Newsaholic

  Israel’s outgoing coalition has been the most diverse in the country’s history, bringing a slew of progressive policies on the environment, LGBTQ issues and funding for the country’s Arab minority.  But now, even before it takes office, Israel’s expected new coalition government — overwhelmingly male, religious and right-wing — is promising to roll back many of the achievements of its predecessor, prompting concern from activists and liberals over where their country is headed. If its promises materialize, a tax on environmentally destructive single-use plastics could be abolished. New protections for gay Israelis could be reversed, and generous budgets for the long underserved Arab sector could be slashed. The outgoing coalition lasted for just over a year and collapsed over disagreements on the Palestinians — although on that subject, its policies were largely unchanged from previous, hard-line governments.  But after Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign, activists say...