It's amazing that so many recognize that elections are a total disaster, guaranteed to make the world a worse place (for all the reasons Cohen cites, and many more), yet always stop short of saying so.
To all you Israeli liberals: You know The jig is up, and the right-wingers and theocrats will dominate the Jewish state for a generation or more to come. You're welcome to the United States, and the Democratic Party. (I know that many of you are dual citizens.) Perhaps you can help vote His Orangeness out of office.
2
The weakness of the entire Arab and Muslim world is actually the worst threat to Israel.
A lack of a foreign danger and abundance of the accumulated social hatred are very dangerous mix.
Being from the Balkans I grew up with the myth about the Ottoman invasion and its inevitability.
For the first time in life I recently read about the pre-ottoman era. Actually, all the damages were self-inflicted.
There wasn’t even the confrontation between the Greek-Orthodox and catholic countries.
There were just the orthodox states of Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Serbia.
The former descended into the internal civil war. Serbia used the opportunity to launch the conquest of the Byzantine and Bulgarian territories.
The local fighting depleted their resources, so when the Ottomans stepped on the European soil nobody cared because they were smaller than any of them so the locals continued fighting each other.
That’s why Netanyahu’s strength is the worst threat to Israel.
There are no more moral restrictions or guidance. Now everything is acceptable.
Losing the moral values is always the worst threat to any society in the long term. If the people were able to control own greed, it wouldn’t be so dangerous.
Greed indicates inability to use own intelligence and moral values.
2
I get the sense that the peace plan Trump refers to is peace through obliteration of the Palestinians - the peace of the grave. As for democracy in the US and Israel - it will be buried right alongside - by the people who support their leaders. A terrible time to be human.
7
Of course Murphy's pessimism feels true d
enough.
Whatever the future brings, most are reluctant to obsess about.
I am not enamored by the agendas of demagogues who've been re-elected
or seemingly shall be.
So I worry
4
I think you are quite correct in your assessment of the situation. I suggest that anyone who is even considering voting Democratic in 2020 be asked to read your column and then sign a statement to the effect that they promise to vote for the Democratic candidate no matter how unpalatable to them personally on grounds of national security.
5
Israel has been living under the luxury of the Arab states being preoccupied for almost 2 decades with first Afghanistan, then Iraq, then the Arab Spring, then Syria.... Those countries/issues are losing their imperative to keep these nations' focused elsewhere. A hard-line Israel will soon resume its place as the "pressing Middle East problem for Muslims." Then, Israel will see the foolishness of accepting Netanyahu's hard line approach.
3
Can we lay off the omnipresent myths of a strong economy? Majorities win elections. Half of Americans are one missed paycheck or broken transmission away from financial calamity. The unemployment rate might be historically low, but it doesn't count millions who gave up looking for work years ago, while it counts those working dead-end low wage jobs with no benefits.
By the way, the same holds true in Israel. Economy is great if you're in certain cutting-edge tech sectors, for the average Israeli not so much.
By repeating the myth, well-meaning detractors like Roger Cohen merely add to the momentum of leaders like Trump being in charge of "booming economies." Oh and if it's booming, why is Trump so whiny and adamant that the Federal Reserve lower interest rates?
8
The fact that what Roger wrote makes perfect sense is terrifying.
My neighbor down the street is already wearing his new baseball cap...Keep America Great in 2020. I live in a very blue part of southern California. To see that flaunted, proudly, in my neighborhood, is scary.
4
The most amazing feat of Netanyahu's electoral victory is that the Israeli system of multi-party vote percentage system requires significant compromise and coalition building.
That a politician can navigate through that level of negotiation land mines and secure 5 victories is a statement of the core values and concerns of a clear majority of Israel's voters whether they are willing to voice it or now.
As far as a mirror on Trump, be aware that for those who view Trump as the gladiator put in to fight against the barbarians at the gates, disapproval does not translate to voting for his opponent.
What Trump has done very successfully is present a clear statement that while he is a horrible immoral man who repeatedly disappoints each of his wives and family, when you want someone to fight for you, he will keep his word. And look at what the Dems have been talking about.
Look at the substance of what Trump said in his campaign against what he is trying to do. It may be infuriating to his detractors as the very things he had promised are things his critics hate with a passion. Yet he is doing (or making a lot of noise about attempting) the exact same horrible things he promised in his campaign. This is what is remarkable.
There are many people who disapprove or don't want Trump at their dinner tables, but will still vote for him because he is the only thing tormenting the identifiable forces that are much worse than this man.
2
Most people in the West have no idea about living under constant threats of war. What happens is that non-Jews only have one side of the story. That is a sophisticated military overpowers a dirt poor population of Palestinian Arabs that is seen as a total overreaction to the determined efforts of "return" to the once lived in property of their fathers and grandfather's prior to the UN partition in 1948.
This is Crux of the matter. But what we Westener's don't get is the other side of the story. That would be eye opening stuff if we would even believe it. These days however both narratives are obsolete regardless of what is the truths of each side.
In Europe the narrative is a bouyed and violent rise of anti- Jewish behaviors by the general public. This is not just confined to the hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants. Hungary, Poland, and Czechia might be the most egregious nation's in this, but rest assured that ordinary citizens are forgetting the past history of what this leads to. Young people in general have very little knowledge or just don't believe it happened during the second World War.
Here in the Western Hemisphere which includes the U.S. anti-Jewish open criticisms and an increase in violence have sadly increased also.
We all have to question ourselves and others as to why any individual Jews are being targeted. Netanyahu notwithstanding, the rationale for taking whatever frustrations out on our friends and neighbors is just wrong. Stop it here.
3
To all the comments acting like there is no hope in 2020 and that the Democrats will destroy themselves, enough. Being realistic about the challenges the left will face is perfectly fine, but this isn't being realistic, or even pessimism.
This is fatalism.
The US is not Israel and Trump is not Netanyahu. There may be similarities, but by no means does this mean Trump is assured a second term. Now, more than ever we must be positive and have hope. Not to the point of denial, mind you, but the American people need to BELIEVE in something again. We need to support one another and work our hardest to make sure that every American goes to the polls on election day and delivers a resounding rebuke of the president, no matter who the Democratic candidate is.
4
Mr. Cohen forgets to mention the single most important difference between Israel and the United States. Foreign policy, and defense of our country are not viewed on a daily basis as existential threats to most Americans and are not the primary determinant for how we vote. Defense and foreign policy issues in relation to the long standing conflict with the Arabs represent a true existential threat to Israelis and is always by far the most important issue. Netanyahu, even if you hate his willingness to put democratic norms at risk, has over the course of his tenure kept Israelis from dying, gotten the United States to move their embassy, support annexation of the Golan Heights and reopen discussions over limiting Iran's influence. And many Israelis still believe that their significant though uneven prosperity partially represent his actions in moving the country from an overly socialistic economy to a more sustainable capital/socialism mix. For Israelis, those accomplishments still trump all other issues. The amazing thing isn't that he won, but that the more centrist party did as well as Likud. Trump has no similar track record of real accomplishments to go along with his self-aggrandizement.
4
@Belizebound
The only "existential threat" to Israel is the fact that it has become an apartheid state.
3
Before the fall of the Soviet Union the Likud party had a negligible presence in the parliament. After the massive immigration of Jews from the ex Soviet Union the Likud became a dominant power. This, together with the story of Putin tells a lot in my opinion. Jews are no different from other people, they can be racist as big part of the Likud party are (not only against Palestinian but also against the dark skinned African Jews).
So the big mistake is to identify Israel with the Jews in the sense that Israel is now dominated by racists, expansionists, and corrupt like anybody can be.
2
@Mur
I suspect this doesn't do justice to the Soviet emigres and dissidents and what they can tell the world.
The soviet emigres are the fiercest opponents to collectivism and socialism because they lived within that system and they recognize the false promises and poisoned fruits for what they will turn out to be when allowed to take root.
The reason for the collapse of compromise and Labor can be traced back to the camp David meeting between Ehud Barak and Arafat. The proposal for peace then was tantalizingly close and would have provided significant ceding or land. Arafat's refusal to sign that deal made it clear to a majority of Israelites that their leadership was not interested in any peaceful coexistence.
Public opinion on how to proceed hardened after that.
It's not clear how to get enough leaders from the neighbors to agree to a dual state solution, as their own internal problems require a foil to direct the frustrations of their own populace. Peace with Israel, would mean everyone gets to solve the problems within their own societies. And the leaders don't know how to do so.
5
@JimG
Arafat has been dead for 20 years. The Occupation lives on. Come up with a new pretext, please. These ones you are using have long since passed their sell-by dates.
3
Reversing autocratic political arrangements like Venezuela's Maduro or Italy's Berlesconi have been messy. Netanyahu stillhas to form a governmnt. The parties Likud and Blue and White are even so the small parties will play a pivotal role. Now I read that Netanyahu is under indictmen for corruption.
2
When I hear a Trump critic suggest that, if he were to lose in 2020, he might try and stay in office (as if that could ever happen), it gives me confidence in the fact that he will in fact be re-elected. Only truly psychotic people fear a coup in the Modern day United States of America.
If the opposition is that crazy, then Trump is a shoe in to get re-elected. Try building an opposition campaign around creating the fear that Trump will suspend the Constitution and refuse to leave the White House. Seriously? If that’s your strategy, you are already toast.
2
Indeed, classic Machiavellian, as defined by any dictionary: 'Unscrupulous, cunning and scheming'; in other words, 'Trumpian'. I gues that doing pacts with the devil (the extreme right) pays, and may keep him out of jail in spite of his malfeasance. There is no doubt that Netanyahu's play will be studied minutiously by the current vulgar bully in the Oval Office, abusing his power regally at home. Although you have doubts that Trump may not win in 2020, anything is possible. But 'if' Trump' s demagoguery, and his constant lies and insults take root, and his mantra of 'fear, hate and division' goes on and supported by his republican minions, then his ugly and nepharious triumph may see the light of day, fully deserved by a populace ready and willing to be taken to the slaughterhouse...by their noses. Who said stupidity may not be in ample supply? Of courser, this is, for now, a theory; and the hope that people shall wake up and fire Trump...so to restore this suffering democracy to it's rightful place.
1
I'm sad that the Yahoo wine - but not surprised . Gantz wasn't offering much besides thaat he's not corrupt & criminal. Also...Obama was (relatively) cool toward Israel. The Israelis realized that they needed other allies, that the US couldn't be their only ally. The Yahoo provided those allies both in the Middle East & Eastern Europe. So Israelis feel not only safer, but less like a pariah state. True Trump gave the Yahoo a last minute success bump at the end. But I don't think it was necessary. I believe it is those other alliances, alliances they never dreamed would happen were essential to the Yahoo's victory. The horrifying thing is the Yahoo's saying he will annex the West Bank. This would mean the millions of Palestinians, who will not be citizens of Israel & will not have civil rights will be within Israel. It will be like apartheid South Africa.
2
@Jenifer Wolf
Netanyahu said he would annex the settlements. There are no Palestinians in the settlements.
1
...throw in the towel, it’s the age of authoritarian lite?
2
...from Cohen's piece:
---Shlomo Avineri, a political scientist, “I don’t want to live under Putin, but I want my leader to be like Putin.”---
I'm reminded of the admiration that Sarah Palin had for Putin. And I've spoken with conservative-leaning acqaintances who, when asked about the alleged Russian help for Trump, tell me that even a Russian would have been better than Clinton.
I honestly blame some of this on 9-11. The ghost of Bin Laden has spooked many Americans, and their fears are somehow minimized when thinking of strongmen-types who look nothing like Bin Laden (and lots like Trump and Putin).
...deep deep stuff going on here. I fear for the future of my country.
3
@Mark
This is exactly what separates pragmatism from idealism.
Pragamatic people agree with Obi-Wan Kenobi that "Only the Sith deal in absolutes".
If Putin was 90% evil, the pragmatic can still recognize that there are some redeeming qualities that are worthy to distill and understand.
The more dangerous an opponent is, the more important it is to study what makes them tick. Atticus Finch speaks of waking around in someone's shoes as the key to empathy.
There is a lesson here that can be had if we are capable of exceeding our own NPC limitations and move out of our comfort zones a little.
We have today a society with many young marxists who believe they have a solution for all the problems and that the answer is to destroy capitalism. Yet these young marxists don't even read "The Road to Serfdom" to recognize that when you claim a monopoly to virtue, you will cease to listen to dissent. And that is the first step on the road.
And when dissent must always be beaten down and eradicated, you have to consolidate power to compel submission. If the only way to achieve your goals is with massive power to compel, that is fascism. Any StarWars fans will recognize this.
Perhaps it is time for Israel to put a limit on the number of terms a Prime Minister can serve. I am no fan of Netanyahu, but I live in the US and my opinion is just that. But a slow slide to autocracy is something we have to contend with, and Israel should be watchful as well.
30
What I take from this column is that a spinning grenade in the Mueller report might detonate—and will guarantee the president’s re-election. Anything short of the death of a citizen via presidential pistol shot on Fifth Avenue will probably see him re-upped, the Democrats’ platform and policy planks notwithstanding.
Of course, the president will be cinched, saddled and horsed by Sheldon Adelson; the Koch Bottles; the Mercers; Fox News; and the majority in the Senate. I very much fear that the Netanyahu genii is out of the bottle, never to return. Even a man as dull-witted as a troll as the president is can see that all the ingredients for a repeat are in place, much like the plaques on a Scrabble board.
Any of the SDNY investigations into Donald Trump’s business dealings will be like water off a crocodile’s back—they won’t hurt him. A strict and moral Republican Party, once upon a time, may have shown some muscle and forced him—if not from office—into political impotence until someone more palatable emerged from the primary scrum to challenge him.
It’s almost now as if it doesn’t matter who finally comes out of the pack to square off against the incumbent in 18 1/2 months from now. The president knows that he has breasted the roughest waters of his tenure and will now turn meaner—as did Benjamin Netanyahu in just realizing another term. Those who voted against him are now wearied of the fight.
MAGA nation will surge with renewed energy and zeal and hate. Ugly wins.
24
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18 I am afraid you might be right. In the meantime, how will we get our Sox back on track?
2
Among the many things Netanyahu and Trump have in common is that, at the moment, both are facing indictment on various charges. The possibility of indictment did not dissuade the Trumpian base in the U.S. from voting him into power in the last election. It will most likely do the same in the next election, too. As long as there is an unwritten rule in the American legal system that a sitting president should not be indicted, Trump will have nothing to worry about.
Though there is no such rule in the Israeli legal system, the crafty politician that Netanyahu is, he will most likely manipulate the system and gain immunity from prosecution and remain in power for four more years.
The first thing he is going to do in his next term is to fulfill the campaign promise he made to his ultra-rightist base: declare sovereignty over the settlements already built in the West Bank, annex more lands and build more settlements. As happened in the case of the Golan Heights, he can count on the support of his friend in the White House in everything he does.
The unfortunate outcome of all this is that there will never be a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as long as Netanyahu is in power. The final resolution of the dispute depends on the creation of an independent Palestinian state. How can there be a state when the land on which it is supposed to be built steadily disappears? And if the disappearance is caused by the grabbing of the land by one of the parties to the dispute?
