Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 23.02.2026
This year is an election year in the Zionist state and midterm elections in the United States, and the government’s annexation policy and other laws are met with counter-declarations by Trump, Europe, and American Jewry.
It is hard to believe that Netanyahu will openly promote moves that will lead to a confrontation with the US president, whom he is counting on for the sake of pardon and the election campaign. That is why Netanyahu is trying to soften the bill for the death penalty for Palestinian fighters for fear of economic consequences from Europe. Therefore, he also canceled the discussion of a law that could prevent mixed prayer (Conservative reformists) at the Western Wall, where the Zionist myth is that it is part of the Jewish Temple. The law will change the status quo(the supreme court decision from a couple years ago mandating more space for reform/conservative denominations) at the Western Wall while pushing out the Reformists and Conservatives pits Israel against American Jewry, which is mostly Reformist.
Ahead of the meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday, the Cabinet Secretariat instructed Justice Minister Yariv Levin to cancel the meeting of the committee, which was supposed to discuss the Law for the Protection of the Holy Places of Knesset member Avi Maoz (the far – right Noam). The law is intended to give the chief rabbis the exclusive authority to determine which conduct will be considered desecration of the holy sites of Judaism – a move that is expected to effectively halt the mixed prayers of Reform and Conservative Jews at the Western Wall compound.
Maoz has already announced that he will bring the law to a preliminary reading in the plenum on Wednesday, if the Knesset presidency allows the move. Levin declared that in the absence of a definitive government position, he intends to vote in favor of the law, and called on the coalition to align itself with it. As far as Levin is concerned, support for the law is mainly against the Supreme Court, which last week called for the immediate completion of the preparation of the southern plaza for mixed prayer. Shas, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism have already made it clear that they will vote in favor of the bill when it comes up in the plenum.
Meanwhile, Ben Gvir has given permission to Jews to Pray in Al Aqsa in the time of Ramadan which is a clear provocation and Netanyahu does not intervene.
In the midst of an election year, fear of the Jewish lobby in the United States is not the only factor that Netanyahu fears, he also fears a confrontation with the European Union. In recent days, Netanyahu’s office has been trying to refine the controversial bill for the death penalty for Palestinian fighters spearheaded by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in part because of concerns about a confrontation with European countries on the issue and the economic consequences for Israel as a result.
Above all this, is the position of the President of the United States, Donald Trump against Annexation of the West Bank. Netanyahu needs Trump to exert pressure on the pardon in his trial and in an attempt to torpedo the international arrest warrant against him. He also wants to highlight the close relationship between him and the president as a significant part of his election campaign. It is reasonable to assume that Netanyahu will try to avoid a significant confrontation with Trump in the near future and will not promote controversial moves that Trump will find difficult to accept.
Last September, when a long list of countries recognized a Palestinian state, ministers demanded that Trump reiterated his opposition to the annexation of the West Bank. In an interview with ‘Time’, Trump said: “I gave my word to the Arab countries; Israel will lose all its support from the United States if the annexation happens.”
In the absence of American and international recognition of annexation, the coalition has been forced to recalculate its tactics. In recent weeks, the Cabinet and the government have approved a series of measures, first and foremost the promotion of the registration of land in Area C in the West Bank as land belonging to the Zionist state within five years with a budget of 244 million shekels.
In the meantime, Netanyahu is pushing Trump to go to war with Iran, even though Trump’s advisers oppose a war with Iran that would bring down the Republican Party in the midterm elections. A war with Iran will bring Netanyahu many votes of the Zionist Israelis and force the Zionist opposition to support Netanyahu’s moves, and the Joint List will simply shut up. However, such a war may push Israel over the cliff.