Ellie Trumpfheller
Introduction
In 1994, Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein brutally murdered 29 Palestinian worshippers in the West Bank city of Hebron, leading to his party, Kach, being branded as a terrorist organization. Yet for the next 26 years, Goldstein's photo hung proudly in Itamar Ben-Gvir's home. Now, as Israel’s National Security Minister, Ben-Gvir has carried Goldstein’s legacy with him to the upper echelons of power as he leads the far-right political bloc in Israel’s government. With extremism shifting from fringe to mainstream in Israel, the normalization of the far-right into its political establishment has heightened the risk of conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies. This shift is driving Israel toward diplomatic isolation, jeopardizing its national security.
The Rise of Security-Driven Populism
The mainstreaming of far-right ideology in Israel was cultivated through decades of security-based populism that found fertile ground in the tiny nation born from persecution and marred by perpetual conflict with antipathetic neighbors. Populism, rooted in rhetoric that demonizes the institutions and individuals deemed as ‘elite,’ is typically thought to be fueled by either cultural backlash or economic concerns. However, since its founding in 1948, Israel’s political and cultural climate has been heavily influenced by a shared experience of Jewish persecution and constant security threats. The state emerged as a home for a people without a common language or nationality. Instead, they shared a religion and history of antisemitic violence that laid the foundation for a “culture of threat” — one that would become core to Israeli identity. Thus, populism in Israel does not just employ the dramatization of social or economic concerns; it mobilizes through the weaponization of national security.
Termed ‘security-driven populism,’ this phenomenon has created the necessary conditions for far-right integration into conventional Israeli politics. Recent research has shown that populism in Israel has been mainstreamed to such a “remarkable degree” that it is now synonymous with the state’s political right, which has controlled the government for more than two decades. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current government, widely recognized as the most right-wing in Israel’s history, further exemplifies the consequence of this shift. When populist radical right parties are accepted as part of conventional politics, they are said to have been ‘incorporated.’ Incorporation in Israel has occurred to such a great extent that Netanyahu’s Likud party could only form a government through a coalition that relies on Ben-Gvir's right-wing bloc for 50 percent of the necessary Knesset seats. Even Likud, a traditionally center-right party, scores an 8.7/10 on anti-establishment measures, meaning it strongly opposes the traditional political establishment, characteristic of far-right populist movements. This score is more than double the European center-right average (3.45/10) and surpasses the European far-right average (8/10). Far-right populism in Israel has not just infiltrated mainstream politics; it has become mainstream politics.
The Normalization of the Far-Right
The consequences of far-right mainstreaming extend beyond domestic politics in all states, but particularly in Israel. A history of regional conflict and animosity between Israel and its neighbors enabled the far-right to quickly embed itself within the state’s political culture as populists penetrated the discourse by preying on the public’s acute existential security concerns. Moreover, the media’s framing of issues central to far-right ideology, such as immigration and violent crime, created space for extremist narratives within political dialogues. Such normalization expedited the far-right’s ascent to power in Israel, precipitating hate-driven, hawkish security stances that have since materialized as policy in the Gaza war.
In emphasizing military solutions over diplomatic ones, Israel has been pushed toward increasingly isolationist positions. The intersection of religious fundamentalism and right-wing extremism in Netanyahu’s War Cabinet has turned Israel into a pariah, straining the alliance network necessary to deter threats from Iran and its proxies. Israel should employ diplomatic finesse and maintain strong alliances with regional and global partners to address its complex regional challenges. Yet the far-right's influence has led to state policies that prioritize territorial expansion in the West Bank over diplomatic progress, undermining efforts to expand coalitions with neighboring states against common security threats. The Israeli government's hardline stances have left Israel increasingly isolated at a time when it can least afford to be.
The Cost of Extremism
Israel now stands at a crossroads. Empirically, it has been identified as the world's most ‘Garrison state,’ a term to describe a state that subordinates all other spending and policy priorities to national security concerns, regardless of whether the threats are real or perceived. In fact, between 1990 and 2020, Israel topped the Garrison index charts for 27 out of 30 years studied; in the 3 years where it did not hold first place, it held second. While the prioritization of security is understandable given Israel's history, the far-right's approach paradoxically undermines Israeli security by alienating partners and allies while escalating regional tensions.
The security-first mindset embodied by top decision-makers in Israel’s political and security establishments may prove to be a dangerous gamble with the state’s future. Allowing extremist views to shape national security policies risks transforming legitimate security concerns into self-fulfilling prophecies of isolation and further conflict. True national security requires the coupling of military strength with diplomatic acuity — a balance that is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve as populist radical right influence grows within Israel's political establishment and population.
When Itamar Ben-Gvir finally removed Baruch Goldstein's photo from his wall in 2020, it was not a rejection of extremism — it was a calculated move to make extremism more palatable to the mainstream. As today’s war in Gaza has grown into a multi-front conflict with Israel facing immensely heightened security concerns, the question is not whether national security should be a priority, but rather whether the far-right's approach to security serves Israel's long-term interests. The evidence suggests it does not. For Israel to maintain both its security and democratic character, it must find a way to address legitimate security concerns without embracing the counterproductive extremism of the far-right. The alternative is continued diplomatic isolation at a time when Israel needs cooperative allies more than ever.
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