Israel Reaps Gains from Coronavirus Crisis
Arab World
Tel Aviv – Nazir Magally
Apart from the well-known losses related to the number of deaths, infections and the heavy economic impact, Israel has made quite a few gains from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. At the same time, however, the country could have achieved a lot more at strategic levels. But it did not, as its decision-maker is waging a major personal battle, which can land him in jail. For that reason, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking hold of the “gains fund”, refusing to share any of his profits, even with the state itself. The epidemic has ravaged Israel, at a time when it was witnessing the largest political crisis in its history. It has been run by an interim government since the beginning of 2019. There have been three electoral elections, in which no party has been able to form a government. Out of a total of 120 deputies in the Knesset, the alliance of right-wing parties won 60 seats in the April 2019 elections. The number fell to 56 in September and then rose to 58 in last month’s polls. But Netanyahu took advantage of the coronavirus crisis to spread panic among the citizens and impose a state of emergency. He pushed his fiercest opponent, Benny Gantz, to agree on a unity government, securing the premiership for the next year and a half. In addition to this advantage, the Israeli political right sees coronavirus as an opportunity to achieve a set of regional gains. The northern front At the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Israel was waging a complex battle against Iran’s influence in Syria and Lebanon. Its declared goal was to curb Tehran’s plan to reinforce its position in the war-torn country and prevent Iran from establishing a direct route from Tehran to the Mediterranean, through Iraq and Syria. Israel also wanted to stop the transfer of weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the establishment of Iranian militia bases in southern Syria near the border with Israel. It took advantage of the epidemic to move on to the phase of completely expelling the Iranians from Syria. This was expressed by Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett, hours before the Israeli bombings on April 27. Israel carried out new raids on Friday morning. “We are not only continuing to curb the activities of the Iranian positioning in Syria, but we have moved sharply to the expulsion phase,” he was quoted as saying. The West Bank and Hamas The Israeli right viewed the circumstances of the epidemic as an opportunity to annex and impose sovereignty over West Bank areas, including settlement lands, and the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea regions. Long before the outbreak, Israel and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip had several truce agreements, to the extent that the Palestinian movement refrained from interfering in confrontations between Israel and the Islamic Jihad. Right-wing Israel explicitly affirms that these relations reinforce the Palestinian division. Today, talks emerged about serious progress in negotiations over a prisoner swap deal that would also include significant medical assistance to help Hamas cope with the spread of the coronavirus.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262291/israel-reaps-gains-coronavirus-crisis
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