Pakistan and the change of guard in Israel
https://arab.news/jek9v
Though Pakistanis have a deep emotional attachment with Palestine, they show little interest in the internal power dynamics of Israel. However, this time around, the case was different, and it had a lot to do with social media which is redefining the mechanisms and style of traditional diplomacy.
In the elections held in March this year, Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister’s Likud party could not muster majority in the Knesset. This tempted the opposition leaders to sue for his ouster. During Netanyahu’s twelve year rule, Israel has been bereft of political stability. It has seen four elections since 2018 and as many wars in Gaza since 2008. He has faced charges of corruption, fraud and breach of trust.
Pakistanis view Netanyahu as a leader who deliberately ignored the solemn undertakings of the Oslo Accords and defaced the West Bank by building numerous illegal settlements. The demographic and territorial changes imposed by his government on the occupied territories have made the goal of establishing the two states quite remote.
Netanyahu’s successor is Naftali Bennett, a right-wing party leader. He had served as Chief of Staff to Netanyahu before 2009, during his first successful electoral bid. Later on, Bennet also served as minister till he parted ways with the Prime Minister. He is the first Israeli Prime Minister who has actually lived in a West Bank settlement. His right wing Yamina party is a supporter not only of settlements but sadly also of the annexation of the West Bank.
However, Bennett had to cobble a patchwork coalition of eight political parties to pave the way for the Netanyahu ouster. Under the new arrangement, he has to share the four year term equally with Yair Lapid, leader of a centrist party. The rainbow coalition also includes a Palestinian party called Ra’am and that is a historic first. Party leader Mansour Abbas thinks his support will help the Palestinians indirectly as the coalition will not be able to take fresh initiatives against Palestinians-- the latest round of attacks on Gaza proves him wrong.
As stated above, Pakistanis generally show little interest in Israeli politics as it does not impact them directly. However, this time, a strange thing happened. During the Gaza war, Bennett issued a video from his social media account which claimed, with a photograph of Islamabad’s Shifa Hospital, that the compound was the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, and claimed it was being used as Hamas headquarters.
The functional aspect of diplomacy had been rendered easier and also more difficult at the same time.
Javed Hafeez
It didn’t take long for the video to cause a furore in Pakistani media, amplified manyfold by social media. Director General Zahid Hafeez Choudhry, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman, took exception to it and wondered whether it was an “inadvertent mistake or deliberate misrepresentation.”
The incident has made Bennett known to many Pakistanis for his ignorance.
My assessment is that Israel will have a weak government for the next four years. The Israeli electorate has deliberately cut Netanyahu and his Likud party down to size. The incumbency fatigue was also a factor as 12 years is a long period for a ruler in a democratic dispensation. But Likud is still the single largest party in the Israeli Knesset. This means that populist right wing politics is still an ideology to be reckoned with in Israel.
Diplomacy has usually been considered a profession where its practitioners were privy to information not known to the common man. But with the arrival of 24/7 news channels, latest information and analysis has become easily available to all and sundry. The functional aspect of diplomacy had been rendered easier and also more difficult at the same time.
As available information multiplies, the diplomat has much to write about. But a good diplomat was one who could sift through correct information and offer better analysis than the news channels quickly.
The introduction of social media in the recent past was another leap forward as the common man can give his opinion instantly, reaching scores of people. Government leaders, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, started using this medium frequently in order to reach out to the people. While digital media has empowered the common man, it has also created problems. On the positive side, it is a good check on governments and political parties. On the negative side, it can be employed for nefarious propaganda and fake news.
While social media has made mainstream media more accountable, it has to be handled with care. Foreign ministries were known to issue very measured and appropriated worded statements. Political leaders, at times, tend to bypass their foreign offices now.
As the coalition won the vote of confidence in the Knesset, Pakistani media accorded little coverage to the expected change. For Pakistan, Netanyahu and Bennett are chips off the same block, and it is clear the plight of Palestinians is not going to change for the better any time soon.
– Javed Hafeez is a former Pakistani diplomat with much experience of the Middle East. He writes weekly columns in Pakistani and Gulf newspapers and appears regularly on satellite TV channels as a defense and political analyst.
Twitter: @hafiz_javed