1
@M. P. Prabhakaran
Was there a solution when Ehud Barak was wiling to give up land for a peace based on a 2 nation solution?
Lets not be naive here. There are obvious reasons why the leadership of all those people around Israel need to keep Israel as the bogeyman to direct the anger of their citizens towards.
Even if the people without any power want a peace of any kind, they will not get the leadership to work to such a treaty because when peace comes, they now have to solve deep systemic cultural problems that have made their societies so difficult to manage. Those leaders will never seek peace as they can't afford their own citizens to ask for solutions for their domestic problems.
1
The US government has created most of the problems we are facing today.
The question is how and why.
They have done it to destroy the socialism in this world.
It unconditionally supported Israel to stop the spreading of the USSR influence in that part of the globe.
It has shared a bed with the worst Arab tyrant for the same reason.
It overthrew the democratically elected Iranian government and propped up the Shah because of the same agenda.
It supported the Taliban in the eighties in Afghanistan with the same motivation.
Consequentially it was forced to back up Saddam Hussein in the war with the Iranian Ayatollahs in the eighties.
It opposed Saddam’s annexation of Kuwait and launched the first Gulf War.
It enabled the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the nineties, started the Iraq War in 2003 and overthrows of the governments in Syria and Libya in this decade.
However, the only objective it accomplished has been the destruction of the civic society all over the world.
Now our country and Israel have been infected with the same process.
The question is whether anybody knows how to redevelop the civic society and whether it’s in anybody’s best interest.
The political parties love the polarized and divided society – it’s far easier to maintain their grip on power.
The free press prefers the inflamed emotions for the ratings and the revenues.
The big business likes it because it cements their control of the government...
1
Here we are again with a "democratically" elected dictator. Yes, it's exactly where Trump expects to go and his game plan is Netanyahu's.
The Democrats are overrun with the silly and inexperienced spouting bumper sticker slogans about domestic issues while the Republicans with their eyes glued to the ball will dribble right through them and score. A Hillary repeat.
There used to be some brilliant, realistic, and competent leaders who were Democrats. Where did they all go?
3
@Anonymot
They are all hiding. The energy in the Democratic Party is coming from the extreme left. Until the Democratic Party figures out how to grab the reins back from this faction, middle america should figure out how they will choose their leaders by looking at the republicans and Trump and looking at the democrats.
Of course, by some miracle, Biden could still survive the primaries and emerge as your ticket, but based on the dastardly effort to kneecap Biden with the creepy touchy feely stuff, I think the progressives are ruthless and are going to seize power by any means they can within the Democratic Party.
Significant progress for a NYT pundit, acknowledging the strength of DT. Cohen but NYT and Left still have a way to go, because Cohen ascribes both BN and DT strength to "fear and hate," rather than just finally accept the truth:
-both Israel and the U.S. have, by adhereing over decades to basic values of hard work, individual responsibility (rather than "the collective"), individual freedom of thought and speech, survived existential threats and prospered;
-the minority Left/Post-Modernists in our midst are, with the perfidy of the Main Stream Media abdicating its responsibility, trying their best to destroy all we have built; and
-it is not "hate" that drives voters to support BN and DT but Cohen is right to mention "fear," as sensible majorities in both countries are well-justified in their concerns about the dire and abject future that arrive very quickly if
1. all West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, out-producing Jews over 3 to 1, were given right to vote in Israel; and
2. yet more millions of immigrant migrants are admitted to the U.S. too fast to be assimilated, joining the 20 million illegals already here.
If only the NYT would recognize the substantive concerns over immigration rather than characterize these as rascist or white nationalist. Nationalism as seen across the developed world today is a legitimate economic and cultural concern, not grounded in racism. Cohen is right that its surge has not yet peaked. TBTG.
Netanyahu is a master political magician ... now you see it...now you don’t ...
He knows that official Annexation will not be beneficial to Israel... and, of course he knows that a Palestinian State would be a “ Clear and Present - and future- Danger” to Israel.
I agree that his plan would be s sort of grey area - hybrid plan-
The Palestinians rule themselves domestically - which they already do - and Israel retains security and military control ... for the seeable future that it is the only and best option ...
Only nationalist can elect the right leaders.
Jews people for jews people , fro jews country .
Most people in secular nation with different cultures can be easily manipulated by outside forces.
As always Roger Cohen has very little understanding and he analyses through the lens of e leftist. First, immunity for Knesset members existed until 2005, nothing new. Second, Bibi can ask the Knesset committee in which he has a majority not to remove his immunity. Since I believe all the accusations against him are political, and that there has been a very selective enforcement by the police, where those on the left were not touched, I strongly support this move. Third, as for the repeated unrealistic stupidity of a two state solution for a people inverted in the 60s by the KGB and an Egyptian gay by the name of Arafat, they have Jordan, which is 77% of my homeland as decided by the Mandate resolution. Trump is asking Jordan to give citizenship to a million refugees, making Jordan a de Facto Palestinian state. US and Saudi money will sweet the bitter pill. Egypt is asked to absorb a million refugees as well. The US will give ~$100B. With this Trump actually finishes the fiction of the invented people. There will be real estate deal attached to that. Israeli experts say that once the border with Egypt is open, 500,000 will leave within a few weeks. So the big game is a regional peace, where Israel controls the area from the river to the sea, the Arabs living in the Judea and Samaria are part of a three way agreement with Jordan and Israel. One thing is sure, and its better that Cohen understands it --THERE WILL NEVER BE A TERRORIST STATE AT THE HEART OF THE JEWISH HOMELAND.
1
The US government has created most of the problems we are facing today.
The question is how and why.
They have done it to destroy the socialism in this world.
It unconditionally supported Israel to stop the spreading of the USSR influence in that part of the globe.
It has shared a bed with the worst Arab tyrant for the same reason.
It overthrew the democratically elected Iranian government and propped up the Shah because of the same agenda.
It supported the Taliban in the eighties in Afghanistan with the same motivation.
Consequentially it was forced to back up Saddam Hussein in the war with the Iranian Ayatollahs in the eighties.
It opposed Saddam’s annexation of Kuwait and launched the first Gulf War.
It enabled the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the nineties, started the Iraq War in 2003 and overthrows of the governments in Syria and Libya in this decade.
However, the only objective it accomplished has been the destruction of the civil society.
Now our country and Israel have been infected with the same process.
The question is whether anybody knows how to redevelop the civic society and whether it’s in anybody’s best interest.
The political parties love the polarized and divided society – it’s far easier to maintain their grip on power.
The free press prefers the inflamed emotions for the ratings and the revenues.
The big business likes it because it cements their control of the government...
1
"Enough said." Then why the long article?
Actually, much more must be said--and done--about the vile neo-fascist transnational alliance comprising the Trump administration, Israel, Saudi Arabia, et al.
Still waiting for your son-in-law's brilliant Mideast peace plan, Mr. Potus.
3
Lessons for Democrats:
1. Demography is destiny. Israel will fail because Palestinians Arabs cannot be ethnically cleansed. They must and will have equal rights.
2. Trump's white nationalism will fail because the growing non-white minority will eventually become a majority. Black and Latin Americans cannot be ethnically cleansed either.
3. The polarization occurring in both societies is a necessary prelude to the conflict that must decide whether our societies will be democracies or apartheid states.
3
@Benjamin
The Arabs in Israel have equal rights.
The Palestinians in Palestine are in another country. They can't vote in Israel elections because they're not Israelis just as Canadians can't vote in American elections because they're not Americans.
2
Israel is a typical Middle Eastern country camouflaged in a fake democracy. Israel today can never be democratic because all the people under her control cannot vote and much like its neighbours are held back by religious zealots. Annexing the occupied territories is the only possible solution for eventual peace, all though there will be a lot of misery and chaos until the Israelites themselves realize that true democracy is their only savior. As far as the Arabs are concern, they will continue to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!
1
@beachboy
After world war 2, we occupied Japan & Germany. The Japanese & the Germans could not vote in American elections. That doesn't mean that we weren't a democracy.
1
Andrew Sullivan recently posited that immigration will be the deciding issue in 2020, and any Democratic candidate that ignores it will lose. Tragic as it might be, I agree. Democrats need a fighter, but also must address the border issue from a position of strength. The asylum seekers have changed the equation. Any Democrat who refuses to address the issue will lose.
53
The “crisis” at the border is a humanitarian crisis and heaping cruelty at them is not going to be a winning strategy. We need money not for stupid walls, but more agents and humanitarian aid. This administration only knows how to punish, it is incapable of solving problems.
7
@Jim...
The vast majority of Americans do not care about immigration. They understand immigration to be the very heart and soul of America. As it is what brought there families to this land.
The only folks in America who care about immigration only care about dark skinned immigrants.
This is clearly not an immigration concern... but rather a racist concern.
And this reality is not lost on the majority of Americans.
10
@TOBY
Sorry to disagree but I am in Denver a lot and I don't beleive you could get a majority in Denver to agree with you on this, let alone all the states DT won in 2019 and his growing support in black and hispanic communities. Just look at the Rasmussen (best track record) polls.
Trump and Netanyahu are now inextricably linked. Trump has said that some of the Neo-Nazis who protested in a violent Charlottesville demonstration - which resulted in the killing of a young woman who opposed them - "very fine people." Consequently Mr. Netanyahu - who may yet be sent to jail for corruption- has now embraced the friend of his horrific, historic enemy who embrace Mr
Trump with a wink and a nod.
2
Here's my idea on how to undercut Netanyahu's appeal to the Israeli public. Hamas and Islamic Jihad will cease firing rockets at Tel Aviv. Hezbollah will offer to destroy its thousands of missiles. Iran will end efforts to create an anti Israel front in Syria. All will acknowledge the right of the Jewish state to exist. They will cease calls for the descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war to return to Israel but rather offer to resettle them in Arab territory as Israel accepted Jewish refugees from Arab nations. Ah well.
1
Netanyahoo didn't "nail it", Roger.
He squeaked by, by the skin of his teeth.
And, now Israel stands exposed as exactly what it has become under Bibi: another Middle-East theocracy, as right-wing as it can be without actually loading up the boxcars.
Is Trump his twin?
Well, Number One: Trump has yet to win a popular vote.
Two: Trump has yet to move his dismal numbers out of the 40's.
Three: There are 573 days to go before Trump's next election. There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.
Four: No one, and I mean NO ONE trusts him. He's lied over 10,000 times since he was installed and that's going off the scales lately.
Five: Bibi has/had a plan. A nasty one, true, but it was/is a coherent, consistent plan that has been plainly stated and stuck to.
Trump has no plan and changes that no plan every 36 hours.
Six: Israel has competent people in their government posts.
Trump's Cabinet is chaos with the most ignorant and indifferent crooks he can find.
If they don't already have a criminal record, they are working hard on it.
Enough. I could go up to 100 points and never repeat myself.
Trump is no Bibi - and Bibi will never win again. He's a fool to thank Trump for anything, and it is likely that he bought a pig in a poke.
573 days to go......
2
Israel will consolidate its Neo Apartheid relationship to the Palestinians and move towards Fascism on the home front.
It will also try to team up with Trump to move towards war with Iran.
We are living in perilous Times but History and Humanity call us forward to take a fearlessly moral and political stand against these developments.
Michael
4
@Michael Bresnahan
No occupier has ever treated the occupied the same way that it treats its own citizens, but no one has ever called that apartheid unless the occupier is Israel. Why?
Looking back at the 2004 election, I remember thinking Americans cannot possibly re-elect the horrifyingly unqualified halfwit Dubya (if the first time around can be considered an election as opposed to a selection by the SCOTUS). (If you have not seen it, the portrayal of Dubya by Sam Rockwell in the movie Vice is priceless, but I digress.)
But they did.
Back to the future: will history repeat itself? Trump is orders of magnitude worse than Dubya: vulgar, divisive, incompetent, ignorant, certainly a sleazeball and almost certainly a bona fide criminal... a thousand more criticisms apply. I will be utterly stunned and devastated if he wins; it stupefies me that anyone outside his immediate family can support him, actually.
Yet this article lays bare the fact that it is entirely possible. The situations in Israel and the US are very different, and Netanyahu (whose politics disgust me almost as much as those of trump) has one characteristic devoid in trump (Bibi is not a complete idiot). But trump, the master divider, will win a lot of hearts (powered by substandard minds) with his signature us-vs-them rhetoric, and with comparisons between social programs and Venezuela.
I hope the Dems read this article, take it to heart, and don’t scare off those they could win back with one small step to the left but are likely to alienate if they take a giant leap leftward. The stakes could hardly be higher.
3
Cohen overlooks so many dissimilarities and stretches of much as to bring to mind what Falstaff said. "Comparisons are odorous."
I can't imagine the anguish of the Palestinians whose ghetto state will shrink even further now that Netanyahu is essentially unfettered.
If socialism, open borders, demonization of the working class, and infanticide can’tbeat Trump in 2020 nothing can.
The lesson is that fascism can come a bit at a time - nibble, nibble - then bigger bites. You can mobilize to stop it early on. Or you can twiddle your thumbs and pretend that what you see in front of your face isn't really happening - until, like in Israel, an entire nation is complicit.
Don't forget his opponent ran on the platform of 'look how many Palestinians I killed in Gaza.'
In 200 years, detached historians will look back at the way Israelis transformed themselves from victims of fascism to perpetrators.
2
An appeal to Omar and Talib- please lay low for now. Be careful before opening your mouth. The country is polarized and please do not make it worst and help the divider in chief to win the election. I am not sure whether you realize or not, your recent comments had some impact on the outcome of the Israel election. The fear mongering right wingers are very good at creating wedge issues. I bet your comments were used by Bibi and his party to divide the people. Our President has been successful in destroying our basic foundation within short two years. He gets away with scams after scams by manipulation and lies. He is filling all vacant federal judge positions with extremely dangerous incompetent right wingers and they are employed for life. The shameless Republican party is behind this pathetic act to ensure their control of legislature and continue looting of our nation by the special interest fat cats. Do you realize the impact - I bet you do. Trump will do more if he gets relected in 2020. Please refrain from comments that will be used as wedge issues by the divider in chief. I am sure that you love our nation. Please do it for us the people.
2
What Roger Cohen and Israel's other "liberal" enablers here in the U.S. do is perfume Netanyahu with the the prosaic label "rightwing." O.K., he's not our type of guy, but he's on the democracy spectrum.
The election is significant because Israel has all but taken off the veneer of antiracism. Can anyone dispute that Israel is in fact an apartheid state? It's not just Israel's "founding left" that is dead, it's any semblance of respect for the human rights of the Palestinians. It was a pathetic fiction to believe that Gantz, who ran on his record of "blasting Gaza neighborhoods back to the stone age, was any different.
(Yes, I know about the 1.5 million Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, the Arab Supreme Court justice, even the Arab IDF general. Why does that justify keeping the other 5 million Arabs in the squalid Gaza prison camp and the West Bank ghettoes? Indeed, doesn't that show that when Palestinians have civil rights, there is civility and not violence?)
I'm sure Mr. Cohen will in a few weeks be singing the Israel tune -- "the Palestinians have only (or mostly) themselves to blame."
