The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict #70: Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da Life Goes On The Wrong Way
Life Goes On The Wrong Way
After Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995, Shimon Peres, who served as Foreign Minister then, became the acting Prime Minister. Peres' government continued to serve the 4-year term, which began in 1992 when the Labor Party won the elections, until June 1996.
1996 Elections
Following Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995, public opinion polls showed Shimon Peres leading Benjamin Netanyahu by a significant margin throughout December 1995. However, this trend shifted in January 1996 following the Palestinian terror attacks. The subsequent elections in May 1996 resulted in a narrow victory for the Likud party led by Netanyahu, marking a turning point in Israeli politics and the beginning of the rift within Israeli society.
Netanyahu Government
In the 1996 Israeli general election, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister. This victory came after a period of decline in Likud's popularity following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Netanyahu's success was attributed, in part, to an alliance formed by Likud with two other right-wing parties, Gesher and Tzomet.
Landmarks and Policies
National Security?
The Netanyahu government is mainly remembered for the series of security events and failures that occurred during its time. It began with Netanyahu's approval of the opening of the Western Wall Tunnel, which was followed by a wave of Palestinian riots that caused dozens of deaths, including 17 IDF soldiers. This continued with the failed assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal, which led to the release of Ahmed Yassin from prison at the request of King Hussein to preserve the peace agreement with Jordan. This was followed by the helicopter disaster in which 73 IDF soldiers were killed who were on their way to an operational activity in Lebanon. The helicopter disaster led to the establishment of the Four Mothers movement and increased public support for the withdrawal from the security strip in Lebanon, which Netanyahu opposed. Seven months after the helicopter disaster, the State of Israel had to deal with another disaster, the Ansariya ambush, in which twelve Israeli soldiers were killed. This disaster further intensified public criticism of the IDF's presence in Lebanon and highlighted the increasing criticism of Netanyahu for the series of colossal failures that occurred under his leadership.
Political
Two agreements were signed with the Palestinian Authority. The first was the Hebron Agreement, in which Israel transferred security control over parts of the city of Hebron to the Palestinian Authority. The second was the Wye River Memorandum, in which Israel committed to transfer to the Palestinians an additional 13% of the territories of Judea and Samaria, and in return, the Palestinians committed to various security agreements, such as the cessation of terrorism and incitement and the deletion of the clause in the Palestinian treaty that called for the destruction of Israel.
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Major Corruption Affair
A serious corruption deal was revealed, according to which Roni Bar-On was appointed to the position of Attorney General in exchange for Shas voting in favor of the Hebron Agreement in the government. In exchange for this appointment, Roni Bar-On was supposed to bring an end to the legal affairs in which Shas leader Aryeh Deri was involved. Many Knesset members and ministers were investigated in this case, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Still, it finally ended without charges being filed since Roni Bar-On resigned from the position a few days after being appointed to it.
Economic
Although Israel's inflation and government deficit decreased during Netanyahu's time, unemployment increased significantly. There were also attempts to privatize the government companies, which endangered the delicate socio-economic structure built in Israeli society since its establishment. These attempts were only partially successful thanks to the resilience of the culture that could stop the bullying and greed of those close to the government who planned to get lucrative businesses at unfair prices and below what they were worth. Additionally, Netanyahu’s government canceled the budget pension for new employees in the public service, which created two classes of employees in the public service, where one class is entitled to exorbitant financial benefits and the other class fights to survive for its living, as a result of an irresponsible and socioeconomic policy that did not match the social solidarity of the Israeli public and which reflected foreign cultures with basic assumptions that were not in line with Israeli society. As a result, three finance ministers served in this short government time, each for a period of about a year.
The Netanyahu government invested more than all the governments that were in Israel before it in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in religious, education, and welfare budgets. As a result of this economic policy and excess budgeting of settlements with a small number of residents, gaps began to emerge in the education and public culture that Israeli students received within the country's borders.
Netanyahu's divisive approaches in all areas of life, coupled with the serial resignations of the finance ministers he appointed, ultimately disintegrated the coalition. His failure to pass the state budget for 1999 in the Knesset further solidified this. Recognizing that only one party was willing to support the budget, Netanyahu decided there was no point in continuing his efforts to preserve the government and agreed to dissolve the Knesset.
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That's all for today, class. We'll continue tomorrow.
Take care.