Mar 21, 2015 4 min read

For years, there was more debate within Israeli society about its direction and future than there was within America or on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers of both parties stood solidly, unquestioningly, behind Israel, our key Middle Eastern ally, shielding it from criticism, standing up for it rhetorically and, perhaps most importantly, sending it millions of dollars in military aid.

That started to change in recent years, and could well accelerate as a result of last week’s election in Israel, which saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pull off an unexpectedly strong victory. His right-wing Likud Party will likely form a coalition with other right-wing parties in the Knesset and keep him in office another four years, which would make Netanyahu Israel’s longest-serving premier since the state’s founding in 1948.

Netanyahu’s victory was unwelcome news for those who believe that giving self-determination to Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza is the only viable way to lower the temperature in the region and allow Israel to maintain its status as a democracy. In the hours before Israelis went to the polls, Netanyahu let slip in an interview that if he remained as prime minister, he would never allow the creation of a Palestinian state, directly reversing a position he held for the last several years. Once safely re-elected, though, he started to walk back his vow, but Palestinians and the rest of the world community have reason to doubt his sincerity.

Then, in a ploy that smelled of cynicism and desperation, he warned darkly Tuesday “Arab voters are coming in droves to the ballot boxes.” That was a shameful bit of race-baiting, particularly in light of the fact one-fifth of the voting public in Israel consists of Arabs, a fact Israel had previously showcased proudly, and said was emblematic of its status as an inclusive democracy. The White House rightly rebuked Netanyahu for his tactics, and President Obama took his time to call Netanyahu to extend congratulations.

But Netanyahu’s actions in the hours before the vote were not the only moments that have recently given the rest of the world pause. Without informing Obama or the State Department, he delivered a belligerent address to Congress at the beginning of the month in an attempt to derail the nuclear negotiations between Iran, the United States and other global players like China and Germany. Then, there was a proposal by Netanyahu and other right-wing Israeli politicians late last year to specifically define the country as a Jewish state, in direct contravention to Israel’s own Declaration of Independence, which calls for “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants.”

Israel’s assault on Gaza last summer, which left close to 2,000 people dead and almost 10,000 injured, was excessive and could subject Israel to investigation by the International Criminal Court. And the construction of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem has proceeded with Netanyahu’s support, even though they are illegal and would complicate the creation of a Palestinian state.

Given the results in Israel, there’s now speculation the United States will support a United Nations resolution that would set a timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state. It would also potentially call for the end of settlement building and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian territories. European nations that have been notably less patient than the United States could also step up efforts to boycott Israel and punish it with sanctions.

Israel has few choices. If it absorbs the Palestinians but gives them no political rights, it would demolish Israeli democracy and render it an apartheid state. Then, if it would decide to create one democratic state with the Palestinians given equal footing, it would effectively cease to be a Jewish state. A two-state solution is the only way to assure that Israel remains both democratic and Jewish.

Writing in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper after it became clear Netanyahu would get another term, columnist Gideon Levy said “the only consolation is that (it) will prompt the world to act. That possibility is our only refuge.”