But unlike in Israel, the left wing of the Democratic Party is far from dead. Witness the three Congressional women in white -- AOC, Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar. There are more to come -- demography is destiny in the U.S. and in Israel.
1
@Benjamin
Benjamin Pogrund
“…during 26 years as a journalist in South Africa I investigated and reported the evil that was apartheid. I saw Nelson Mandela secretly when he was underground, then popularly known as the Black Pimpernel, and I was the first non-family member to visit him in prison.
I have now lived in Israel for 17 years, doing what I can to promote dialogue across lines of division. To an extent that I believe is rare, I straddle both societies. I know Israel today – and I knew apartheid up close. And put simply, there is no comparison between Israel and apartheid…”
Lesson is that white supremacists are winning in America and Jewish supremacists are winning in Israel - to the detriment of minorities, Palestinians, refugees, the world over.
A sad day for the world.
The basis for America was Constitutional law, separation of church and state and the fact that nobody is above the law - that is all effectively dead in America.
A country that was established by kicking the existing population out of half the land under international law that dictated TWO countries, now spits on the two state solution and the international community that created and protected their nation to satisfy their arrogant superiority over an entire population they have subjugated for decades; always denying their right to exist.
Two state solution? They bamboozled the international community of nations pretending that it was to protect their nation's right to exist - under American protection, why the worry? Common! The truth of the narrative is reversed as they systematically continued taking land, demolishing homes and destroying the right of Palestine to exist. They want it all.
Then they'll wonder where all the bad karma comes from. And they will have no defense as they trivialized and laughed at the refugees at our southern border.'i witnessed this and I will not forget.
Please. Roger Cohen has explicitly rejected any Palestinian right of return or equality within the state of Israel because it would destroy the "Jewish state".
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/opinion/global/roger-cohen-the-blight-of-return.html
Or to put it another way Cohen thinks that Palestinians don't deserve to come home after 70 years but Jews deserve to come home after 4000 years.
Netanyahu is just more honest about his feelings about Palestinians and the steps needed for ethnic cleansing than Cohen is. At this point there is no chance for any two-state solution. That's done.
And neither Cohen nor Netanyahu support equality between Jew and non-Jew in a single state of Israel, the West Bank or Gaza. Let's drop the charade.
1
Oh Roger how you exaggerate. He barely won and the Knesset is now fairly even with Blue and White. So that says enough were disgusted by Netanyahu. He's a disgrace and Israel under his leadership is no longer viewed as a victim but as a aggressor. Many Americans now questions the many dollars we've spent protecting and propping up Israel. We are listening more and more to the cries and claims of mistreatments of the Palestinians and no longer automatically viewing Israel as a victim.
The Victory
Bagpipes and horns like our Joshua blew -
Seems like our Bibi the Left overthrew,
Dance the hora, big hoorays for the right
Than vanquished the left, the race wasn’t tight;
Now Bibi and Trump in the fullness of time
Will do to the Arabs what they had in mind;
Evict – 90 days - take kit and caboodle -
The West Bank is ours; you’ll have to tootle
Wherever they’ll take you; it’s all ale and cakes,
Compare and contrast – you’re lucky the fates
Are planting you elsewhere, where grasses grow green
Instead of your hovels, no inside latrines.
Is the lesson: "Forget the highroad. Be as sleazy, and dirty, and angry, and petty, and unpleasant, and xenophobic, and bitter, and corrupt, and acerbic, and as morally degenerate as any leader the free world has ever seen"? - Because that's how political pariahs like Bibi win!
1
Watching the The Bible miniseries recently i learned that David - founding King of Israel, plucky slayer of Goliath, also then sent his loyal follower, soldier, Uriah Heep to his death, so that David could sleep with his wife.
Some stories persist for thousands of years because they say something so true about humanity and history chooses for it.
1
According to a 2005 Harvard study, there are 29 Muslim countries (Palestine would be 30), 42 Christian countries and 1 Jewish State - Israel.
Israel was formed as a homeland for the Jewish people, where, after two millennia of expulsions, pogroms, forces conversions, and near extermination, citizenship for Jews is guaranteed. The language is the ancient Hebrew and the national holidays are Jewish holidays. Yet Arabs have equal rights to vote and serve in the Parliament and on the Supreme Court (and many have).
If that’s what Roger Cohen means by “nationalism,” count me in as a proud nationalist!
I see nothing wrong with that kind of “nationalism.”
1
I am still waiting for the editors and publisher(s) of the NY Times to make their "Mea Culpas" for having "thrown" the 4enlection of 2016. Trump himself was absolutely convinvinved both by the NY Times predictions and by the never before wrong "Ladbrokes" of London-A Betting, odds making company which legally predicted the result of all kinds of events-including US Presidential elections-and had net once , ever, been wrong.
I don't know if the Times was faking its own odds, and stealing Ladbrokes, feeling that the British oddsmaker was far more relaible then ever the NY Times could possibly be-but watever the facts, Trump, and most of the East Coast Establsihment were all positive that he would lose.-including our current President.
While it's too late to know, it's possible that had the NYTimes NOT preidicted a Clinton victory with so much absolute assuredness, millions more Democrats might have voted for her . Any number of others who voted for Trump might have stayed home, or not voted or watched TV. This is impossible to know- after the fact-
But what is known is that the Times all but promised it's readers a Clinton victory-one which Vice President Biden might have won, easily, had he run, instead of making some stupid deal with Clinton to give her a shot as "first female Democrat to run".
Lets hear a big we're sorry" from the Times and see a Mid-OfThe Road Dem run-someone with age and experience. No 36 year olds need apply.
Yep, Nethanyahu nailed his re-election...
And the pundits on the NY Times Opinion pages managed to swing and miss.
It seems that the pundits are having real problems calling elections these days. Perhaps they should stop embarrassing themselves.
Roger Cohen is right about one thing -- the Israeli "left" died a long time ago (probably when that bullet went into Yitzhak Rabin's brain), and with it any hope that the Palestinians living under Israel's fist will see justice and equality any time soon.
But he's very wrong about what that teaches America's left. Look at AOC, Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar. They are a vibrant, young and growing force. Even if led by an octogenarian hippie named Bernie Sanders for the moment, they are at the beginning, not the end.
In both Israel and the U.S. demographics is destiny. Because the Palestinian population under Israel's control (both citizens and non-citizens) is expanding faster than the Jewish citizenry, the apartheid state will become less stable over time.
Here in the U.S., the Republican Party's core constituency, older, ex-urban white people, is doomed to a slow demographic demise as well. Good riddance.
2
@Benjamin
South African MP Rev. Dr. Kenneth Meshoe wrote in the San Francisco Examiner, “As a black South African who lived under apartheid, this system was implemented in South Africa to subjugate people of color and deny them a variety of their rights. In my view, Israel cannot be compared to apartheid in South Africa. Those who make the accusation expose their ignorance of what apartheid really is.” Meshoe made this statement upon visiting San Francisco, where he was shocked to learn of posters posted within the city comparing Israel to the apartheid regime in South Africa. He asserted, “As a black South African under apartheid, I, among other things, could not vote, nor could I freely travel the landscape of South Africa. No person of color could hold high government office. The races were strictly segregated at sports arenas, public restrooms, schools and on public transportation. People of color had inferior hospitals, medical care and education. If a white doctor was willing to take a black patient, he had to examine him or her in a back room or some other hidden place. In my numerous visits to Israel, I did not see any of the above.
The difference between our elections and Israel's is that the U.S. has, for all intents and purposes, a two-party system and that only an imbecile would vote for a third-party candidate in a national election in which one of the contenders is Donald Trump. Do we really have that many imbeciles registered to vote here? I guess we'll find out next November.
In the meantime, if I were a Palestinian Arab I would do the one rational thing that the current situation calls for: I'd join with every other rational member of my faith/ethnic group and take to the streets in the sort of widespread peaceful acts of civil disobedience that the people of India embarked upon to win their freedom from the British. Israelis cannot be outgunned but they can be shamed before the rest of the world. Force them to use truncheons and the like against thousands of unarmed demonstrators in the shopping areas and business districts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and outside the Jewish settlements in the West Bank- put that on international television and record it on social media and watch as a Palestinian Arab state is finally brought into existence.
Comment submitted 4/10 at 4:58 PM
1
Last month, Roger Cohen pointed out that Europe is not Venezuela.
Well, Israel is not the United States.
1
Netanyahu has two primary goals remaining: 1. Pass the retroactive corruption law so that he can never be charged with any crime, regardless of his guilt, and 2. drag the U.S. into a war with Iran. he'll easily accomplish #1, and given Trump's ego mania, insecurity, and utter stupidity, he has a better than even chance of accomplishing #2.
"Gather nationalist and religious voters in your camp, add in a strong economy, dose with fear, sprinkle with strongman appeal, inject a dash of racism and victory is yours."
Israeli voters are so blind, they don't see what's so obvious. They were cheated by a racist strongman who tricked them with nationalism, religion, strong economy and fears about their security. Poor and ignorant citizens of a supposedly smart country.
Nothing you write here is wrong, but the larger truths Netanyahu's victory while under indictment point to are 1) the temporality of Israel's right wing structural majority 2) Bibi's undeniable skill as right wing politician, right up there with Erdogan in Turkey and their common ancestor, Benito Mussolini and 3) the lack of geo-political fallout and socio-economic consequences for Bibi's policies thanks to the US "put" and Israel's status as the sacred cow of US foreign policy.
From a practical point of view Netanyahu's support from the Mizrachi working class will melt away as soon as the next recession hits. And it will hit, probably sooner rather than later. Kulanu will either leave the coalition then—assuming Bibi's not in prison already— or lose what credibility is still has. Shas is basically for sale—they need to be in government to provide patronage jobs for their supporters to stay in business—and United Torah Judaism used to be more of a peace party under their previous Rebbe. My guess is that at some point, they will be again.
—Labor is a shell of its historical self, but so are most of the European parties of the 2nd International. The left is not dead in Israel so much as terminally depressed. Or in exile, in America or Europe.
—And finally Kahol vi Lavan—Blue and White—is a joke. It's amazing they did as well as they did. But these one off Parties have been a feature of Israeli politics for the last 50 years.
Israel's future remains unwritten.
With its extremist leader now facing a fifth long term, Israel is no longer a true democracy, at least in culture. It is not so different than the authoritarian Arab states around it --which also run "elections"-- except voters have chosen chauvinism and fear over pluralism. To maintain this regime of control, despite the legal cloud over Netanyahu's head, was there hanky panky at the polls?-- surely that would not be surprising, but who dares to even suggest such a thing?
When a religious tradition is distorted into today's Israeli supremacist ideology, arrogant defiance of international law, and poisonous tribalism it should not be surprising if we soon see a further increase of antisemitism and violence, which will keep the cycle going indefinitely.
I am not interested in the "lessons" offered by pundits who claim Netanyahu "nailed it" when he apparently barely made it, when the Times articles run headlines have "It’s Netanyahu’s Israel Now." This is triumphalism or at least stupid and reactive journalism.
With its embrace of hatred and occupation Israel is very ugly these days. I feel sympathy for those Israelis that are better than this. But what sacrifice will be needed to avoid normalizing this status quo in our lifetimes and beyond?
Indeed all of this at last convinces me that as long as we do not demonize the Jewish people, BDS has now become more relevant than ever.
There are maybe three things the US has in common with Israel: democracy, immigration, and displacement of "native" populations. The US took care of our native population in a very brutal and genocidal manner, Israel has made numerous attempts to placate / semi-honorably remove theirs. They've clearly voted to take a more unfortunate and brutal measures.
True, the State of Israel is now associated with militarize fanatics on the West Bank; ultra-orthodox sects in Brooklyn; myriad sects of Jews-for-Jesus; theocrats trying to tear up the European Enlightenment everywhere; right-wing and nationalist strongmen in Central Europe and the far east. Woopie. What an association what will make in American imaginations.
The most relevant thing liberals should take from Bibi's win is that pronouncements on liberal media sites should not be confused with the reality of voters on the ground.
It's been becoming a country of structural right for some time, and they have completely alienated this American Jew.
USA. Israel. Russia. Hungary. Poland. Turkey. India. Philippines.
Authoritarian leaders worldwide fanning the flames of bigoted nationalism while attacking the free press and any who dare investigate their corruption and overreach.
It seems we’ve seen this movie before. In 1914 and 1938.
As the famous TV psychologist might ask: “And how did that work out for you?”
1
So Trump can successfully paint asylum seekers as Hamas and Hezbollah? We do not live the state of siege mind that possesses Israelis but instead have been subject to the lunacies of a simpleton and his still more imbecilic sycophants or the cynics who actually believe Trump can be used by them the way Bibi did. But there is no Syria beyond the Golan and the embassy in Jerusalem is a nuanced move to all but the Arab world. Trump’s policies are anathema to a vast majority of this electorate; Bibi’s are not. Get a grip.
1
Cohen says "Enough said," about Netanyahu, and then goes on and on and on. Enough said.
1
Mr. Cohen's comparison of a country of 5.7 million registered voters with 146 million in the US is a sign of unnecessarily sectarian thinking even for a respectable writer of a daily catering to the New York WASPish-Judaic Democratic elite.
Netanyahu and Trump both thrive off the same tactics: fear mongering and hate filled intolerance.
The new “Axis of Evil:” Trump, Putin and Netanyahu. Perhaps W and even Saint Reagan would agree with this update.
I lived in Israel for 5 years. I go back to visit about every three years.
The Left committed a true sin by indulging in the wish fulfillment called Oslo. Peace was and will never be bought by Israeli redeployments and land evacuations. There will be no peace until the Arabs qua Arabs decide to leave Israel alone. And that cannot be bought by redeployments and land evacuations.. The Left has decayed as a result. The young Israelis know the sins of their political fathers and now eschew the political Left.
The Right is now engaged in a similarly wish-based but different sin. The idea that Arabs can be held down to Second class citizenship. That Israel will be just fine as a socially apartheid State as long as Jews are always in charge.
And the underlying leitmotif of both sins is that Israelis, in the main, left and right, are not practicing Jews and think there is no reason to be Jewish in practice if they have a country which is Jewish de jure. The religious radicalism of the Haredi is, in part, a reaction to the behavior of the majority of Israelis.
This notion that you don't have to act Jewish if you are living in a Jewish country is a massive mistake. You are what you do.
So said Sartre. Along with multiple Talmudic scholars.
If Israeli Jews decide to live up to their heritage, I have no fear of Israel's fate. If they do not face up to their deficiencies in this regard, Israel will lurch from one strategic mistake to another. First Oslo then Bibi....
10
@EFBarasch I was with you until you intimated that the solution is for Israelis to become more religiously observant, although you didn't exactly state it in those terms.
2
@EFBarasch
Richard J. Goldstone, LLB, first Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, in an Oct. 31, 2011 op-ed for the New York Times titled "Israel and the Apartheid Slander," wrote:
"While 'apartheid' can have broader meaning, its use is meant to evoke the situation in pre-1994 South Africa. It is an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel, calculated to retard rather than advance peace negotiations…
In Israel, there is no apartheid. Nothing there comes close to the definition of apartheid under the 1998 Rome Statute: 'Inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.' Israeli Arabs — 20 percent of Israel's population — vote, have political parties and representatives in the Knesset and occupy positions of acclaim, including on its Supreme Court. Arab patients lie alongside Jewish patients in Israeli hospitals, receiving identical treatment.
