog, together with a rotation of the premiership, at some future date.

However, Mr Herzog has emphatically ruled out such a scenario. He said the government lacks responsibility, stability and the ability to govern.

“It’s a weak and narrow government, susceptible to blackmail, that will advance nothing and will quickly be replaced by a responsible and hopeful alternative,” he said. “We will not be a fifth wheel and have no intention of saving Netanyahu from the hole he has dug for himself.”