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How a once-cautious Benjamin Netanyahu came to lead the most radical coalition in Israel’s history

(JTA) — Twenty-seven years have passed since Benjamin Netanyahu was first elected as Israel’s prime minister. Since 1996, he has headed six governments over a period of more than 15 years, more than any other prime minister. Unfortunately, his current coalition is one of the most radical-populist governments in Israel’s history. This government seeks to rapidly undermine Israel’s democracy by granting unlimited political power to the executive branch of government at the expense of the judiciary. 

How can Netanyahu — a U.S.-educated and respected world leader who was cautious in his approach to building previous coalitions, and was once respectful of Israeli democratic institutions — support such a dangerous plan? Was the “writing on the wall” earlier on in his lengthy tenure?

A glimpse into Netanyahu’s years in office reveals that, indeed, signs of his being a populist leader — specializing in attacks against the so-called elite — could be detected long ago. As Likud leader in 1993, Netanyahu was blamed for ignoring the incitement by extremists that preceded the assignation of Yitzhak Rabin (a charge he vociferously denies). As early as 1997, during his first term as prime minister, he said that “the left has forgotten what it means to be Jewish.” Two years later, during an election campaign, he mocked the “leftist” press by saying “they are scared” (by the possibility of a right-wing victory). On Election Day in 2015, he posted a video urging Likud supporters to go out and vote by warning, “the Arabs are heading in droves to the polls.” That message led to accusations that the candidate was using racial dog whistles to motivate his followers.   

However, Netanyahu’s populist discourse and his natural divide-and-conquer leadership style were balanced out, at least until 2015, by several factors. First, Netanyahu always sought to include centrist and even left-of-center parties in his coalition governments. Even when he could build a “pure” right-wing coalition (following the 2009 elections, for example), he preferred to invite partners from the opposing political side. His intention, he once said, was to provide a “wide and stable government that unites the people.”

Second, despite his hawkish image and his hardline discourse on security issues, Netanyahu wa considered to be an exceedingly cautious leader in that arena. Risk-averse, he tended to avoid involving Israel in major wars and was wary of acting in ways that would spark violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Third, over his many years in office, he had demonstrated respect for the rules of the game — and towards Israel’s Supreme Court. He even blocked earlier initiatives that sought to undermine the power of the judicial branch. “I believe that in a democracy, a strong and independent Court is what enables the existence of all other democratic institutions,” he said in 2012. “Every time a law comes across my desk that threatens to impair the independence of the courts, we will take it down.”

The 2015 elections should probably be regarded as the turning point, after which these balancing factors quickly gave way to unabashed populism. The unexpected resounding victory in that year’s elections brought out the hubris in Netanyahu. He formed a right-wing coalition government (only slightly moderated by Moshe Kahlon’s centrist Kulanu party), personally held four ministerial positions in addition to the prime ministership, and gave his blessing to the hugely controversial Nation-State Bill. This legislation, which anchored in law Israel’s status as the “national home of the Jewish people,” strengthened the Jewish component of Israel’s dual “Jewish and democratic” identity without in turn strengthening its democratic component — explicitly and implicitly downgrading minority rights.

Furthermore, Netanyahu’s longtime obsession with controlling press coverage reached a new level. His insistence on personally heading the Ministry of Communications and his excessive involvement in media — for example, installing a close ally as director-general of the ministry, and targeting and strong-arming ostensibly “unfriendly” newspapers and broadcasters — served as the background for two of the three indictments for which he is currently on trial.

The investigations on corruption charges, and his subsequent trial, further pushed Netanyahu toward populist extremes. Following three rounds of elections between 2019 and 2020, which threw Israel into an unprecedented political crisis, Netanyahu was forced to form a unity government with former Gen. Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue & White party. Coincidentally, just a few hours after the government’s first meeting, Netanyahu’s trial began in the Jerusalem District Court. The prime minister arrived at the court on May 24, 2020, accompanied by several Likud Knesset members, and launched a fierce attack:

What is on trial today is an effort to frustrate the will of the people — the attempt to bring down me and the right-wing camp. For more than a decade, the left has failed to do this at the ballot box. So over the last few years, they have discovered a new method: some segments in the police and the prosecution have joined forces with the leftist media… to manufacture baseless and absurd charges against me.

These statements made it clear that Netanyahu had crossed the Rubicon, setting the tone for his behavior ever since. He dispensed with the partnership with Gantz, sacrificing Israel’s economic and political interests along with it. In the build-up to the next elections, he legitimized extremist, racist politicians such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who are today members of his governing coalition​​. After failing to form a government in 2021 (having been ousted from power after more than 12 consecutive years), he violated fundamental parliamentary conventions and norms. For instance, he instructed his right-wing allies to boycott Knesset committees and refused to attend the customary “update meeting” the parliamentary opposition leader holds with the prime minister. His previous respect for the rules of the game and democratic institutions was a thing of the past.