4
If Democrats need lessons from Netanyahu's win, they're in trouble next year. It should be obvious to the meanest intelligence by now that Republicans have always had an authoritarian streak. Even Lincoln suspended habeus corpus.
When push came to shove, they were always going to tug their forelocks when someone like Trump came along with the party's rabble at his back.
The Republican establishment sowed the wind with their tacit approval of birtherism, the TEA Party's thinly disguised racism, dimwits like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann, and, more recently, shameless sychophants like Devin Nunes and William Barr.
One can only hope, for the good of the party, that they reap the whirlwind in 2020. With or without Bibi's playbook.
9
@We'll always have Paris to say that Republicans have always had an authoritarian streak is to totally turn the truth on its head. Authoritarianism infers increasing government encroachment over out lives, not less. Of the two parties, it's obvious that it is the Democrats who seek the expansion of government over over lives, not the right side of the isle. It is Leftist's AOC's "Green Deal" that would take over, in an authoritarian manner, a huge portion of the American economy; it is the left that would, in an authoritarian manner--if they could get away with it--take away most guns in private possession; it is the Left that wants to curtail our free speech in a very authoritarian manner--at least on the nation's college campuses--if it offend anyone, especially people of color and women. Trump came to free us of your authoritarianism.
1
Roger Cohen is wrong about both Netanyahu and Trump. Both politicians are "guilty" of calling it as it is, i.e., political correctness be damned.
Israelis have tried for decades to make peace with the Palestinians, only to be rebuffed each time -- usually accompanied by a rash of murderous terror attacks. Netanyahu has said enough is enough -- when the Palestinians want peace they can make an effort. Meanwhile, rather than obsessing over the Palestinians, Netanyahu has led Israel forward diplomatically, militarily, and economically. Israel has never been in a better place. THIS is why Israelis voted him in for another term.
Similarly, Trump has helped grow our economy, tried to stop illegal immigration, is addressing China's LT cheating on trade, getting NATO to pay its share of defense, holding the UN accountable for its anti-US and anti-Israel bias, and more. And, as in Israel, in the privacy of the voting booth most Americans will vote for Trump, despite what CNN and MSNBC try to convince viewers 24/7.
3
And horrible wins again.
1
His victory contains a warning for any Democrat still imagining that the 2020 election will bring an easy victory over Donald Trump. The Netanyahu playbook will be President Trump’s next year. Gather nationalist and religious voters in your camp, add in a strong economy, dose with fear, sprinkle with strongman appeal, inject a dash of racism and victory is yours — whatever indictments are looming.
http://www.ptvsports.pk/sports-news/
Well I have to agree that Netanyahu, like Trump, bases his campaigns on the lie that "if you vote for someone else the bad guys will kill us all in our beds." It is beginning to look to me like the Israeli people will only be happy when they have taken all of Palestinian territory and either created a Palestinian diaspora or killed them all.
"They campaign ugly."
Who doesn't? The Clinton team in 08 started the birther meme and the Obama team accused Bill of being racist.
In 2012 the Obama team accused Romney of having been responsible for the death of a laid off worker.
Campaigns have always been ugly and all use misleading facts or outright lies.
Interesting how people want to think that politics only got ugly when Trump came along.
The analogy to agent orange is that Netanyahu won a minority of voters in Israel, 35 of 120 seats. The White House has similar levels of support but needs to win a lot more than that to stay in office. We don’t do coalitions. Please be careful about you press anointing ceremonies.
Is the lesson: "How To Destroy Your Own Nation At The Polls"?
No one expects a people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the world. But oh, the tragedy the Israelis have foisted on the world by re-electing Netanyahu can not be underestimated.
Jerusalem, Golan, the West Bank---Bibi has carte blanche. The bill will be due in 2020. The Israeli Left is now the center, and Trump will use it to implode the American Left. Socialist Democrats will lose all credibility if they remain silent much longer about the diminishing Palestinian cause. But Jacob (still) has Esau by the heel, and cannot safely let him go. This, American Jews know. At best, they will become passive within the Democratic party. They will never take up slogans against Israel. The dead weight will become demoralizing.
This Israeli election was a nail-biter and the Arab voting citizenry stayed home. I can understand why but the apathy is terminally self-defeating, and not only in Israel.
Netanyahu, although flawed, is experienced, intelligent, knowledgeable and thoughtful. Trump - he be no Bibi.
When it comes to Israel's actions, the Geneva Conventions are rarely mentioned anymore, I assume out of cynicism on the right and despair on the left. Israel and the US both signed the Geneva Conventions, which had countries like Poland in mind when they said there might be times in war when you can justly occupy another country but you can't at any time settle that other country. And, however much the sophists hate it, the land Israel conquered was not already Israel. Sorry, no. I don't care what God told you. So Israel could have and still can occupy the West Bank with its army. But you can't settle it. Sorry. What bothers me is that right wingers in Israel and right wingers in the US are not capable of reasoning out why the Geneva rules are good rules and worth following. And if you gave them several more millennia to puzzle out this difficult ethical and political problem they would still be drooling in bafflement and complaining of their dear victimhood.
What works in a paranoid Jewish society of Israel might not necessarily work in so diverse and free society as that of the US. This basic difference in the composition and mindset of the two societies will discourage Trump and his conservative right base of the racist xenophobes from repeating the Netanyahu playbook of hate, anger, and fear with the same success in the US 2020 contest.
The tragic irony is that it will be the Jews themselves that will be responsible for the destruction of Israeli democracy and their cherished Jewish nation, not the Palestinians, not Iran, not the World. It’s much easier to be a victim and blame one’s problems on others rather than to accept responsibility for the consequences of one’s own doing, such as re-electing Netanyahu, empowering Jewish religious Nationalists, building illegal Settlements and maintaining a military occupation of the Palestinians for nearly 52 years now.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a clever politician, he knows his fellow Jewish Israelis’ anxieties well: existing political borders will always be too insecure, no military can ever be too big, no amount of money or political power is ever enough, and no relationship should ever be too trusted when any/all disagreements with Israel is understood as nothing more than anti Semitic world hatred of Israel and the Jewish People.
Meanwhile, the income discrepancy between Israel rich and poor grows wider, large numbers of the remaining Jewish Holocaust survivors live in Israeli poverty, and Israel treats it's indigenous ethnic Palestinian cousins with the same lack of humanity and respect as the European tormentors who drove the Ashkenazi Jews to Palestine a little over a century ago.
James Baldwin was right when he wrote, “I imagine the reason people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because once hate is gone, they are forced to deal with their pain.”
2
His playbook will be Trump’s in 2020..
Not quite
No wall, yet
No shooting at masses at borders trying to get in, yet
Non plans to annex Northern Mexico, yet
"conclusion of the Mueller Report". Hello!? Just astonishing that a high profile media person would use those words - the report hasn't even been squashed yet! Nobody has seen the report; and day by day the President and Barr, work to squash the report - AND OUR DEMOCRACY! Wake up Cohen!
I'm pretty sure there will be an Israel repeat in 2020 here. Horrifying as the possibility is, I don't see any sign for optimism. Sad to be blunt but we Americans can be downright stupid. We don't learn lessons from our own follies. So how can we learn from the mistakes of others. Another good day for Trump after the other good one he had post-Mueller report.
I was focused on the Israeli election and must have missed the result of the Palestinian vote.
The Democrats still haven’t learned their Hillary lesson from 2016.
Well, at least somebody gets it at the NYT.
The Progressive Democrats and their give away plans aren't going to win the day come the General Election.
AOC & her cadre are going to bring the Democrats a world of pain in 2020.
The Democrats will lose in 2020 because they are in a race to be the candidate who takes the most extreme positions. They are in a race to determine who will take the most money from the most people to redistribute to the poor. They are in a race to be the candidate most open to open borders. They are in a race to be the most alienating to white men in order to gain the votes of minorities and women.
Rog:
You were all gaga when Israel withdrew unconditionally from Gaza in 2005, convinced it was a step towards peace. Bibi said it would end up a disaster, leaving Israel with a terror regime entrenched on its border.
Bibi's toughness with the Palestinian behavior you were sure would lead to diplomatic isolation of Israel. Bibi said Israel's position worldwide would actually improve forging many new alliances and close relationships even with Arab states who need Israel.
You said Iran's theocratic regime was misunderstood and misrepresented by Bibi, and blessed Obama for reaching out to the mullahs encouraging them to assume a broader role in the region, and that this would actually help stabilize the area. Bibi said Iran was a terror regime that would simply use the opening so the Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah and Hamas proxies to destabilize the region and further its aim of destroying a nation of six million Jews.
You were all gaga over Obama's Iran nuclear deal, sure it would encourage moderates and prevent a nuclear armed Iran. Bibi said Iran would simply further develop its ICBMs, continually exporting terror using the $150 billion in cash Obama released, and bide its time when the deal's restrictions end since its nuclear development was far more advanced than Iran let on -- as proven by the records seized by Mossad last year.
Who was right and who was wrong? A clue as to why he's still prime minister? And you're just a pundit ... who is consistently wrong.
1
Bibi just handed BDS a bithday present, and a huge one. Now the question is, will Israel destroy itself or will outside forces, like BDS, do the job. if you're observant, pray. If you're secular, wring your hands and hope for the best.
Sure is a lot of spilt ink over a country approximately the population of New Jersey.
Awesome, another column about Israeli politics- and this one even brings up the looming threat of annexation- without a word from a single Palestinian. Obviously, Netanyahu is a fascist, but the idea that there are any viable Israeli political factions that are actually committed to peace and Palestinian statehood is a joke. Let’s say Bibi’s new far-right govt goes ahead with the annexation of parts of the West Bank- what happens then? What are Palestinians supposed to do when every avenue for a political solution is closed off? Can’t wait to read Roger’s condemnations of Hamas once the inevitable next Intifada begins. Just keep on pushing a people already living on the precipice. When they push back it’s just chickens coming home to roost (again and again and again...)
From the river to the sea (shrug emoji)
1
Yes Trump will use a similar strategy as Netanyaho but it hard to draw conclusions about a US election from Israel. First of all, the US presidential election is really 50 separate elections with each state having an election. Trump the white nationalist fascist will play well in some states but not in others. It comes down to figuring out which states will have close elections and winning enough of those states. Different issues are important in different states. The demographics are different in each state. Netanyahu only has to worry about winning one election in a country with less then 10 million voters. Trump is faced with a different task. He did not win the the popular vote last time even with help from the Russians and some strange actions by the head of the FBI. It won't be easy for the Democrats overcoming the lies, hate, bigotry, and everything else Trump represents but I think it can be done.
1
The election results are reflective of the people’s choice. We keep calling netenyahu a right winger, an opportunist, and a corrupt politician, but he is a mirror image of those who elected him. This is Israel today.
1
Mr. Cohen, this is a surprisingly realistic analysis. Often I find your work veers off some self-imposed cliff of aspirational, left-wing outsider-looking-in, American Jewish critique, lacking in foundational sensitivities of the "real Israel," etc. But now here we all are (we American Jews who hope for a peaceful future for Israel and the entire Middle East) and we are trying to conceive another couple years of Bibi, and in that contecxt I found your entire article more sober, and less full of wishful thinking, than stuff I've digested of yours in the recent past.
Thank you for continuing to be that leftist voice, Jewish identified, within the Times opinion writer community. Even when you are obviously wrong, as is often the case, your voice does really matter.
1
Yep, I think Mr Cohen nailed it.
Roger Cohen, Bibi used Trump's playbook for a win in Israel today. Fear, hate, nationalism. star appeal, pecuniary improprieties in both Bibi's and Trump's democracies. The Trumpian art of the deal. Grotesque spectacle and ugly campaigning is de rigueur for both leaders. No two state solution will be possible as long as Bibi is Prime Minister.. Palestinians have been disenfranchised and are second-class citizens in the State of Israel since their Nakba in 1948. The Arab countries surrounding Israel have wiped 'Israel' out of their children's geography books. We know who are the second-class citizens in Trump's America. So what's Trump's master plan for King Bibi's Israel? And what's King Donald's plan for America?
The underlying premise of this essay is that people are fundamentally stupid and are easily duped by politicians like Bibi and Donald. This is how elitist an arrogant journalists classify voters as "deplorables" except they do so with massive doses of obfuscating verbiage. The bottom line however is that Mr. Cohen is realizing that 2020 will be lost by the Democrats. They will fail owing to the combination of a dismal, visionless stable of potential candidates; the endless bullying of the sitting president as the primary(if not only) Democrat strategy; and the fact that American voters are not primarily coastal liberals schmoozing smugly in the progressive echo chamber. True, the media is almost monolithically anti-Trump and gives little or no credit to a president who has already achieved great things despite the constant harassment by the likes of Mr. Cohen. Yet to their immense credit - be it in America or in Israel where I live - the 'deplorabes' see right through the liberal arrogance and will do what they believe is right in the voting booths.
1
Netanyahu has not only endangered Israel's future, he has compromised the peace and security of the Jewish community worldwide.
1
But Israel is not the US. The voters in the US are more diverse. Most Israeli citizens have grown up in a 'Jewish state.' That subtle racism has covertly indoctrinated much of the country into an 'it's us against them' mentality. True, one could argue that the US is a white northern European state, but at least it is not enshrined into our creed--yet.
This is such a self-serving Progressive fairly tale. Cohen and the commenters here imagine that instead of running via a high-minded, rational debate, the evil Republicans only employ fear, 'strongman appeal' (?), and racism. As if the left weren't busily stoking fears by crying, "Fascism!" even while it chases speakers from podiums and due process from the universities, and while it works to, e.g., manipulate high school admissions to keep Asians from places they have more than earned.
To be fair, there is little 'strongman appeal' on the Left, owing to the scarcity of actual strong men (or women) there.
Please, spare us these self-glorifying, sanctimonious pieties.
1
Israel voted for the Right out of fear. Americans do not have israeli insecurities and have no need to vote for the Right. Trump is trying to make Americans into insecure Israelis for his own purposes. WE SHALL RESIST.
It’s kind of like Bibi is America’s president considering how much influence he has on the US government. Too bad we didn’t get to vote in the election.
For those on the "left" its hard to accept reality on the ground that destroys their fallse narrative. the old adage that "Jews are the canary in the coal mine" is so true, transfer that to a nation state that now "Israel is the canary in the coal mine". and thus Trump is assured to follow in 2020
"...gather religious voters in your camp...and victory is yours"
What? Trump is possibly the least religious person in human history...how can this be happening? Is religion not about morality?
I think i get now why Trump labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group.
When Bibi starts annexing, Trump will keep Iran off of his back.
When a corrupted candidate prone to abuse his power is elected leader of a country there are only two possible explanations to this anomaly: The supporters are equally prone to corruption OR people ignore history. Israel is no exception.
A wake up call indeed for the Dems. Complacency is the enemy and wimps need not apply. Brace yourself for another ugly round in 2020.
Though to be fair, Netanyahu is and has been a far more qualified politician than Donald.
