Israel Under Netanyahu: Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy

333 Pages·2019·2.213 MB·English

by  Robert O. Freedman

ISRAEL UNDER NETANYAHU
Examining Benjamin Netanyahu’s more than a decade-long period as Israel’s prime minister,
this important book evaluates the domestic politics and foreign policy of Israel from 2009
to 2019. This comprehensive study assesses Israel’s main political parties; highlights the
special position in Israel of Israel’s Arab, Russian, and religious communities; appraises
Netanyahu’s stewardship of Israel’s economy; and analyzes Israel’s foreign relations.
The scholars contributing to the volume are leading experts from both Israel and
the United States and represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints on Israeli politics and
foreign policy. The case studies cover the Likud party; the nonreligious opposition
parties, such as Labor, Meretz, and Yesh Atid; the Arab parties; the religious parties; and
the Russian-based Yisrael B’Aliyah party and presents analyses of the ups and downs of
Israel’s relations with the United States, the American Jewish community, Iran, Europe,
the Palestinians, the Arab world, Russia, China, India, and Turkey, as well as Israel’s
challenges in dealing with terrorism. Another highlight of the book is an assessment
of Netanyahu’s leadership of the Likud party, which seeks to answer the question as to
whether Netanyahu is a pragmatist interested in a peace deal with the Palestinians or an
ideologue who wants Israel to hold on to the West Bank and all of Jerusalem.
This volume will be of interest to readers who wish to understand the dynamics of
Israel during Benjamin Netanyahu’s time as prime minister and are interested in the
history and the politics of Israel and the Middle East.
Robert O. Freedman is Visiting Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins
University, where he teaches courses on the Arab-Israeli conflict and on Russian
Foreign Policy. He is the author or the editor of 23 books, including Israel and the
United States: Six Decades of US–Israeli Relations (2012) and Russia, Iran and the Nuclear
Question: The Putin Record (2006). Dr. Freedman is also past president of the Association
for Israel Studies. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Freedman served
as President of Baltimore Hebrew University.

ISRAEL UNDER
NETANYAHU
Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy
Edited by Robert O. Freedman
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Robert O. Freedman individual
chapters, the contributors
The right of Robert O. Freedman to be identified as the author of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Freedman, Robert Owen, editor.
Title: Israel under Netanyahu : domestic and foreign affairs / edited by
Robert O Freedman.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035224 (print) | LCCN 2019035225 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367358723 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367358723 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780429342349 (ebook) | ISBN 9781000751604 (adobe pdf) |
ISBN 9781000751765 (epub) | ISBN 9781000751680 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Political parties—Israel—History—21st century. |
Israel—Politics and government—1993- | Israel—Foreign relations—
21st century.
Classification: LCC DS128.2 .I876 2020 (print) | LCC DS128.2 (ebook) |
DDC 956.9405/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035224
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035225
ISBN: 978-0-367-35872-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-35876-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-34234-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Norman Lavy,
a true friend of the academic study of Israel

CONTENTS
List of tables x
List of figures xi
Preface xii
Acronyms xiii
Introduction to Israel in the Netanyahu era 1
Robert O. Freedman
PART I
Israeli domestic politics 9
1 The Likud under Benjamin Netanyahu: readjusting
revisionism to the 21st century 11
Ilan Peleg
2 The Zionist center-left opposition to Netanyahu 33
Yael Aronoff
3 The Israel is our home party: Avigdor Lieberman and
the evolution of Israel’s “Russian Street” 52
Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin
4 The religious parties in the Netanyahu era: the politics of
Israelization 74
Aharon Kampinsky and Shmuel Sandler
viii Contents
5 Netanyahu’s policies toward the Arabs in Israel 91
Elie Rekhess
6 The Israeli economy under the leadership of Netanyahu:
growth and stability at the cost of weakening the
welfare state 105
Roby Nathanson and Yanai Weiss
PART II
Israeli foreign policy 133
7 Israel and the United States: an uncertain relationship 135
Robert O. Freedman
8 Israel–diaspora relations in the age of Netanyahu 161
Steven Bayme
9 The death of the two-state solution: Israel, the Palestinians,
and the Arab world in the age of Netanyahu 176
Glenn E. Robinson
10 Coping with an existential threat: Israel and Iran
under Netanyahu 197
Steven R. David
11 The rise and fall of the Turkish–Israeli alliance 216
Mark L. Haas
12 Israel’s pivot from Europe to Asia 242
Efraim Inbar
13 Russia and Israel 262
Ambassador Zvi Magen
14 Israel and terrorism: assessing the effectiveness of
Netanyahu’s “combating terrorism strategy” (CBT) 273
Joshua Sinai
Epilogue to Israel under Netanyahu 291
About the authors 303
Contents ix
Annex one: Israeli election results, 2009 306
Annex two: Israeli election results, 2013 307
Annex three: Israeli election results, 2015 308
Annex four: Israeli election results, April 9, 2019 309
Annex five: Results of the September 17, 2019 Israeli elections:
Knesset seats 310
Index 311