‘No difference’: Palestinians react to Israeli coalition agreement Benjamin Netanyahu News

Many Palestinians occupied in the West Bank and Gaza have rejected a change in the Israeli government, saying the nationalist leader who will replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to follow the same right-wing agenda.

Naftali Bennett, a 49-year-old former head of the main organization of Israeli settlers in the West Bank and a former ally of Netanyahu, would be the new leader in the country within a patchwork coalition.

Yair Lapid opposition and centrist leaders Yesh Atid and Bennett he testified Wednesday night they reached an agreement to form a new government, removing Netanyahu from office after a 12-year career as prime minister.

Bassem al-Salhi, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the nominated prime minister was not so extreme as Netanyahu.

“It will ensure that there is an extremist in the government,” he said.

Bennett has been a strong advocate for the annexation of parts of the West Bank that Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 war.

However, in recent days Bennett has proposed a continuation of the status quo, easing conditions for the Palestinians.

“In this context my thinking is to reduce the conflict. We will not fix it. But where we can [improve conditions] – more crossing points, more quality of life, more business, more industry – we will do that. “

‘We need serious change’

Hamas, the group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip, has said it has made no changes to who governs Israel.

“Palestinians have seen dozens of Israeli governments throughout history, right, left, center, as they say. But they have all been hostile to the rights of our Palestinian people and all have been hostile to the policy of expansionism, ”said spokesman Hazem Qassem.

Sami Abou Shehadeh, leader of the Palestinian Nationalist Balad Party, told Al Jazeera that the issue of occupied East Jerusalem is not Netanyahu’s “identity,” but the policies Israel pursues.

“What we need is a serious change in Israeli policies, not personalities. The situation was very bad before Netanyahu, and while Israel persists in its policies, it will continue to be bad after Netanyahu. That is why we are against this government [new coalition]”.

Former PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said Netanyahu’s years were still “integrated with systems of racism, extremism, violence and illegality”.

“His former cohorts will keep his legacy,” he tweeted.

The end of the Netanyahu era still encompasses the integrated systems of racism, extremism, violence, and legality + expansionism, annexation, and legality. His former cohorts will retain his legacy. It is up to the diminished progressive forces to question and change this heritage https://t.co/v2NhpSWQzX

– Hanan Ashrawi (@DrHananAshrawi) June 2, 2021

Similar feelings appeared elsewhere.

“There is no difference between one Israeli leader and the other,” Ahmed Rezik, a 29-year-old Gaza government official, told Reuters.

“They are good or bad for their nation. And as for us, they are all bad, and they all refuse to give the Palestinians their rights and land. ”

The coalition agreement ended the March 23 elections, in which neither Netanyahu’s Likud party nor its allies nor their opponents won a majority in the legislature. It was Israel’s fourth national vote in two years.

The governing body is a patch of small and medium-sized parties across the political spectrum

The agreement includes the United Arab List, which would make it the first party of Israeli Palestinian citizens to be a member of an Israeli governing coalition.

Mansour Abbas, head of the Arab List, has dismissed the differences with Bennett, saying he hopes to improve the conditions of Palestinian citizens who denounce discrimination and government neglect.

“We decided to join the government to change the balance of political forces in the country,” the 47-year-old said in a message to supporters after signing the coalition agreement.

Abbas’s party said the agreement includes the allocation of more than 53 billion shekels ($ 16 billion) to improve infrastructure and tackle violent crime.

There are also provisions to freeze the demolition of houses built in Palestinian villages without permission and to give official status to Bedouin cities in the Negev desert, a stronghold for aid, the party said.

But they have been criticized in the West Bank and Gaza for favoring what they see as enemies.

“What will he do when he is asked to vote to start a new war in Gaza?” said Badri Karam, 21, in Gaza.

“Will he accept it as part of the Palestinian assassination?”