Netanyahu and Trump have the exact same strategy: Play on the fear and anger of the voters.
In Netanyahu's case, it is anger/fear about (1) the Palestinians and their terrorist sponsors in (primarily) Iran; (2) Israel being overrun by non-Jews who take over; (3) anti-semites in the EU, the UN and everywhere else who hate Israel; and (4) their economic gains being taken away.
For Trump, it is fear/anger about (1) hordes of brown-skinned immigrants taking jobs from citizens; (2) "losing" our independence to some vague global world bureaucratic governance structure, like the UN, NATO or the WTO; (3) fake news religious persecution of Christians, which is a red meat toss to the evangelicals in the South; and (4) the scourge of "Socialism", which in GOP terms means any program or idea that purports to benefit anyone who is not already rich.
I'm no political scientist, but it seems voters in both countries apparently fear losing what they have than more than they want hope for something better.
In investing terms, to them the world is a bear market. Best to convert everything to cash and wait out the downturn until the good times return, they say. The only problem with this course is that, with Netanyahu and Trump, the bull market never comes. There is always more to fear and be angry about.
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@Jack Sonville
All politicians play on fear and anger to win elections.
Democrats have been running on the memes that Republicans will return women to back alley abortions and their alleged racism for decades. They run on making voters afraid of what will happen if they vote GOP.
Republicans run on the fear that Democrats will expand government's intrusion into our lives with social programs. Giving the voters hard earn money to deadbeats.
Interesting that you don't see that both Democrats and Republicans have always had the same exact strategy. Playing on the fear and anger of voters.
It comes off as the other side is evil and you have to vote for me to protect you from them.
The media plays that same tune so they can attract viewers and therefore ad revenue.
As usual, politics and the media are all about two things. Power and money.
1
@Jack Sonville The fear, anger, and hate on the right come from rigid ideas of their beliefs. They can never have empathy for anyone that conflicts with what they believe. No gray areas with haters. No tolerance on their part; so evident with abortion, sensible gun laws, and gay rights.
2
Netanyahu and Trump are very similar; both corrupt, divisive, manipulative, appeal to their base, vilify everyone else, and have excellent survival skills. If Democrats don't stop attacking each other, Trump will win again.
However, dynamics in Israel are profoundly different than in the US. Israel's non-Arabic population is approx. two thirds Middle Eastern/North African/African Jews (Sephardic/Mizrahi/Ethiopian), and only one third European (Ashkenazic). Those from Muslim countries form Netanyahu's base, along with a relatively small group from Europe. Netanyahu is Ashkenazic, but Ashkenazic Israelis oppose him. Therefore, trying to see this through a lens of American racial politics fails miserably.
Trump and Netanyahu exploit fear, and a similar, though not the same, sort of nationalism. In Israel, unlike the US, it's ethnic and religious, not racial and rests on an intense antipathy of Mizrahi Jews to Muslims, who look very much like them, but who killed their families and drove over 3 million of them out of every country in North Africa and the Middle East. It shatters a tidy American narrative of lighter skinned people oppressing darker skinned people. Mizrahi Israelis see Israel as a last stand. They've no use for European or American ideals of accommodation, especially of those they regard as having tried, and continuing to try, to kill them.
In contrast, Trump's nationalism is primarily racial. However, in America that's one formula shown to constantly succeed.
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@Robert B
"In contrast, Trump's nationalism is primarily racial. However, in America that's one formula shown to constantly succeed."
Really? Then how did Obama win twice?
2
Netanyahu and Trump are politicians who excel at dividing people and creating and exploiting fears. They are a terrible danger to democracy because they are supported by forces that do not care about democracy but only about their vested interests.
That is pretty much where the parallel ends.
Netanyahu, is supported by a large section of voters who are completely comfortable with keeping millions of people in jail-like conditions for decades. They are not such a direct threat to democracy, if one happens to be Jewish, but they are obviously unconcerned about the democratic rights of Palestinians.
Trump is supported by an un-holy alliance of very big money and finance, evangelical Christians, and a mixture of "white" ranging from the under-stress working class to the racist and xenophobic. Problem is that they are a threat against democracy period. They pretty much represent a fascist uprising.
In Israel Netanyahu can stay in power another three terms and democracy will not be compromised.
In the USA? We, democrats and people who care about democracy, better win in 2020 and 2024 and 2028. Our democracy is under attack. Some of it has already been destroyed.
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@Davide
In the 2016 race, it was Hillary that had the 'very big money' on her side.
Trump won with half the money and had more small dollar donations than Hillary and Bernie combined and more than Obama in either of his two victories.
Trump was certainly not supported by 'very big money and finance'.
1
@Steve Hilary or Sanders would never have passed the trillion-dollar tax give away for the 1% of the 1%. That is the big money and finance I am talking about.
2
We already have beaten Trump. We'll do it again and bring the Electoral College with us this time. Trump only has reminded us that freedom isn't free...we have to VOTE. Israel holds no lessons for us.
What Netanyahu's repeated election victories show above all else is that Israel has lost its way. In November 2020 we will see if we have opted to continue to lose ours.
Fear, Hate and Spite. That’s all they’ve got, and obviously, sometimes that’s all it takes. There’s only ONE way to defeat Trump and the GOP in 2020 : a record breaking Turn-Out. We Democrats must “ get souls to the polls “ and vote like our Country depends upon it, because it does. I’ll call it right now, today: the Winning Ticket for 2020 is Harris and Beto, in that order. Women, black Women, and younger Voters, and anyone else that loathes Trump and his cowardly Collaborators.
Mark the Date, and just imagine a BLUE Texas. Unbeatable.
Israel's lesson - the Nixon paradigm
"When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal"
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It's all about the winning baby!
And Bibi did it.
Next stop? Tehran!
I remember what someone near and dear to me was proudly told before the 6 Day War. "Mr..., breakfast in Cairo. Lunch in Tel Aviv." Simple.
Things turned out a bit differently!
Nitnyahoo has the same arrogance and disregard for what is right (along with ability on a turn of phrase). Together with Trump, he will radicalize (for eons) the non-radicalized. And they will ensure unending hatred for the United States (what does Nitnyahoo care) and unending effort to debilitate our most important global efforts.
That the havoc and destruction these two monsters have already created, will be given chance to further damage the lives of too many millions to count, will certainly go down as one of the bigger tragedies of our times.
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Just like Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, what difference does it make if those are the facts on the ground?
Consider the history there. Everything from the river to the sea was provided for the Jews by the League of Nations mandate of 1922. Jordan invaded Judea and Samaria in 1948 and occupied it for 19 years. Israel liberated it in 1967, along with the Old City of Jerusalem. Jordon got 78% of the mandate. It is really hard to feel sorry for the Arabs in those villages given those facts. They do not want peace, they do not want Jews on that land, and there is nothing left to do but assert the sovereignty Israel has over what was hers.
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The clicking of little wheels is taking us into the unknown. The moral credit bonds issued after secular persecutions and the WW II genocide have been nearly drawn out and are coming to expiration. Israel has become a mundane phenomenon. Contrary to its traditions, the use of naked force and the jettisoning of law and negotiation have become tempting solutions to difficult problems.
How appalling to see Israel of all places fall prey to a leader who uses and rides xenophobia to political power, solely with regard for his short term well being and at the expense of the long term security of the country.
If this reads like an obit to Roger's long-held and mistaken approach to Israel - and specifically what Israelis believe, think and yes, fear - then it is to be welcomed, and he should be thanked. He's been wrong this entire time, but better late than never.
The way the Palestinian-Jewish animosity soaked Netanyahu playbook has worked in Israel- a state in perpetual paranoia, may not mecessarily be relevant in the larger context of the US where the voter has multiple concerns to be worried about specially after the nightmarish trauma suffered under the Trump presidency. Still, the Democrats have to be battle prepared to confront any threat from the concervative Right.
Israel is a foreign state, and a client state with dangerous ties between likud and the gop. The us needn’t and shouldn’t be tied to the fever dreams of likud. While the likud/ gop tie is designed to make American independence impossible and to graft a siphon onto the American wallet, in fact in the end that is alienating increasing numbers of Americans.
Israel's political system is not at all like the US, nor is it's culture. There are no lessons here.
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This is so ugly and depressing.
If only the Times and other media would renounce their horse race coverage of politics. All we hear about, day in and day out, is "Does he have any chance? Is she too old? Did he stumble? What does that five-word utterance mean for her chances?" The endless punditry doesn't simply raise useless questions, it absolutely beats them death with excessive coverage.
Please, please, we beg you - cover the issues, not the race. The race will sort itself out without help from the media.
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The idiom “Playing with Fire” comes to mind, but nobody is “playing” around here. Seemingly, simultaneously, and world wide, all western cultures are experiencing a revival of tribal, even racist, tendencies. Like the run up to the world wars, alliances are being broken and reformed. Lines are being drawn and redrawn. Old promises are being discarded. Whole people’s are being told to go away, we don’t care about you anymore. The pressure is building. One little spark can ignite the next world war. The USA has been on the winning side twice, but with an aging population, and a declining manufacturing base, our chances of a threepete are slim.
Don't worry!
Democrats are miles ahead in their quest to purge party of any sensible candidate and loose general elections for few more years.
A commendable word of warning, but our prognosis is somewhat better than Cohen suggests.
First, he assumes that the US elections will take place in a strong economy. I guess Cohen hasn't been watching the bond market, which believes that a contraction will be underway in about 18 months, or just in time for the elections.
Second, Israel's demographic crisis is very real. The Arab population in "greater Israel" (i.e. including the west bank) is growing much faster than the Jewish population. So Israel will face stark choices: disenfranchise Arabs even more than today (the apartheid solution), expel the Arabs (the Meir Kahan solution), or let them have their own state (the Oslo accord solution). The Oslo solution appears to be dead in the water; the alternatives are very ugly. The demographic problem in the US is real only to the fringe groups that are invested in white identity. I don't underestimate their presence, but I hope and believe that they are nowhere near a majority.
Third, Netanyahu's crimes are part of the ongoing litany of political history. His wife is a tyrant who terrorizes servants and abuses expense accounts. Netanyahu has intimidated the opposition press. So what else is new? He is nowhere near Trump's kleptocracy, and he has never suggested the kind of fascist desires that Trump manifests regularly (remember his reaction to Kim Jong Un -- "I wish my people would react like that").
1
"The structural majority of the right is composed of the ultra-Orthodox, the settler movement, Mizrahi Jews of North African and Middle Eastern descent, nationalists of various stripes and Russian immigrants"
Mr. Cohen, unfortunately you have a deep misunderstanding of Israeli society and the "structural right" (whatever that is). You see "religious" as either ultra-Orthodox" or "settler movement" missing the fact that there are various types of Modern Orthodox and traditional (Masorti) that veer right. You miss that many Gantz voters were right-wing and just tired of Mr. Netanyahu. A good many were former Likud voters (look at Mr. Yaalon in the starting 5).
Mostly though, you misunderstand that "nationalists of various types" is just about everybody here short of the Arab parties. Even Meretz includes "nationalists". Here we call it patriotism. Most countries find nothing wrong with that.
Bottom-line, you will never get it, Mr. Cohen.
I suggest you read Mr. Rosner yesterday. He gets it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/netanyahu-israel-election.html
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Israel under Netanyahu will never agree to an independent Palestinian nation. Expect annexation of the West Bank and he Gaza Strip. West Bank Palestinians would be relocated to a Gaza Strip Apartheid Internment Camp. There will not be a any path for Palestinians to earn Israeli citizenships
The World will watch and do nothing as Israel destroys the former Palestinians and quickly populates the entire West Bank with immigrant Jewish families.
When people want violent radical change, there is nothing you can do.
Hitler knew this in 1933.
Trump knew this in 2016.
Netanyahu joins Hitler's and Trump's ranks as democratically-elected corrupt violent sociopaths.
My youth was formed by reading about the Holocaust.
However, the people of Israel mean nothing to me. Israel is now just another Iran.
So now the picture is clarified. Over the next few months or years there is going to be a clash of civilizations. The neanderthals will be represented by Trump, Kushner, and Netanyahu, with the Saudi MBS (alias "the butcher) in the background. The opposition will be the civilized people of the world who demand living in a rules-based society, place a high value on human rights, and seek peaceful co-existence.
The battlefield will be defined by Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century". Political lives will either be lost or advanced depending on the side chosen.
1
Netanyahu had a tougher time remaining in office than Trump will in 2020 because, unlike Trump, Netanyahu's remaining in office does not prevent him from being indicted or convicted. By the way, enough of the holier than thou, condescending attitude of Democrats toward Israelis for voting for someone who may end up indicted or convicted. There have been plenty of Democrats (and Republicans) in this country whose criminal convictions did not prevent them from getting re-elected, e.g. Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Brooklyn Democrat Roger Green and State Senator Efrain Gonzalez. People whose elected representatives are in glass cells shouldn't throw stones.
If the republicans are paying for the buses sending the migrants north it is money well spent for a Trump 2020 victory.
This lesson for Democrats is to get off the fence: the Two State Solution is a lie we tell ourselves because Democrats are unwilling to urgently sour the milk of the Occupation through Boycott, Divest & Sanction to make a Two State Solution possible and the willingness of the Israeli peace establishment to force such a solution died with Yitzhak Rabin.
What remains is a One State Solution that will become either One State for all or One Solution. Democrats have no business making excuses for the latter.
Maybe the "message for Democrats" is that they need to present a clear (read as: LEFT) alternative... not a watered down version of the same thing.
Netanyahu defeated a 'reasonable centrist'.
That's the lesson
1
The Israeli public has decided. They have confirmed that Israel has been , and will continue to be, a rogue state, operating outside well established legal and moral bounds.
1
". . . hate and fear, the strongest currency in contemporary politics."
Probably true, but Israeli "hate and fear" of the PLO, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. are justified. These anti-Israel groups have expressed their intent to destroy Israel and have regularly bombed and fired rockets at Israel. Netanyahu is playing a long term game for Israel's survival and that is the grey zone that the author describes. A long term game is needed; after all the fight is already over 3000 years old. However, other strategies less strident toward Palestinians that might temper their own hate and fear need to be developed. Nevertheless, survival is all that matters.
On the other hand, Trump's use of hate and fear is based on no actual threat. There is no evidence that MS-13 members are trying to make asylum requests nor that major drug exporters are doing the same. There is no evidence that any large percentage of asylum seekers are faking their basis for asylum mostly because Trump will not allow them in to seek asylum, which is illegal. The only actual threat is that Trump will be exposed by Congressional action. And for that Trump promotes hate and fear of American institutions and of Democrats.
Democrats can defeat a Trump strategy of hate and fear if they remain unified, get out the vote, campaign on issues and solutions, and sprinkle enough reminders of just what a despicable person Trump is to keep alive the hate and fear of Trump felt by about 55% of the population.
Your comparisons between Trump and Netanyahu have reached the depths of superficiality. Trump wishes that, like Netanyahu,his supporters did not consist primarily of the ignorant and the naive. He wishes that he had Netanyahu’s intelligence, experience and charisma. Most of all, he wishes that, like Netanyahu, he had no term limits. But although Trump likes to think otherwise, wishing it so does not make it happen. I for one support Netanyahu (at least until he is convicted) but I despise Trump, period. Trump, he be no Bibi.
