If you’ve paid any attention to Israeli politics in the past few years, you will have been following the rise, fall and rise again of Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is still facing trial on corruption charges but is now due to return to office after the most recent election, the fifth in four years.
As Jerusalem correspondent Bethan McKernan tells Michael Safi, in a country where politics has been chaotic for years, the return of Netanyahu promises more instability. There is no progress towards ending an occupation of Palestinian territory now in its sixth decade – indeed, a resolution that both sides could accept seems further away than ever. But this time, it’s the man who helped to put Netanyahu back in power who is getting the most attention.
Itamar Ben-Gvir has spent a lifetime on the fringes of Israeli politics. He was once considered so dangerous, and so extreme, that he wasn’t allowed to serve in the Israeli army. He’s been convicted of racism towards Arabs, and of supporting terrorist groups. Now he is Israel’s minister for national security, after his party, Jewish Power, made considerable gains in last month’s poll.
Photograph: Amir Levy/Getty Images
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