Israel Then and Now

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

I hope soon be heading off on a trip to Israel, as part of an academic project (as well as visiting many of the famous sites, of course). It will be my first time there in almost 36 years. And it will follow an Israeli election being held this Jan. 22.

Between the ages of 22 and 32, I spent time in Israel on four occasions: in the summer of 1967, as a volunteer on Ma’agan, a kibbutz (collective farm) on the shores of the Sea of Galilee; in the summer of 1972, as a student on the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; in July 1976, attending a conference on Yiddish in Tel Aviv; and in June of 1977, along with a group of students, on Kibbutz Bror Cha’il, not far from Gaza and the Israeli town of Sderot.

That was still the “old Israel.” The Labour Party, in its various incarnations, had ruled the country continuously from its formation in 1948. During my stays in the country, it was governed by Levi Eshkol (1963-1969), Golda Meir (1969-1974), and Yitzhak Rabin (1974-1977).

But in May1977 Labour lost power to Menachem Begin’s Likud (a consolidation of right-wing movements) and Begin became prime minister during my last days in Israel. He would remain in power until 1983.

Israel is a very different place now, as I’ll no doubt discover soon enough. The political spectrum since that time has moved even further to the right, while the once-mighty Labour Party is now a shadow of its former self.

The political right, under leaders like Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon, has dominated the state in recent decades. The political clout of various religious parties has also increased tremendously.

Not surprisingly, Likud’s current leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister since February 2009, is heading into the Jan. 22 election, in an alliance with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) Party, and polls suggest a convincing victory. The two are running on a joint ticket.

In February 2009, Likud won 27 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament) and Yisrael Beiteinu obtained 15. The two parties have led an unstable coalition government together, with support from other parties, until now.

Israel’s proportional representation system allows for a multitude of parties to contest elections, and the current one has an incredible 34 in the field, including the once-mighty Labour Party, now led by Shelly Yachimovich, which held only eight seats in the last Knesset.

Most of these parties will not even win a single seat.

Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu looks set to capture 35 seats. But Netanyahu’s main challenge comes from a party even further to his right, a coalition of nationalist/religious groups running as the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) Party, which current polls suggest may win as many as 18 seats. Its leader, Naftali Bennett, is the 40-year-old son of American immigrants. He wants to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, and is steadily chipping away at Netanyahu’s margin.

As well, there is talk among three centre and left-wing parties, including Labour, about forming an electoral bloc to challenge Netanyahu.

Following the election, Bennett’s party will probably join a Likud-led coalition, giving the right-wing bloc a majority in parliament.

How all this will affect Israeli relations with the United States, and the surrounding Arab world, remains to be seen.