Who are these voters who see nothing wrong with a leader under indictment for criminal acts, a leader married to a woman under indictment? Are these voters akin to the ones who turned a blind eye and elected an accused sexual predator, a braggart who cheats on his taxes and associates with criminals? I find it mind boggling that Netanyahu has been reelected on a platform of deporting Africans and shutting down any possibility of a 2-state nation, enabling the Palestineans some semblance of dignity in their homeland. You are absolutely right Roger Cohen. If Democrats aren't focused, we'll be having the same conversation about Trump in 2020.
The comparison is based on fiction than facts. First, United States is not Israel. Second, Trump ain’t Netanyahu. Third, the threat from illegal immigrants from the southern border ain’t same as threat to Israel from its neighbors. Fourth, the impact of Trump and Netanyahu supporting each other is asymmetric. Fifth, Democrats already demonstrated their capability in the last midterm elections. With all due respect, no thanks, Democrats don’t need any lessons from Israel.
Yes, it is a lesson for democrats and the body politic in general.
The state of Israel has failed humanity and is a precedent of what to expect in the US in 2020, particularly in a climate set to enable the priveleged minority to continually rule and abuse the underprivileged majority.
On the positive side, the British are at least beginning to show some soul.
Perhaps the message there will attract contagion elsewhere.
i don't need a columnist to tell me that a simple appeal to people's narrow self interest is the winning strategy for soulless politicians. from what i am hearing? climate change is about to hit us like a 5 pound sledge hits a raw egg. at that point no one will care how it is spun.... they will actually want a solution.... but there will not be one that saves us from excruciating pain and mass loss of life...... republican and democrat alike. enjoy the ride down.
"Netanyahu is savvier than Trump, but they share a shrewd assessment of how to control and manipulate the politics of spectacle... They campaign ugly."
...........
And Democrats don't, at least not whole-heartedly. Democrats are still conflicted. They still cling to the Michelle Obama creed, "When they go low, we go high," which is fundamental Christian teaching ignored by Republican evangelicals. The "ugliest" campaigning Republicans have done is to politicize, exploit and corrupt Christianity in service of their nationalist, racist, capitalist, anti-government, amoral agenda. While equally devout Christian Democrats respect and protect the principle of separation of church and state, Republicans proudly and self-righteously tear down that wall. Some of the ugliest chapters of human history have resulted from the wedding of religious fervor with political fervor and government power.
These are increasingly ugly times for western democracies. Israel is its own thing, but it still is somewhat of a canary in the coal mine.
I used to assume, the West was where ancient prejudices and tribal ways of looking at humanity went to die. I remember Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing as the Soviet Union collapsed and Germany was reunited.
Those days now seem quaint. Not enough edge. Not enough stoking of fear and animus. The people in western democracies seem to be in the mood for blood and soil and anger.
What is required for an enlightened state is a rule of law that does not boil down to the whims of either a mob or an autocrat, or both combined as in fascism.
How much longer can we count on that old line holding? Or even worse, has it already fallen, and we are just now feeling and seeing what happens when it is already crumbling?
Mr. Cohen,
I was born in Yugoslavia.
What you are learning today we had experienced three decades ago - the dissolution of a civil society and a rise of the extreme nationalism, led by the flamboyant charismatic leaders promising the victories over the enemies, the extremely strong economy and the world-class standard of living.
It’s easy to give the reckless promises. It’s extremely hard to fulfill them. When those failed to materialize, there was an easy solution – just point a finger at minority and blame them for all the problems…
When in 2002 your NYT columnist colleague Friedman jumped on a wagon and started warmongering campaign in support of Bush-Cheney Administration and the Iraq War, I warned him against it.
I used Bulgaria’s support for the Iraq War as an extremely bad omen. That eastern European country lost every single war over the last century. Mr. Friedman loved the comparison and indicated he might even use it in one of his columns.
At that moment I made a mistake and delivered the unfiltered truth. In the next email I warned him about the future and basically described the current conditions.
Mr. Friedman probably thought I was some lunatic and blocked me.
I really wished that history proved me wrong. I wasn’t lucky enough, ending up as the modern-day Cassandra, somebody nobody wanted to listen...
It is so bad to see the future too early. In that case nobody wants to believe you…
Thinking about World War I, World War II, and the most bloody, flesh-ripping, butchering battles ever carried out on American soil — our own Civil War.
All sparked by nationalism.
I lived through the War in Vietnam comfortably as a liberal woman who would not be called to serve. But my cousin, who did serve, later died of skin disease and alcoholism, and a friend who was drafted rammed his sports car into a concrete bridge back home, and died. A Vietnam Vet would later tell me that this was no accident. It was suicide.
So. Given these historic harvests of corpses, all of which were fertilized by stubborn nationalism or regionalism, this line is terrifying:
“The rightist nationalist wave has yet to crest.”
Netanyahu and Trump share the same virtue: tenacity. Trump doesn't give up--whether the issue is immigration, taxes, tariffs, the economy--he is astonishingly single-minded and strong. No other American politician in the past 40 years has been as persistent. They simply lose interest, fade away, become distracted. Netanyahu, Putin, and Trump share this rare quality not found among the current crop of Democratic candidates who pander shamelessly, endorse irrational economic/climate policies, celebrate diversity for the sake of diversity, and advocate open borders. One gets the sense that they will absolutely say or do anything to get elected. This pathetic set of milquetoasts sets Trump apart without his having to do anything but be himself: tenacious and unambiguous.
13
@Zugzwang
Trump said and did anything to get elected. His pandering to the extreme right, the oligarchs and the religious right is over the top and devicive. You can call him determined but in a simple minded way. His inability to articulate anything coherently should scare all of us.
2
Truth is that it is deplorable that such a message as spoken by both Netanyahu and trump are popular, but you ignore this has been the message from both of them from day one.
You also ignore that in Israel, he didn’t win that many seats...definitely not close to a majority, but his willingness to embrace the radicals, much as trump has done, is how he won.
The truth is that the Dems most offer programs to help the people and quit this...”we have to be moderates” which is why Hillary lost. The most popular candidates were Bernie and trump who offered hope to the people. Sad that trump was just a conman.
The forces of fear and hatred represented by Trump and Netanyahu easily unify behind their worst of humanity's failings as they find others to blame. Trump rallies his troops around hatred for Democrats, 'elites' and people of color while Netanyahu finds Palestinians easy to label as enemies.
It is harder to unify Democrats as we each have an idea about how things should be rather than unifying around central themes. Getting Democrats together more like herding cats while Republicans gang together like feral dogs. Sometimes this is the Democrat's strength, but in a war with feral dogs who have will throw out every sense of civilized behavior to win, Democrats for once must find common themes, choose a common candidate to unify around and be prepared to fight back against every low blow Republicans will throw at us.
At the same time we can not lose our moral compass for if we do we will become no better than our take no prisoners opponents. in this Democrats while on firm moral footings have a much harder road to travel as we face a GOP that has no policy other than winning and no moral compass to guide them.
The Trump fans are so deluded that they actually believe the 2020 election will be about immigration. They thought so in 2018 as well. It can't be repeated often enough: Republicans campaigned in 2018 on immigration and immigration alone. As far as they were concerned, there are no other issues. For this reason they lost Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the three states that won the 2016 election for Trump.
The most hilarious part is that Trump's immigration policy is a failure. Illegal immigration surged under George W. Bush, reached an all-time low under Obama, and now after two years of Trump it's surging again. Illegal immigration has become a crisis BECAUSE of Trump. It wasn't a crisis before. But Trump's policies have sent it skyrocketing. In a few months it may even be as bad as it was under Bush.
Solution to the problem? Go back to Obama's policies. They worked. Trump's policies didn't. End of story.
17
@Ryan The reason illegal immigration was high under Bush and is surging now is a strong economy that is attracting workers. The economy wasn't as strong for much of Obama's term after the recession. Until the last year or two of GWB, it was. Which is why it is hard to believe the asylum claims of some of these people. They are economic migrants as well.
Ryan, You're trying to solve problems, not obtain absolute power. This article is the most penetrating analysis I've read. It's in Trump's strategic interest to create controversy for his Russian-inspired coup. Heed Netanyahu! He offers proof-positive.@
Ryan
Trump will be re-elected unless democrats offer an alternative that makes sense to the handful of people in critical swing states who will decide the election.
The country is numb to Trump’s character issues. His supporters don’t care or find them admirable. His detractors continue to quietly shake their heads in disgust.
Democrats must stop talking about him, and start talking about how they will make our lives better without sounding like they’re starting an insurrection.
Why not start with immigration? If they had $25 million that Trump wants for his wall, how would democrats spend that same money on things they believe will work? If they can’t answer that question, or articulate their answer in ways most Americans can understand, then they don’t have a plan.
How about gun control? Let the NRA, and Trump, blather on about taking away second amendment rights. The sliver of people who will decide the election will listen to well reasoned arguments about common sense gun laws.
Or health care? They retook the House in 2018, partly on this issue. Fixing the ACA sounds more evolutionary than revolutionary, something which most Americans can better relate to than Medicare for all.
Infrastructure? True tax relief for the middle class? The environment? The swamp? There are clear alternatives to Trump’s performance on these issues.
And finally, STOP talking about his tax returns. Wasted energy.
The clock is ticking.
21
Issues are important, but so is the nominated champion. Democrats are still organizationally divided and could lose the House again in 2020. Obama and the Democrats were duped in 2016. 2018 was a different scenario as will be 2020. The connection between illegal immigration, illicit drug trade/mental health, Russian (Soviet Union?) meddling, Brexit and Israel is indisputable, threatening democracy around the world. Look to California as the last bastion with our backs against "THE WALL". @HJS
1
Democrats fail to learn any lessons from the past. Do you expect that they will learn from Israel's elections? As an independent I see a democratic party of today in disarray and if they nominate Joe Biden, they have no one to blame in 2020 but themselves. I thought highly of JFK and WJC and I campaigned for Obama but of the current dozen or more running for white house, the only shining star is Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard but I see no excitement about her candidacy among the Dems.
A lesson for Dems is no one from the establishment will have any chance against Trump. Get someone with fire in her belly or like Netanyahu's 5th term be content with a second Trump term by default.
1
There is a really fundamental problem with NYTimes opinion writers. There should be full disclosure of their religious/nationality affiliations when they write an article concerning a particular country or religion that they have a vested interest in.
Netanyaho did not "nail it" It was a close election. But to write "The rightist nationalist wave has yet to crest" clearly shows a strong biased opinion.
Mr Cohen is providing a prophetic warning to Democrats for 2020. The politics of today is starting to resemble the politics of 1968-72.
In 1968, a somewhat despised and mistrusted Richard Nixon won a squeaker to gain the presidency, slow-walked the Vietnam War to its eventual defeat, and the Democrats were all so high that 1972 was going to be their year that they went ultra-left with George McGovern, a very decent guy who wobbled. The Democrats completely failed to grasp the intrinsic conservatism of American general election voters and lost in a landslide to one of the more invidious personalities of our times.
Today, the front page of the NYT is plastered with a story about how Senator Bernie Sanders is going to stage a complete federal takeover of healthcare, eliminate the employer health plans and insurance companies that are the backbone of middle class healthcare in America, and bring the wonders of centralized federal management to the highly decentralized healthcare sector.
And photogenic Ms Ocasio-Cortez will now give a preview of the Green New Deal while NYT columnist Thomas Edsall goes over strong Democratic primary support for the issue of reparations.
With this lineup, it's not that the Democrats will have a hard time contesting the White House in 2020, they'll have a hard time holding onto the local PTA.
Someone needs to remind Democrats that "this time" will not be different. It never is.
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"The structural majority of the right is composed of the ultra-Orthodox, the settler movement, Mizrahi Jews of North African and Middle Eastern descent, nationalists of various stripes and Russian immigrants...
"Gather nationalist and religious voters in your camp, add in a strong economy, dose with fear, sprinkle with strongman appeal, inject a dash of racism and victory is yours — whatever indictments are looming."
Gather educated intellectuals, women, young voters, the LGBTQ communities, African-Americans, immigrants, Latino and other minorities, add in health care, dose with fear, sprinkle with Kennedy/Obama appeal, inject a dash of climate change, mix in lines from the Bible about Christian mercy toward the poor and the meek, top with massive budget allocation to building infrastructure...and victory is yours.
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“Netanyahu’s solution is by now clear.” It has been clear for years.
The only difference is that Netanyahu has dropped all pretense and some of his supporters in the press can no longer fool themselves. Unfortunately, those woke journalists are few.
Already, in much of the U.S. media, the rehabilitation of Bibi has begun. On April 8,Beto O’Rourke referred to Netanyahu as a racist. CNN ran an interview whose purpose was not to explore the substance of O’Rourke’s charge but wonder whether his language was too strong or even anti-Semitic. Thereafter, on the network that can spend days on a Trump tweet, there were few istories focused on the central role played by racism and voter suppression in Netanyahu’s victory. (See https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/world/middleeast/israel-election-netanyahu-gantz-winner.html).instead, the focuse shifted to the horse race.
“King Bibi” is now in effect Israel’s prime minister for life. This makes him not just the model for Trump’s re-election campaign. Bibi probably helped pave the way for Trump, for example with his attacks in the Iran deal, In addition, his political tactics and manipulation of the press probably was a model for Trump in 2016.
Long before Trump was on the scene, Netanyahu was perfecting the politics of fear and impunity. Increasingly, that sort of politics is running the world. The Israeli election shows that there is no good answer for it, at least in countries where the press is free but easily led by the nose.
Netanyahu recognizes what many in the West refuse to see, and that is in order to have peace, you need two sides that actually WANT peace. The Palestinians have said time and again (to their own people) the only thing they want is to destroy Israel, and Israeli's know it. Its in their charter, and their battle cry "from the river to the sea' that's NOT the west bank, that's Israel. Golda Mayer said it long ago. "I can forgive them for killing our children, but I cannot forgive them for making us kill their children." It's clear from all the polls taken - who wants peace. Any Palestinian leader that even tries to make peace with Israel will wind up like Anwar Sadat. Netanyahu is not stupid, he is well aware of all this and cannot change the Palestinian mind set. It is simply reality, and its time everyone sees it for what it is.
I wonder what Mr. Ben-Gurion would think of Netanyahu... but maybe we can all agree, east is east and west is west and never, ever... But isn't there also the fact in a one state combined country, the Palestinians would way outnumber the Israelis? So that's out. The two-state idea is quickly going to become moot, so what's next? War?
"Netanyahu’s annexation decision may hinge in the end on the long-incubated Trump plan for Israel-Palestine."
The Trump-Kushner-Netanyahu "Deal of the Century", with funding from MBS (alias "the butcher"), is authored and funded by known and suspected criminals. Hence we can reasonably expect the content of the deal to be criminal in nature.
Any proposals to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must conform to international law and UN resolutions to be credible. Those that do not are DOA.
