The Rise of the Right Wing in Israel

This message comes from Progressive Insurance and the name your price tool. It helps you find car insurance options in your budget. Try it today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a plan to end fighting in Gaza just over two years after the Hamas led attack on Israel on 10/07/2023 and Israel's subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza. Since the agreement was announced, Israel's military has pulled back its forces. Hamas has released all remaining living hostages, and Israel has freed Palestinian prisoners. As we wait to see what happens next, we are bringing you episodes looking at the history of major players on both sides of the conflict. Last week, we ran our episode on the history of Hamas. If you missed that, go back and check it out for sure. This week, we're revisiting our episode on the rise of right wing politics and Benjamin Netanyahu's political career, which we first ran in 2024. On 10/05/1995, tens of thousands of Israelis crowded the streets of Jerusalem. They began in midtown and marched towards the doors of the Knesset, where Israel's parliament meets. It's not mister Abin that we knew in the past. Entirely different men. The former defense minister Ariel Sharon was there along with the rest of the demonstrators to protest Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin who negotiated and signed the Oslo Accords, a peace deal with Palestinians, a peace deal these demonstrators viewed as a national betrayal. A weak man, a man that gave up not only only the basic element of Zionism and gave up to a terrorist organization. It was a very dangerous and radical moment. There was, you know, a palpable sense of violence. This is Sarah Yael Hirshhorn. She's a historian and visiting professor at the University of Haifa and fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Israel is at the brink of a civil war. The Oslo deal was very controversial in Israel because it would have required concessions, like withdrawing Israeli security forces from the West Bank in Gaza and transferring authority over occupied territories to Palestinian control, concessions many saw as opening the door to a Palestinian state. The country's conservative party, Likud, opposed it immediately, and other right wing parties agreed. Their anger towards prime minister Rabin came out in shocking ways. They chanted, in blood and fire, we will expel Rabin. They carried massive signs with disturbing images of Rabin on them. You have photographs of Rabin, you know, that have been doctored so that he appears to either be in a Nazi uniform or looking like Arafat, you know, with a kefir around his head and, you know, and the kind of fatigues. This is Natasha Roth Roland. She's the director of research and analysis at Diaspora Alliance, an international organization that combats antisemitism. There is an equivalency that that is being drawn by …