On a national radio program the other night, I discussed Israel's new government.  I offer readers of American Thinker a summary of my comments.

First, I am a big fan of Bibi Netanyahu and the unprecedented prosperity and relative peace (given the bad neighborhood it inhabits) he brought to Israel.  Bibi got a major assist from the Trump administration, the most pro-Israel ever, for four of those years.  Having said that, Israel's political system has been unstable for the past two years, with one election after another.  In addition, Bibi has served as prime minister for fifteen years (twelve consecutively).  That is a lot of time for any democracy to have one leader.

The new coalition may be even weaker than the recent governments.  It is headed by a prime minister (Naftali Bennett) who is even farther to the right than Bibi, including a large centrist element controlled by Yair Lapid (who holds the real power in the coalition), and left and Arab parties.  If even one member of the new coalition bolts, this government will fail, and new elections will be called.  As such, I do not expect any substantive changes in Israel's approach to the Palestinians, Iran, and other key issues.  In the meantime, Bibi retains power as opposition leader against a weak, fragile coalition.

Unlike too many on the left who stated publicly over the past twelve years that they couldn't support Israel while Netanyahu was in power, I support Israel unequivocally, no matter who its leader is, even when I disagree with his policies.  For example, while I frequently disagreed with liberal Israeli prime ministers such as Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres and, sadly, turned out to be correct that the Oslo "peace process" was bound to fail because the Palestinians never would accept and live in peace with Israel as a Jewish state, I supported Israel during their leadership. 

In sum, while I have serious reservations about its stability and have concerns about some of its policies, I sincerely wish the new government success in building on Netanyahu's unprecedented accomplishments.

Josh Kantrow is a cybersecurity attorney based in Chicago who has traveled to Israel fifteen times and is active in causes that support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

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