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This is a rather simplistic argument. The Israelis believe their fate is in the hands of just one person. That is not a view shared by Americans. The reason Trump won is because many eligible voters did not go out to vote, and many assumed that Americans won't vote for an unfit person for the presidency. In a way that is true because Trump lost the popular vote. The electoral college is what saved him. Israel has complex problems that we don't have. They got issues with land and scare water which we don't have. I keep hearing that the economy is strong. The truth is many of the jobs created are low-paying jobs without benefits. I know someone who was hired part time at 29 hours a week. If not for localities like New York City and Seattle where the minimum wage for most jobs is now $15 an hour then for most of the country this 'strong" economy is meaningless. As for fear and racism we see where that is getting us. Just yesterday a survey shows that people are now more emboldened to make racist comments since Trump has been elected. In the news this morning a 21-year old white man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to three mostly-black churches in Louisiana destroying them. Do we seriously need another four more years of this, and with Trump taking us backward denying climate change? How about him destroying the EPA and allowing more mercury in the air? And a president who prides himself by "being in love" with dictator Kim, admirer of strongmen Putin and Duterte.
If the Democrats keep trying to outdo each other in left of center identity politics Trump will win in 2020.
Having friends in the ultra orthodox Jewish community, makes me aware of just how powerful and mind shaping religious inundation can be.
For me one of the things I love about the Jewish people is their ability to be reasonable and yet for all the 'pilpul' (talmudic interpreting) axioms from the Talmud are accepted that are not necessarily reasonable.
Rather than thinking in terms of how to beat Trump or Netanyahu, one needs to have vision to offer as an alterntiave - and to build upon what that vision entails.
Trump and Netanyahu are successful because they both acknowledge traditions and powers that transcend them; they both deal with realities without sugar coating them.
So someone with those traits plus a real imagination and a keen sense of fairness (and fairness does not mean simply blaming every ill in the world to oppressive white men) should do well - I would suggest not poo pooing the ten commandments wouldn't be a bad place to start. If you can do that and have real ideas lets hear them.
BTW My sense of the importance of spirituality and religious beliefs was raised by my mingling within the orthodox community. It teaches a certain sense of humility. It is something i find missing in my liberal community.
Trump and Bibi are linked to the fate of democracy in their respective countries -as their tactics and ideologies succeed democracy as we know it will fail, and the greatness created by the societies their governments represent will follow suit. Neither Trump nor Netanyahu are true leaders...they follow the narrow, bigoted and arrogant aspirations of their constituency. Although the economies of the United States and Israel are generally healthy, both nations suffer from economic inequality, with Israeli inequalty enforced by state sanctioned discrimination against a people entitled to full human and civil rights.
Trump’s “boom” economy is being intentionally juiced with tax cuts to business and high income individuals and reckless deregulation; eventually Trump’s base will feel the impact, and the deterioration of the economy, environment and social fabric will effect us all.
Trump and Bibi are equally myopic and unable to foresee the future consequences of their current arrogant policies. Their legacies will be similar as well.
Netanyahu has kept the State of Israel alive against mortal threats to its existence. It's easy for the Roger Cohens of the world, from their sanctuaries in the West, to lecture Israelis on whom they should elect. But not once has Roger Cohen addressed the implacable opposition to Israel's existence among key area and regional elements sworn to its destruction.
Netanyahu and the right wing won because of the year long attacks by the rioters in Gaza. People got fed up with the arson, the rocket launches, and millions of dollars worth of destruction, not to mention the terror. Bibi has always represented security for Israel which is why the left tried running retired generals against him. Many on the left, those who always advocated for peace were eventually won over. Israelis have also come to realize that Netanyahu has befriended world leaders who have tired of supporting the Palestinians and are uniting with Israel against Iran, all while Palestinians have become more determined than ever to rid Israel of Jews when, not if, they return to their homeland. Israelis understand that Netanyahu has no peace partner to negotiate with and there’s no need for pretense. He could campaign on the economy, his new connections with world leaders including Trump, and his ability to keep the country safe.
After reading this Op Ed , I am shocked that such a big percentage of Hispanics voted for Trump . Do they understand that Trump's insult and hate for them? After " Birther" movement against Trump which was a pure racist move against an African American president Obama and so much name calling and perpetual discriminatory politics by the Republican Party, how they voted for Trump? I am so confused!
I have to disagree with Mr.Cohen that American and Israelis are not similar at all. It is true that nationalistic slogans, fear mongering and exploiting religion , the autocratic crook politicians win elections all over the world including America. I am scared.
I can understand Bibi's popularity; he is a hawk on defense which is a huge issue in Israel, and he thumbed his nose at the extremists in Fatah and Hamas who never wanted a two state solution anyway. Trump on the other hand is more difficult to understand; his appeal is largely based on xenophobia and racism but he can't really play the defense card although he tries with the hysteria about the border. It makes you wonder what this country would be like if we really had a true existential threat that was fifteen miles away from Washington DC. I can understand why Israel has moved to the right. So what's our excuse in the US?
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@marcus Perhaps it is that some view 100,000 illegal immigrants per month as a problem?
"...will not give up one inch of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River."
If giving an inch brought peace, Bibi would do it. But, in reality, it would be one more inch Israel would have to fight to keep.
Comparing Israel to the United States is like comparing apples and oranges. Their differences far exceed — and overshadow — their similarities in virtually every way and at every level imaginable.
True, Netanyahu is a skillful player in his system, as is Trump. And both are corrupt bullies and liars. But beyond that sad congruence I fail to see much to learn by Netanyahu’s victory.
In an earlier unpublished (thus far) comment I stated that the primary difference between Israel and the United States (size, location, and government design aside) is their respective national security vulnerabilities. Ours are madnesses of our own making — the foreign entanglements that President Washington specifically warned against in his famous (and famously unread) Farewell Address. Israel’s are immediately existential: lack of territory for Zahal to maneuver in wartime or some means to defuse the religious, ethnic, tribal, clan, and sectarian hatreds that surround them. Those run through the entire region like earthquake faults in California.
“Chalk and cheese”, in other words.
Israeli political parties are small. Factions form temporary alliances that confederate them. Fundamentally, they are disunited. I think the bare sliver of voters who put Netanyahu over the top actually voted for faction leaders who promised they would vote to confirm Netanyahu as prime minister. I also think what drives them is overweening arrogance and a determination to deny Palestinians any type of state.
Trump's playbook has always been hate and fear, emotions which run even hotter among his base because they know that the majority of Americans don't like the way they think. Bibi's election changes nothing. Also, remember that in the midterms, the U.S. economy was stronger than today due to the sugar-rush of the tax cuts. By 2020, the only thing about the economy that will be "Yuge" will be the size of the deficit.
The majority of Americans don't like Trump personally, regardless of his policies. And, unlike Israel, the biggest "threat" to our security are downtrodden, weaponless immigrants who want to live in America. In fact, right-wing terrorists emboldened by Trump appear to be our only rising deadly menace. I also like to believe there are still enough people in this country who like democracy to vote against him.
This sounded more like defeatism than a lesson to me.
Does Roger Cohen remember the Entebee raid which happened in July 1976? Israeli commandos swooped into the airport under the cover of darkness and freed the Jewish hostages and the Air France personnel who were being threatened with certain death at the hands of their Palestinian captors. The leader of the commandos was Bibi's older brother Yoni Netanyahu. Thanks the courage and daring of the Israelis the terrorists were killed and the hostages were freed. However the victory came at a great personal loss for Benjamin Netanyahu-- his brother Yoni Netanyahu was killed during the attack. To this day Benjamin Netanyahu is still mourning the death of his brother.
The Entebbe raid is the reason why there isn't going to be a Palestinian state. To Benjamin Netanyahu a Palestinian state would be the equivalent of desecrating Yoni's grave. To this day Benjamin Netanyahu holds the Palestinians responsible for murdering his brother. Besides an independent state is the last thing the Palestinians want so what's the point?
Both Putin and Netanyahu found strength at home via Trump overseas. Trump probably would not have been elected without Putin's help, and Netanyahu certainly did what he could to aid the Trump campaign. Trump has returned the favor. Even Barr's partisan and probably dishonest take on the Mueller report is making Putin and Netanyahu stronger. I very much did not want to read this afternoon about yet another aspect of the Trump rightwing threat to our democracy, our values, and our wellbeing. The Barr testimony earlier in the day is a festering sore of immoral opportunism and bad faith. In any case, both Putin and Netanyahu are savvier and more credible than Trump, for what it's worth. Without Trump, would Putin fall? Putin needs Trump as much as Trump's election was contingent on illegal Russian interference. How much more of the corrupt murderous Putin oligarchy can the Russian people bear? Yes, Netanyahu is probably corrupt, too. But Israel is not a failed state like Russia.
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The lesson for Democrats is that they need an agenda that appeals to a majority of he electorate. Their current House Diva, Alexndra Ocasio-Cortez has put forth the “Green New Deal” despite ominous warnings that its enactment will decimate the American economy. Their leading presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders has put forth “Medicare for All” despite warnings that its enactment will eliminate the private coverage enjoyed by 180 million Americans. The Democrat party as a whole disparages anyone daring to point out that there is a migrant crisis occurring on our border despite over 100,000 Central American migrants breaching our border last month and millions more throughout the world ready to join in on the “asylum” scam.
Such an agenda may have supporters inside the Washington bubble and “liberal” enclaves along both coasts but it does not resonate with the electorate that will decide the 2020 election.
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He may have won, but it's hardly a mandate...and he'll be lucky to stay out of prison.
So, the lesson implied in this column is that what’s good for Israel is good for the US. Really? Criminality trumps all else.
Netanyahu’s “raison d’être” is looting and corruption all around. It’s not just that he wants to steal Palestinian land, but that he has architected the destruction of the Middle East causing massive displacement and a massive refugee problem for Western Europe. Europe is not happy as illustrated by the raising nationalistic governments, which doesn’t bode well for the diaspora. Abuse has its limits. Netanyahu himself faces crim8nal charges. That the Israeli public accepts corruption as a way of,life doesn’t mean that the US public will
It is my understanding that many Arab Israelis boycotted this election, and Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition won. The lesson is: Elections have consequences. Even if you don't like any candidate, you must still vote for the lesser of two evils. Too many Americans didn't bother voting in 2016 and we got disaster-in-chief Trump. This must NOT happen in 2020.
On a side note, does anyone else note the irony of the hard-line and bellicose ultra-orthodox Jews who are exempt from compulsory military service but are happy to send the more liberal Israelis to the front lines?
A big difference between Trump and Netanyahu's prospects is the increased demongraphics of the Ultra Orthodox is a big plus for Netanyahu - while American demongraphics are going in the opposite direction for Trump.
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We don't even share the same political system. It will always be true that Trump could win in 2020. But he is failing and ignoring all voters except for his small group of followers. The Democrats could drop the ball in many ways. But the anger and fear of losing our government and values will likely prevent few from moving into Trump territory. Each day Trump cements loyalty to his base while engendering loathing and disappointment on the left. Trump should stay out of Israel's politics but he is too arrogant to know better. We will do what we have to do because we know that another term of Trump means the end of our great democracy and the start of a large nation of corruption and crime.
@Hal you get 2 votes to Mystery’s 30. Sounds just like the ratio that your politics will get in 2020.
As opposed to the US, Israel has a 20% Arab minority that rightly feels disenfranchised and let down not only by the Israeli government but also by the Arab Knesset members who were supposed to represent them and excelled mostly at fighting between themselves. But the greatest sin was that of the Labor and Gantz parties who never extended a hand and offered the Israeli Arab population a credible partnership. This was both a sin of morality and a sin of stupidity, facilitating Netanyahu's win.
One would hope that this cardinal difference is enough to allow for a different result in the 2020 elections here in the US. Bibi's re-election threatens democratic institutions in Israel and the viability of progress vis a vis the Palestinians. Trump's re-election will threaten the well being of the planet as a whole.
The so called “Blue Wave” by the Democrats in 2018 will be at low tide and list a sea by 2020 mostly due to there own reckoning by focusing politics and policies on par with virtual reality rather than reality.
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Netanyahu may well enjoy his victory and, as Cohen's essay reminds us, Trump may well ape Netanyahu's strategy in his own re-election campaign in 2020. But what are the 'external' consequences of Netanyahu's hold on Israel? What about the big elephant in Middle East politics, namely Iran? Uprisings have happened and will happen again. Such is history that goes back to the time when the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians (today's Iranians). Could Israel, with its right-wing regime and its bent towards the annexation of Palestinian lands, be a future and fallen Babylon?
“The election was a referendum on Netanyahu and he nailed it.” Only from a myopic view; looking, but choosing not to see the entire, dynamic “scape.” The election was a referendum on the personal accountability for the more immediate and longer-term implications and outcomes of policies. On people and systems. Related to their votes. Many chose to remain unaccountable for what IS, which shouldn’t BE. In a democracy. Underpinned by, anchored in, and empowered with meschlichkeit’s wellbeing. Relationships based upon mutual civility. Mutual trust and respect. Sensitive caringness and mutual help between, kin, ken, and strangers. Many Israelis, voters, and non-voters whatever their religiosity, political ideologies, cultural backgrounds and identities, regions of Israel, etc., fearful and anxious, chose to continue to BE willfully blind, deaf and ignorant about the complexities of reality to make their pro and con choices. No candidate, anywhere, at any time, and whatever they say and promise, can totally control each day’s uncertainties. Unpredictabilities. Randomness. Types of “unexpecteds” and unaccounted-for-outliers. Paradoxes. Not Bibi. Trump. Orban. Sisi. And a range of others who are enabled by each of US to violate selected and targeted people. Humanizing values. Norms. Ethics. Equitable states of wellbeing and sharings of human and nonhuman resources; critical for sustainable-development. Daily. This caveat empowers elected violators by attributing powers to them
Bibi is successful because the idea of a Palestinian state has come and gone. It’s the Palestinians fault. They had a state in 2000 handed to them but Arafat rejected it and ceded power to people who terrorized Israel with bombs and missiles. Most Israelis have no use for a peace process that means giving up land for nothing. Watch Bibi try to further marginalize Palestinians with the goal of having them fade away as a political entity. They brought it upon themselves for certain. They question is whether or not Bibi and the Israelis will earn the enmity or the respect of the world. I suggest it will be the latter. .
ISRAEL & US Are we in both countries truly drawn to dictators like moths to a flame? In the US, the answer is a resounding NO! Trump LOST the popular vote by 2.6 million! The largest margin in US history. The lethal structural flaws in the outdated and potentially lethal electoral college system are what silenced the voice of the people, subjecting the unwilling--with no consent to be governed by the dictator with severe mental impairment--to be dragged along the rocky road to death, destruction and damnation represented by the Trump circus side show he would call a "presidency." Just this week numerous other top officials have resigned en mass. But the silence where protests are needed attest to the power vacuum. Trump rules by alienating others so he can tyrannize the US and, left unhinged and unhindered, he will destroy. Trump's one dimensional delusion of the presidency is him sitting along in the Oval Office watching Fox News, then dictating tweets to an assistant. A plague on Rupert Murdoch for strangling the world with his damnable monopoly on mass media. I had read somewhere that his sons have liberal agendas. If they do, they've not given any indication that they intend to let their liberal beliefs have the slightest impact on the vicious propaganda that is poisoning the globe, upending democracies and posing existential threats to the existence of freedom everywhere.
