Israel’s isolation grows

during its week-long attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. These governments have also accepted Israel’s arguments about the Iranian nuclear weapons program, and have imposed ever harsher economic sanctions on Iran.

European countries have told Israel that they are not going to be satisfied this time merely with criticizing the Israeli decision.

Incredible as it may sound, France and the United Kingdom are now considering recalling their ambassadors from Tel Aviv for consultations. Several European countries are discussing measures to signal their growing impatience with Israel’s settlement policies. Among these measures: putting notices on products sold in Europe which come from Jewish settlements in the West Bank, or even preventing such products from entering the EU.

On Sunday, Israel also took a step which may exacerbate its security situation. The Israeli government decided to withhold about $120 million it collects in taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority – and rather than deliver that money to the PA, use it to pay down the debt the PA owes to Israeli utilities.

The money is used to pay salaries to PA employees, among them policeman and members of the PA security services who, since 2005, have done a very good job rooting out terrorist cells in the West Bank, thus contributing significantly to the security of Israel.

It is not clear what Israel hopes to achieve by weakening the PA and making it impossible for it to pay the salaries of policemen and security personnel on whose cooperation Israel now depends.

It remains to be seen whether Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing these initiatives for strategic reasons – or for domestic political reasons. Following the primaries two weeks ago, Netanyahu’s Likud Party has taken a sharp turn to the right. More moderate leaders like Dan Meridor, Benny Begin (the son of former prime minister Menachem Begin), and Michael Eytan failed to secure a spot on the party’s list for parliament, and Likud voters replaced them with delegates who are not only adamantly opposed to a two-state solution, but who  have attacked the courts and judicial system, the freedom of the press, and the freedom of political association.

The Likud is also facing a spirited opposition from the right, with two ultra-nationalist parties – Ha’Ichud Ha’Leumi and Ha’Bait Ha’Yehudi – deciding to merge into one political party. Netanyahu, in an effort not to lose voters to the new party, announced the creation of a political block with the party of his nationalist foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, thus pushing the already-hawkish Likud even further to the right.

The Israeli elections will be held on 22 January, but as the votes by good friends of Israel in the General Assembly last week showed, and as the angry reaction to the E1 decision — and the steps European countries now consider in response — highlight, playing domestic political card has become a very costly game for Israel.