In that sense, it is no wonder that the current government he has formed, following his victory in the 2022 elections, is relentlessly pushing the overhaul of the judicial system, with little regard to the dangers the legislation poses to Israel’s democracy. This is due to a combination of Netanyahu’s own self-interest regarding his trial and the interests and worldviews of his political partners — politicians who hold extreme views (Ben-Gvir, Smotrich) as well as those who have previous corruption charges hanging over their heads (Aryeh Deri, leader of the haredi Orthodox Shas party). 

The “old Bibi” would have never coalesced with such radical forces and would have never so bluntly disregarded democratic norms. But hubris, an instinct for self-preservation and his high self-regard as the “indispensable man” of Israeli politics created a new Bibi – and a crisis unlike anything Israel has ever seen. 

Ironically, Netanyahu finds himself in an unexpected position — as the moderating force in the most radical coalition in Israel’s history. He could tap the instincts that he once had and be the voice of reason, the one who plugs the dike with his finger. He has the chance to lead Israel to a major constitutional moment. Will he rise to this historical challenge?

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The post How a once-cautious Benjamin Netanyahu came to lead the most radical coalition in Israel’s history appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Jewish Women Expelled From Madrid Museum After Antisemitic Harassment, Sparking Outrage

Illustrative: Anti-Israel demonstrators release smoke in the colors of the Palestinian flag as they protest to condemn the Israeli forces’ interception of some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, in Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Three elderly Jewish women, including a Holocaust survivor, were forced to leave a national museum in Madrid on Saturday after being verbally harassed for openly displaying Jewish symbols, with officials now facing mounting backlash for shielding the aggressors rather than the victims.

First reported by the Spanish news outlet Okdiario, the three women were visiting the National Museum Reina Sofía in central Madrid when other visitors spotted them wearing a Star of David necklace and carrying a small Israeli flag.

At that point, a group of people started attacking them verbally, shouting antisemitic insults and calling them “crazy child killers.”

Rather than intervening against the instigators, museum officials expelled the Israeli women, telling them to leave because “some visitors were disturbed that they are Jewish.”

A security guard also told the group to hide their Jewish symbols, insisting they could not be displayed inside the museum.

Even though one of them pointed out that Spanish law allows people to wear religious symbols and carry national flags in public institutions, they were still forcibly removed from the building despite not breaking any rules.

The incident has sparked public outrage, with museum personnel leaving the victims even more exposed and vulnerable, and no action taken against those who hurled insults and provoked the disruption.

As a state-affiliated cultural institution under Spain’s Culture Ministry, the Reina Sofía is internationally recognized as one of the country’s leading contemporary art museums.

In the past, the museum has also faced criticism for hosting anti-Israel demonstrations and presenting an exhibition titled “From the River to the Sea,” a popular slogan among pro-Palestinian activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) strongly condemned the latest incident at the museum, calling it “deeply troubling and unacceptable,” and urged authorities to take immediate steps to protect Jewish visitors and ensure such harassment does not happen again.

“Instead of protecting those subjected to antisemitic abuse, the apparent decision to remove the victims raises serious concerns about discrimination within a public cultural institution,” EJC wrote in a post on X.

“Jewish identity must never become grounds for exclusion. Such conduct demands full clarification, clear accountability, and decisive action to ensure that antisemitism is confronted without ambiguity,” the statement read. 

The Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM) group, a leading pro-Israel organization in Spain, also condemned the incident and announced it will pursue legal action against the Museum Reina Sofía, alleging discrimination and the promotion of hate from a public institution.

“The legal action will be directed both at the institution and its top official, the museum director, Manuel Segade,” ACOM wrote in a post on X, adding that the museum’s actions reflect “a persistent pattern of using political agendas, engaging in discrimination, and promoting narratives of hate against the State of Israel and the Jewish-Israeli community from a publicly funded institution.”

“A public institution should never be used as a platform for sectarian activism,” the statement continued. 

Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Spain has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents over the last two years, in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Still, Spain stands out as one of the most extreme cases, with experts warning that antisemitic violence and anti-Zionist rhetoric have moved beyond a social phenomenon to, in many instances, being state-promoted and legitimized as a political tool.

In particular, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several members of his left-wing party have come under mounting criticism from the country’s political and Jewish leaders, who accuse them of fueling antisemitic hostility.

Sánchez has repeatedly issued pro-Hamas statements, falsely accusing Israel of “genocide” and of violating international law in its defensive war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

“Protecting your country and your society is one thing, but bombing hospitals and killing innocent boys and girls with hunger is another thing entirely,” the Spanish leader said during a televised speech last year.

“That isn’t defending yourself – that’s not even attacking. It’s exterminating defenseless people. It’s breaking all the rules of humanitarian law,” he said.

Sánchez has also voiced solidarity with the “Palestinian people and their cause,” while praising anti-Israel demonstrations for championing what he called “just causes.”

Across the country, political leaders have accused Sánchez of exploiting the war in Gaza to deflect attention from his corruption scandals, recent electoral losses, and growing public dissatisfaction with his government.

