The Israeli Election and What Netanyahu’s Victory Entails w/ Yossi Gurvitz

On this edition of Parallax Views, Israeli activist and journalist Yossi Gurvitz returns to discuss the 2022 Israeli elections. Benjamin Netanyahu, despite being embroiled in scandal, has resolutely won his bid to once again become Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Israel's most far-right politicians, such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, continue to gain ground in the country's politics. What does all of this entail? That's what Yossi Gurvitz will be discussing with us in this conversation. Among the topics covered:

- The failure of the Israeli left and the death of the Zionist left

- Religious Zionism

- The one-state solution, ethnic cleansing, and the death of the two-state solution

- Rundowns of the careers and influence of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir on Israeli political life; the differences between Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and the ways in which they are opposed to each other

- The Second Intifada

- Why the Israeli left's parties focusing on the dangerous nature of Smotrich failed when it came to the elections

- Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Temple Mount, and how issues related to the Temple Mount could lead to a conflagration

- The treatment of Palestinians in Israel, human rights, and what the right-wing coalition victory in Israel means

- Claims the Itamar Ben-Gvir has distanced himself from his extremist-leaning past

- How Israel's politics have caught up with it's culture

- The Israeli far-right's view on LGBTQ+ issues

- The ways in which the Israeli far-right and elements of the Trumpist/MAGA right in the U.S. influence each other

- Itamar Ben-Gvir told Yossi that he would be the "leader of the religious revolution in Israel"; Ben-Gvir's changing tactics/methods over the years; Ben Gvir's tactics for dealing with the media and the law

- What are the worst possible outcomes for Israel/Palestine in the coming years?

- The question of whether Ben-Gvir will receive a ministerial position in the government; could Ben-Gvir seek to become Prime Minister at some point?

- The New York Times and Washington Post's articles that express concern over the far right's gains in the Israeli election (including an op-ed by Thomas Friedman); the Axios article by Barak Ravid indicating the Biden administration won't work with Itamar Ben-Gvir in a ministerial position

- How and why Netanyahu pandered to and mainstreamed the Israeli far-right; why Netanyahu can longer control those elements of Israeli political life; the Netanyahu family and issues within the family; what Netanyahu's victory may mean for his corruption trial in court

And much, much more!