US-Israel elite divide deepens as far-right coalition threatens regional stability and democratic backsliding
Original framing: “Billionaire Trump backer says Ben-Gvir, Smotrich should not serve in next Israeli government - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
This moment echoes the 1977 Likud takeover in Israel, where Menachem Begin’s far-right government was initially opposed by centrist factions but later became institutionalised through US backing. Similarly, the 1980s rise of Jewish Power militias (precursors to today’s far-right) was met with elite condemnation before being co-opted into mainstream politics. The current debate also parallels the 2005 Gaza disengagement, where centrists like Ariel Sharon framed it as a 'generous' withdrawal while expanding settlements in the West Bank—a tactic that continues today. The historical pattern is clear: elite divisions are tactical, while the settler-colonial project endures.
This debate over Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is not a moral reckoning but a tactical maneuver within a settler-colonial system that has endured for decades through US backing, military control, and legalized land theft.
The centrist factions opposing them today are the same elites who enabled their rise by normalizing occupation, while the far-right factions they fear are the logical outcome of a state that has long operated outside democratic norms. Historical parallels—from South Africa’s apartheid era to Algeria’s colonial violence—show that elite divisions rarely disrupt systemic injustice, and the Palestinian experience confirms that resistance must target the structures of power, not just the personalities within them. The solution lies not in choosing between elites, but in dismantling the military, legal, and economic frameworks that sustain occupation, a task that requires global pressure, truth-telling, and a rejection of the false binary that frames this as a debate between 'moderates' and 'extremists' rather than a crisis of systemic complicity.