Elena Testi is the journalist covering the Middle East for LA7. She has just published Genesis. Money, crime, impunity. History of the Israeli far right with the publisher SEM, which explains much of what is happening.
Itamar Ben-Gvir uses videos of the activists of the Flotilla being humiliated for propaganda purposes. Who is he addressing? What reactions are there in his reference world to these forms of denunciation of the Gaza tragedy?
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security, by publishing those images of the treatment reserved for the activists of the Flotilla, is certainly not speaking to the rest of the world, but to his electorate: he is speaking to the gut of the Israeli far right.
An Israeli far right that, as can be seen also from the comments under the video, responds with cheers.
Yesterday the dissolution of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, was voted. This means that there will be early elections: voting will not take place on October 27, and the reference date in theory should be September 7, but this will be revealed in the coming days.
So Israel is currently in full election campaign mode: I believe we will see more videos like this.
It must be said, however, that the great merit of the activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla is not so much to bring humanitarian aid, but to make the rest of the world understand the treatment reserved for those inside Israeli prisons and for those who try to carry out acts of protest.
The Israeli prisons are managed precisely by the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Since he became minister, Israeli prisons have significantly worsened in the treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Here, the Global Sumud Flotilla manages to shine a spotlight on this issue also because, if one sees and thinks about how foreign citizens are treated, one can well imagine that the treatment reserved for Palestinian citizens is much worse.
It seems that Minister Bezalel Smotrich is being investigated by the International Criminal Court. What role has he played so far in the Gaza crisis? And does the Court still have any capacity to intervene?
Yes, it seems that an investigation has been opened against Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. The news was reported a few days ago by Haaretz, a progressive Israeli newspaper.
Now, the investigation was not opened regarding the conflict in Gaza, but to understand what crimes have been committed by Israel in the policy of annexation of the West Bank.
There are some elements. The first is that from 2022 onwards, that is the year this government was formed, the annexation policy has certainly been much faster, but also much more violent, with an escalation even after October 7.
Then there is another element: the settlers, the so-called extremists, act with total impunity.
Not only that: there are numerous reports, including from Israeli NGOs that collaborate with the Palestinians, denouncing the fact that many settlers unfortunately act together with the Israeli army.
Well, the Israeli army clearly responds to orders. Now it will be necessary to understand what is happening in the chain of command and what orders come directly from the government.
However, we know that the Israeli far right is clearly supported by all those who use acts of violence against the Palestinian people with the intent to expel them and to realize what we call, and what Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich also call, Greater Israel.
More generally, in what condition does the far right arrive at the now imminent elections?
If elections were held tomorrow, according to the latest polls from Maariv, those available to us, it would be found that the coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu would obtain only 49 seats, while the opposition would have 61, that is the number necessary to form a government.
The far right in Israel has lost support. Bezalel Smotrich, if he ran alone in the elections, would not manage to enter Parliament. But there is a technicality to keep in mind.
Following the governance law approved in 2014, smaller parties tend to form coalitions, that is joint lists, to avoid vote dispersion.
Well, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir could decide to do as in 2022, that is to run together. A choice that allowed the two to be the third force in the government.
It is also necessary to understand what will happen with the war in Iran, because if it should resume and Benjamin Netanyahu manages to achieve results to present to the Israeli people, clearly this could greatly change the polls.
So perhaps it is still too early to talk about who might win these elections. It is true, however, that according to today’s polls Benjamin Netanyahu is certainly disadvantaged.
(Excerpt from the blog Appunti by Stefano Feltri)
