If protecting the lives of Israel’s citizens from coronavirus was the only thing on the table in the negotiations, then perhaps the decision of these politicians might be forgivable.
But they were prepared to trade the ultimate bargaining chip for a seat at the table: their previous stalwart commitments to safeguarding Israel’s democracy. Part of the coalition agreement included ensuring a hand-picked right-wing majority on the Judicial Appointments Committee, a committee that appoints judges who could — if the case reaches the Supreme Court — adjudicate against Mr Netanyahu himself.
If sacrificing the independence of the judiciary was not enough, front and centre of the agreement is the power given to Mr Netanyahu, as of July 1, to bring to the cabinet or Knesset a vote on proceeding with annexing parts of the West Bank in line with Donald Trump’s Peace to Prosperity Plan.
The numbers are stacked in favour of annexation in the Knesset. This is no longer a pipedream of the right wing in Israel; it is very much on the cards.
The annexation of territory will be a major, if not final, blow to the possibility of any kind of agreement between Israel and her Palestinian neighbours.
Annexation will doom both peoples to live in perpetual conflict, destroying the viability of a Palestinian state with non-contiguous enclaves of Palestinian autonomy, destabilising the wider region. Annexing territory without giving full citizenship rights to Palestinians living in these areas means Israel will no longer be a democracy.
Setting aside for one moment the disastrous consequences for the region, let us consider what this means for the majority of Jewish communities outside of Israel, the UK included, that have built their communal institutions and Jewish identity with Israel as the beating heart.
The last major survey of British Jewish attitudes towards Israel carried out (full disclosure: the research carried out by a group of academics at City University, with data collection by Ipsos Mori, was funded by Yachad, the organisation which I am the director of) was in 2015.
93 per cent said Israel played a role in, or was important or central to their Jewish identity, and 78 per cent said they see Israel as a vibrant open democracy, with a strong correlation between the two.
So, what happens when Israel pursues a path of annexation, taking it down the lonely road of international pariah status, and that 78 per cent no longer sees it as a vibrant open democracy?
Israel will be ripped from the heart of the Jewish identity of many people, who will very painfully begin to reimagine and reinvent a Jewish life that does not feature a non-democratic Israel.
For organisations such as Yachad, who have put the battle for Israel’s democratic character at the front and centre of our mission, we will continue to fight for it whilst there is any shred of hope.
But for many mainstream Jewish community organisations that put Israel front and centre of their work, but who have continually dodged difficult questions about Israeli politics by stating it is not part of their mission or their business to pass comment, the moment of reckoning has come.
Because if your business is the protection and preservation of Jewish life, community and identity, and you choose to remain silent in the face of impending annexation, then you are undermining your very purpose.
Because the day that Israel makes the decision to permanently and indefinitely rule over another people against their will is the day that Jewish communal life and identity ceases to exist as we know it.
This disaster looms 70 days from now — it is time to speak out.
Hannah Weisfeld is the director of Yachad UK
