The decision to ally with the Jewish equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan lays bare where the Israeli right plans to head next<\/p>\n
After a decade of coalition governments in Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu, the language needed to describe them has necessarily grown more extreme.<\/p>\n
At first, they were right-wing. Then ultra-nationalist. Recently, analysts have started to talk of Netanyahu leading a far-right coalition. Now it seems we may have to go further still.<\/p>\n
Should he win Israel\u2019s election in April, Netanyahu\u2019s next government will be one that openly embraces the terrorist right.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Central Elections Committee, a body overseeing the election process and dominated by the main political factions, gave the green light<\/a> for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) to run for the Israeli parliament.<\/p>\n That has shocked many observers, because the party is justifiably described as a Jewish version of the Ku Klux Klan.<\/p>\n But Otzma Yehudit won\u2019t only be expecting to win seats in the Knesset. Thanks to Netanyahu, it now has a good chance of becoming a partner in the next government.<\/p>\n Jewish supremacists<\/strong><\/p>\n The party, founded six years ago, is a political refuge for a group of disciples of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. He and his followers are usually termed anti-Arab racists, but nowadays that applies to a significant swath of political opinion in Israel. They are better described as violent Jewish supremacists.<\/p>\n They back a Greater Israel that includes the occupied territories, all of…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n