According to the Spanish Observatory of Antisemitism, antisemitic incidents in Spain have surged by 567 percent from 2022 to 2024, with the trend expected to have continued into last year.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, Spain has launched a fierce anti-Israel campaign aimed at undermining and isolating the Jewish state on the international stage.

In September, the Spanish government passed a law to take “urgent measures to stop the genocide in Gaza,” banning trade in defense material and dual-use products from Israel, as well as imports and advertising of products originating from Israeli settlements.

Spanish officials also announced that they would bar entry to individuals involved in what they called a “genocide against Palestinians” and block Israel-bound ships and aircraft carrying weapons from Spanish ports and airspace.

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Olympic Store Worker Fired After Repeatedly Calling Out ‘Free Palestine’ to Israel Sports Fans

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 2-man Heat 2 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 16, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel and Menachem Chen of Israel react after their run. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

An employee at an official store for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in Italy has been fired after repeatedly called out “Free Palestine” to a group of Israeli sports fans, Olympic organizers said on Sunday in a statement to Reuters.

Milano Cortina Games organizers said in a statement they have taken action to maintain “a neutral, respectful, and welcoming environment” at the Olympics. They said the incident took place inside the official shop at the Cortina Sliding Center, the venue that is hosting bobsled, luge, and skeleton during the Winter Games this year. Israel competed in skeleton last week, among other sports, and its bobsled team had their first Olympic competition on Monday.

“It is not appropriate for Games staff or contractors to express personal political views while carrying out their duties or to direct such remarks at visitors,” Olympic organizers added about the incident. “Those involved were reassured, and the individual concerned was removed from the shift.”

The store employee was identified as Ali Mohamed Hassan, according to StopAntisemitism. On Friday, the watchdog organization shared on Instagram a video of the confrontation and said it took place earlier that same day.

The clip shows a woman inside an official Olympic retail store filming Hassan as she says, “What were you saying? Say it again.” Hassan is then heard repeatedly saying, “Free Palestine.”

“This is the Olympics. Israel is allowed to compete just like any other country; It’s not controversial; it’s not rage bait,” the woman who is filming tells Hassan in the clip, as he repeatedly says “Free Palestine.”

“OK, good for you, you did it, you freed Palestine, good job,” the woman tells Hassan before leaving the store.

 

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A post shared by StopAntisemitism (@stop_antisemitism)

“Police were called and a harassment investigation has been started, with possible charges forthcoming,” StopAntisemitism claimed in the caption for the video.

Israel has 10 athletes competing in the Milan Cortina Olympics. On Monday, AJ Edelman and Menachem Chen finished in last place out of 26 sleds in the two-man bobsled race. Edelman will be the pilot of his bobsled team when they compete in the four-man event later this week.

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Israeli Player Deni Avdija Makes History With NBA All-Star Game Debut

Jan 27, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) drives past Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr (20) during the second half at Capital One Arena. Photo: Reuters

Deni Avdija became the first-ever Israeli basketball player to play in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon, wearing a No. 8 jersey which featured the flag of Israel.

The 25-year-old, who is a forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, scored five points to go along with four assists and a rebound over the course of two games for the “World” team.

There was a three-team format this year for the 2026 NBA All-Star Games at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. Each team played each other in 12-minute games, and the two teams with the best record and the best point differential played against each other in a fourth “final” game. Aside from the “World” team starring Avdija, there was a “USA Stars” team of younger players and first time All-Stars, and the “USA Stripes” team that included many of the NBA’s most well-known names and All-Stars such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

Avdija scored five points in the first game of the tournament, which the “World” team lost. They played again in the third game and lost again, which took them out of the tournament. “USA Stars” and “USA Stripes” went head-to-head in the final game and “Stars” won 47-21.

Avdija arrived in Los Angles on Friday for the All-Star Game after playing back-to-back games on the road on Wednesday and Thursday for the Trail Blazers.

“It was a long weekend, I’m going to say that,” Avdija said at a post-game press conference on Sunday. “Great staff all around, great planning of the All-Star Weekend. It was hectic, but it was fun. I was really enjoying the experience. Especially when it’s your first time, you embrace everything a little better. But I hope I can be here for many years to come.”

Before the start of the All-Star Game, Los Angeles Lakers player and 22-time All-Star Lebron James was asked at a press conference about Avdija and replied, “I believe he is an All-Star. He’s playing exceptional basketball.”

James added that he hopes to visit Israel. “Hopefully, someday I can make it over there,” he said. “I’ve never been … but I’ve heard great things.”

Avdija competed in front of a star-studded audience that included American filmmaker Spike Lee sitting courtside in a pro-Palestinian outfit. Lee’s sweater had a black and white keffiyeh pattern and featured a Palestinian flag. Over the sweater, the “Malcolm X” director wore a crossbody bag with the same black and white pattern on the pouch and a strap that was adorned with the colors of the Palestinian flag and two inverted red triangles. The inverted red triangle has been used as a symbol to call for violence against Israelis and Jews, and as a symbol to glorify the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’s terrorism.

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