An ultra-nationalist Israeli lawmaker’s behavior on Tuesday is a microcosm of the conduct and attitude of Israel as a whole: bullying, self-absorbed, faux-victimized, evasive.
Netanyahu conducted by far the ugliest – and most reckless – campaign in Israeli history (almost including a declaration of war on Gaza to delay the election), but it wasn’t enough. Coalition-building in the current environment will be tough.
Palestinian citizens of Israel are constantly reminded of the fragility and conditionality of our (second-class) Israeli citizenship, and the illegitimacy of our Palestinian identity – and that’s amplified as elections approach.
The Palestinian identity of Israeli citizens is conceptualized as a perpetual threat precisely because it resists the constant revisionist efforts of the state. By virtue of existing, Palestinians contest the erasure of their own narratives and histories.