It appears to be all over for Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet instead of bowing out ‘gracefully’ — the beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister is crying foul play and election fraud. But to no avail. For his political fate has all but been sealed. A new eight-party coalition government has been formed to unseat him, following four inconclusive elections in just two years. It is expected to be voted in sooner rather than later. And the man tipped to take over at the helm is none other than Naftali Bennett, one of Bibi’s former chiefs of staff and ideological twin. In many ways this shake-up represents the end of an era. At least for a man who served as head government twice, for a total of 15 years; the last 12 consecutively. In reality, Middle East watchers are talking of a continuation of status quo politics. Though much still rests on Netanyahu, whom pundits describe as being the unwitting glue holding the coalition together. Meaning that as long as the Likud party chief rails against the usurpers — unity will be guaranteed among this motliest of crews. Much has been made of the inclusion of the United Arab List (Ra’am) in the coalition. Certainly, this represents the first time an Israeli Arab party will be represented in government. But beyond the clickbait factor of Islamists playing a hand in dethroning a right-wing orthodox PM — this is unlikely to translate into any wins for the Palestinians. Not least because of Bennett’s verbal track record. Back in 2018, he infamously declared Palestinian children breaching the Gaza border crossing as legitimate “shoot to kill” targets; insisting that they were terrorists and not children. He also hailed the Trump presidency as the final death knell for the two-state solution. Thus, the United Arab List will unlikely risk its seat at the big boy table anytime soon. Though there could be hope further down the line that non-Jewish Israelis, fed up with being treated as second-class citizens, could assume the role of honest broker with the Palestinians. But even here, there would be little, if any, support from the Biden White House. The latter has been clear from the get-go that it is not interested in being bogged down in Middle East peace. So much for the promise of a holistic presidency. The Iranians, too, have much to fear from an Israel under Bennett’s stewardship. Indeed, there are already mounting fears of direct Israeli strikes on Tehran, particularly if Washington fails to revive the stalled Iran nuclear deal. Sadly, it seems that that Bibi’s relevance in Israeli politics is the only means of constraining the country’s new coalition government; while keeping it focused on domestic politics. Though this will inevitably push Bennett and his cohorts towards increasingly extremist margins. And the biggest losers will be the Palestinians. Once more. It is time to internationalise the Palestinian issue and stop treating it as local skirmish between to equal partners. For, how soon is now? *