Netanyahu's main challenge: managing a right-wing government versus a democratic government Israel today

Amidst the great uproar that accompanied the establishment of the new government, Prime Minister Netanyahu set two political goals for himself as a personal goal.

One - his life's mission - to stop the Iranian nuke.

The second: to establish a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia and thus effectively end the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Theoretically, the two ambitions are not so difficult to achieve, precisely because they are intertwined.

Saudi Arabia detests Iran as much as we do.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," says the proverb.

That is, after the Abraham Accords, to which Saudi Arabia tacitly agreed, the opening of the skies for Israeli flights, opening up to Jews and Israelis with dual citizenship, and a host of other silent cooperations - Riyadh has every reason to get closer to Jerusalem.

The US should have stepped on the necks of the Iranians. The Revolutionary Guards, photo: AP

But the obstacles on the way are not the reasons, but the circumstances.

Peace with Bahrain and the Emirates was made in the Trump era, under what was perceived as powerful American patronage.

Today, at least in local eyes, the American presence in the region is weak.

The Saudis do not trust the Americans.

Only recently, the President of China, Xi Jinping, was received with royal honor by the Saudi royal family and announced a series of collaborations between the countries.

The attitude towards him was the opposite of the cold shoulder Biden received from the Saudi leadership when he visited there in the summer.

The Saudis rightly believe that the U.S. should have stepped on the Iranians' throats. This was true even before the mass killing of Iranian protesters and Iranian assistance to Russia in the war against Ukraine. It is dozens of times true - morally, politically and security-wise - after these two developments.

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Does not trust the Americans, photo: Reuters

Still, the US insists on treating Iran with silk gloves. Although the administration is helping, it is far from pushing the protests with all its might. There is also no real threat to the Iranian nuclear program.

If Saudi Arabia and Israel had an American umbrella against Iran, it would be easy for them to join hands.

In its absence, Israel and Saudi Arabia will probably coordinate moves in secret, but it is doubtful that they will be publicly announced.

In other words - in order to curb Iran, and on the way to make peace with Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu will have to turn American policy in the Middle East on its head.

It is hard to believe that he will succeed in this as long as the Democrats are in power.

Raisi.

There is no real threat to the nuclear program, photo: AP

Battle of Lima

Which brings us to the immediate challenges of Netanyahu and the government for this period.

After the critical reception from the progressive circles in the USA, the main task of Netanyahu, Dermer, Eli Cohen and Gallant will be a containment battle for legitimacy.

Every government faces the attempt to undermine Israel's position in the world.

The vote at the UN on Friday on the demand to examine the "continuing occupation" at the Hague Tribunal - which Lapid and Gantz also failed to stop - is a clear example of this.

But now this battle will be fought when the government will also try to turn to the right, both to bring about legal reforms and to deal with a democratic administration that denies most of its positions.

It just won't be.

The vote - an attempt to tattoo the status of Israel.

United Nations Assembly, photo: AFP

Netanyahu will also be required to shape Israel's policy towards Russia.

On the one hand, he has a long-standing personal relationship steeped in mutual respect with Vladimir Putin.

On the other hand, the same Putin is the hated figure in the West and in the USA from wall to wall. Here, too, a delicate maneuver will be necessary.

But after all this, still the most serious external challenge of the new government actually starts from within.

Because the spiral of political pressure works so that the Israeli left still enjoys excess representation in the Israeli media.

This in turn feeds the foreign media, which is read abroad by the critical Jews, who influence the already reluctant administration.

It is the nature of the surge that the government will face at least until January 2024, when the president may change in the White House.

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