The Ted Cruz of Israeli Politics

Danon was a marginal figure in Israeli politics for years—his first two Knesset bids in 2003 and 2006 failed; a quixotic leadership challenge to Netanyahu in 2007 garnered less than 4 percent—but after scraping into the Knesset in 2009, Danon quickly became one of the Likud’s most active lawmakers, pushing various pieces of controversial legislation that earned him comparisons to Joseph McCarthy. He tried establishing a parliamentary committee to investigate the foreign ties of local human rights NGOs. He introduced a bill requiring all citizens to pledge loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in order to get a passport or driver’s license. He sponsored another to annex all Israeli settlements. Each of these initiatives failed, but they helped move once-taboo ideas into the conversation, at least on the right. The annexation campaign, for example, earned the support of more than half of the Likud faction and was later co-opted by hard-right Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett. Danon also proved he wasn’t afraid to challenge Netanyahu, making it safer for others to do the same. As the prime minister considered extending his ten-month settlement moratorium in 2010, Danon helped fuel the Likud revolt that scuttled it. On the day it expired, despite heavy pressure from Netanyahu’s office, Danon arrived at a settlement cornerstone-laying rally with a shovel and led the crowd in a countdown to the freeze’s end.