As to this: "He made himself kosher with the Obama administration through his Bar Ilan speech of a decade ago supporting a Palestinian state, only to do nothing to favor one and everything to block one."
Nothing? Not an almost 10-month moratorium on contruction? A 'quiet-freeze' by drastically reducting building authorizations, including Jerusalem? Dismantling severalk across-the-Green-Line communities? Announcing his personal commitment to the Two-State (Supposed) Solution despite coalition partners opposition?
Oh, and what has Abbas done? "Pay-for-Slay" policy. No end to incitement. No peace dialogue with the Arab society. How come they never get blamed for anything.
And if I mention the Palestinian National Council, will they ever conduct elections so we can see their society develop internal strength so that we can trust them.
One thing more: if three former Commanders-in-Chief of the IDF who held right-wing views had challenged a left-wing prime minister, I would guess that would be called an "attempted putsch" by Cohen. But it didn't happen this time because...Netanyhau was targeted.
Netanyahu's election has killed the two-state solution. It looks like the majority of Israelis are fine with that. The future of Palestinians is bleak, no human rights for them. Annexation of the West Bank is unlikely as long as the Arab population is vastly larger than the Jewish presence. The settlers hope is that humiliation and frustration will make them emigrate, ethnic cleansing without the image of an army pushing them into neighboring countries. But in that part of the world grievances have a way of lasting forever (see shiites vs sunnis). The displaced populations will never forget and Israel is not going to know true peace for generations.
The opinions, which downplay Trump's ability to win the coming election, sound very familiar. That's the same sort of dismissive thinking, which proved so wrong in the past election. Trump, like Netanyahu, has an ability to motivate religious conservatives and racists, the most fanatical and committed voters in both countries. Religious conservatives and racists form the backbone of both men's electability and provide the disciplined organization needed to win elections. It will take a mighty effort by the Democrats to take this autocrat down. Let's not make the same mistake we made in November 2016 by not giving Trump his due.
I seriously doubt that any Democrat is under the illusion that Trump might be defeated at the next election. As with those who support Brexit in the UK, the United States is full of appallingly ignorant people who see Trump, correctly, as one of them. Not until Democrats present a strong case for defeating Bibi's buddy will any of us totally opposed that everything that is even moderately assured of victory. Still, the election remains a good way off; there is enough time.
I was hoping that Israel's voter's would be the first to push back against this ugly tidal wave of Authoritarianism that is currently drowning the democracies of the West, because of all countries, Israel you would think would be the one to strongly say 'no thanks' to that style of leadership.
So now it is up to us in 2020.
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The lesson is that free people freely vote if they chose, in freedom loving countries where citizens enjoy the right to vote. The Left become apoplectic when stricken with a dose of Reality. Individuals chose leaders and governments based on their values and interests, not on what pundits and media spinners deem to be in everyone's best interest.
Politics is a contact sport, yet the Left MSM both in Israel & US feign indignation when the will of the people bests their smug, opinionated prognostications. This is why Bibi won his fifth election, why Trump won in 2016 and will be re-elected in 2020. What excuses will be given then?
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The US and Israel have a lot in common but also several differences.
1. Both US and Israel have a lot of people who were not born there . They immigrated into the country. They both annexed territory from local residents.
2. The Us allows people to immigrate regardless of religion whereas Israel only allows Jews.
3. Israel has parliamentary democracy ala UK whereas we have a Republican democracy like France.
4. Israel provides a single payer health care system opposed to the US that is private based.
The biggest difference in my view is that the US is based on the declaration of independence that all people are created equal. WE are a secular democracy. There is no equivalent anywhere else!!
A coup de tat against democracy: That says it all and it's already well underway in the U.S. as Trump's thugs destroy one institution after another until there's no legal structure to stop him. The Democratic field looks pathetic and overly subservient to its leftist extremists, who don't even speak for the vast majority of the party nationally. I would be surprised of Trump does not win, and by a larger margin than in 2016, nor if the GOP retakes the House and increases its majority in the Senate. Game over. folks. It was nice while it lasted, but democracy is the exception, not the rule, and typically dies because the people themselves don't want it, aren't inspired to fight for it, or just don't care enough.
Clinton lost the election by putting an email server in her home, destroying the over 30,000 emails subpoenaed by Congree, giving 3 talks to Goldman for $675.000 without the media present, campaigning on identify politics and calling people who lost jobs or who feared losing jobs to globalization "deplorables."
Now the Democrats are even farther left wing. Trump is certain to win.
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Let's be blunt and just call Netanyahu and Trump what they are - fascists. And clearly they are both now enjoying more than a day or two in the sun, but history very sadly shows what happens over time when citizens finally wake up and discover what has been done to them or what is being done to them. And in so many, many cases in history, fascism is erased at least temporarily by violent, deadly, bloody means. I think the new calculus of these leaders is that if they are just smart enough, just able to mask their intentions and deeds and wrap them in pretty packages long enough, then they can survive another day, another month, another year, another election. History's repetitive nature will one day catch up with Netanyahu and Trump and what they are doing will once again be shown for what it is. The tragedy is, I am afraid, that massive bloodshed will be the cost.
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There’s no solution like changing the facts on the ground. There will be one state of Israel stretching from the Golan Heights to the West Bank, and the Palestinians will be the better off for it.
Actually Bibi used Trump’s playbook. One can only wonder, did Russia help him, too?
I hate to say it, but Beny Gantz was about as centrist as they come. It may be a lesson the Democrats should heed in 2020.
"Annexation could see the same fate because it’s problematic. Netanyahu is happiest in the gray zone where Israel controls millions of Palestinians without having to confront the question of whether they vote or are granted Israeli citizenship. "
I wonder if Mr. Cohen has ever taken a gander at the PA's Charter, and whether, if he should do so, he would also find their goal of annexing all of Isreal equally as "problematic."
C'mon now, was this election truly a referendum on Netanyahu or was it simply that Netanyahu's playbook was actually taken from Trump's 2016 playbook? Trump's 2020 playbook will be identical for his re-election as it was for his initial election, including complicit and complacent voters and their hypocritical political leaders who shamefully put themselves ahead of their party and their country.
Perhaps the most striking similarity between these two corrupt heads of state is that each of them is facing serious criminal charges that threaten each of their democracies with extinction at the expense of their overwhelming egos.
What a shame that two the world's youngest yet most admired nation's have so quickly sacrificed their founding principles for
banana republic values.
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Not that Democrats should fall asleep at the wheel but Israel is under constant threat from it's neighbors, an entirely different environment than here in the U.S..
I wish people would stop depicting Trump as a genius. Yes, he is an established media star. With his popularity he has been able to arouse the people in many ares of the country who are so frustrated with the system that they voted for a man who is the epitome of what they perceive all New Yorkers to be which is far from the truth.
We take no political lessons from the Israeli electorate. They had their choice and they decided the wrong path. They will live it, and history will not be kind.
Remember: in politics, everything is temporary. Right now in Israel, the role of the Russian Jews is paramount, but for how long will they be "Russian"? Right now a minority of voters in the United States controls the Electoral College, but what happens when the Interstate Compact reaches the current magic number of 271? and Puerto Rice and D.C. become states?
The Times of Israel, January 17, 2019
"...even more than a “policy crisis,” today, Israel faces a crisis of leadership. Too many politicians rely on a cowardly strategy of superficiality and fake news, mean-spirited vitriol, divisive rhetoric, and preference for sectoral over national interests. Yes, it is important to know what Benny Gantz thinks about improving educational performance or climate change. But it is much more important to know what kind of a leader he is. Because more than anything else, our country needs leadership that can unify it."
These words were written during the campaign of Mr. Gantz. Do they sound eerily familiar? Will the Democrats succeed where Mr. Gantz did not? Will they find a truly inspirational and compelling leader who can appeal to the better angels in the majority of Americans who long for unity? Or sadly, as witnessed by the wins of Netanyahu and Trump, will character simply not matter in 2020?
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Great piece, Roger. You nailed it, both the Israelis and the Americans.
Democrats are playing the hate game with identity politics and they have decided that one particular race abhors them. White people, especially older white people.
Schiff and Schumer were having dreams Mueller would issue a report that would get Trump removed from office. Now in fact there is a real chance Dems could lose the house and also more seats in the Senate.
If Trump wins in 2020 there is a good chance he will get another SCOTUS pick or two. Between now and then Mitch will fill every vacant judicial seat. Democrats have severely misjudged where the real power lies and that is with Mitch and the Senate.
"Netanyahu’s solution is by now clear. He is a true believer in Greater Israel and will not give up one inch of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River. There will be no Palestinian state on his watch. Period."
This statement implies that Netanyahu is the unilateral decision-maker. He is not. First there are Jews and non-Jews in Israel who will oppose him. Second there is the EU that will stand up for international law. Third there is the UN which would suspend Israel's membership. Fourth there is a large segment of the American Jewish community that would denounce Isreal and threaten AIPAC's dominance..
The decision-maker will be the world community, hopefully making a collective decision based on legality and morality.
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He didnt exactly nail it. He had formidable opposition & only narrowly crossed the line.
Israel wants and has wanted to have a 2 state solution for peace. But the PLO and Hamas do not want a state if Israel is to continue to exist. They have said that. And so the public stayed with Netanyahu. What would you recommend so that Hamas does not take over Judea in time and shoot rockets and missiles across the street ? Into Israel every other day.
Everyone has advice for Israel. None for the PLO and Hamas.
1
I just wonder if opinion writers such as Cohen really ever grapple with the fact that their opinions are so at odds with the general public?
I don’t know much about Israeli politics but I understand that the main liberal party only garnered 5% of the vote. Yet to read the NYT during the run-up to the election, they made it seem like Netanyahu was on the way out due to a liberal revolt.
I do know much about American politics and this is the same misreading by the pundits that led Trump’s victory to be such a shock to many.
Opinion writers should base their opinions on what is actually happening, reflect the public sentiment and agree or disagree with it.
Peas in a pod. Running roughshod over rule of law laws and institutions has become the new political "modus operandi" and saluted by the people willing in ignorance to have their rights stripped away.
Bibi actually had it tougher than Trump will. I never thought I’d consider voting for Trump, but just look at the clowns lining up to oppose him. There’s not one of these far-left jokers I’d vote for. Dems PLEASE nominate a centrist alternative. If you stick with the current batch of socialists, we will have Trump with a bigger margin than 2016. A lot bigger.
It might help if the column made it clear how many seats
there are in the Likud and if any smaller parties hold
any seats and, if so, how many and which way they lean.
The so-called progressives....aka ‘the Resistance’...are driving the Democratic Party over a cliff. Consequently, they will NOT be getting my vote next time around. No doubt millions of other disillusioned former Democrats will follow suit.
1
Mr. Edward Blau is spot on! Israel for assumed a disproportionate role in our national discourse purely because of geo political reasons. How can you compare countries with a population of 5 million to the U.S.? California alone is 37 million and the seventh largest economy in the world!
I don’t make judgements about things I can’t effect if only to preserve my sanity — or what little’s left of it.
Whatever I think of Netanyahu (in the grand scheme of things, not much) it’s their country; a country the size of a postage stamp surrounded by enemies. The worst would murder them in their beds without giving it a second thought if they could. Their frenemies would fall on them with knives should they perceive the slightest weakness. An ancient conflict that has social, religious, sectarian, ethnic, class, clan and tribal dimensions inside and outside Israel proper.
Some political problems are insoluble. This is one of them.
1
One big difference between Israel and the US is that in Israel the Likud and far right parties are a majority. In a parliamentary system, they can form a majority coalition.
Trump's base, while rock-solid, is only about 40% of the electorate. Trump's approval rating has never been above 50%. He has almost no chance of winning the popular vote. If Democrats can motivate their coalition to get out and vote, they will win, even with a tilted electoral college system.
4
Lesson for the Democrats in 2020 - Run a campaign like a public servant. Promise to improve people's lives, give hope to the young people, take care of this planet. Do not run a campaign by bashing Trump giving his supporters more reason to go out there and vote for him. Beat him at the debates with facts and numbers. If you have nothing to hide, you'll have nothing to fear.
40
@ALN Sounds great, but they won't do it. All they do is talk about higher taxes and things we can't afford, and Trump. Drop in a dose of anti-semitism and there you have is todays Democratic party.
1
“The election was a referendum on Netanyahu and he nailed it.” Only from a myopic view; looking, but choosing not to see the entire, dynamic “scape.” The election was a referendum on the personal accountability for the more immediate and longer-term implications and outcomes of policies. On people and systems. Related to their votes. Many chose to remain unaccountable for what IS, which shouldn’t BE. In a democracy. Underpinned by, anchored in, and empowered with meschlichkeit’s wellbeing. Relationships based upon mutual civility. Mutual trust and respect. Sensitive caringness and mutual help between, kin, ken, and strangers. Many Israelis, voters, and non-voters whatever their religiosity, political ideologies, cultural backgrounds and identities, regions of Israel, etc., fearful and anxious, chose to continue to BE willfully blind, deaf and ignorant about the complexities of reality to make their pro and con choices. No candidate, anywhere, at any time, and whatever they say and promise, can totally control each day’s uncertainties. Unpredictabilities. Randomness. Types of “unexpecteds” and unaccounted-for-outliers. Paradoxes. Not Bibi. Trump. Orban. Sisi. And a range of others who are enabled by each of US to violate selected and targeted people. Humanizing values. Norms. Ethics. Equitable states of wellbeing and sharings of human and nonhuman resources; critical for sustainable-development. Daily. This caveat empowers elected violators by attributing powers to them.
1
Why extrapolate this situation to ours. BB has a
highly motivated base of religious ideologic zealots and relatively new arrivals who stand to
gain measurable and material benefit like
land and perhaps wealth from far right policies. Trump’s base while fed a steady diet of fear, hatred and bellicosity are getting nothing in the way of booty. His base though stable like his genius, has not expanded. Unfortunately, our economy and our country feel shaky under
Trump, fostering a sense of impending doom
in many of us who feel that we are a tweet away from collapse. It is not time for anything but
rededication to make sure that the future holds only the election of a democrat in 2020.
1
"Trump's base loves him, unswervingly."
This is the madness, and the reality, Democrats face in 2020. Even if Trump is defeated in his bid for a second term, which would also carry the benefit of avoiding indictment, that madness will remain.
Mr. Cohen's assessment of Trump's 2020 playbook nails it. After all, it worked for him in 2016. And of course Netanyahu has been wildly successful with the same strategy. But Trump need not be as savvy as Netanyahu in order to cruise to a second term. While there may be a structural solidly right majority in Israel, our Electoral College system and Republican disenfranchisement of minority voters will ensure that they may rule indefinitely, without ever garnering a clear majority of the popular vote.
The fact is, not one of the myriad of very well qualified Democratic candidates who have so far announced has a decent chance of beating Trump. Let me repeat this again. No current Democratic candidate has a decent chance of winning a presidential election in 2020 against Trump, the most spectacularly unfit president our country has ever seen.
But Mr. Cohen uses a political fig leaf in describing the politics of both Netanyahu and Trump. These aren't "right wing" candidates -- rather, they have seen how successful appealing to racism, religious bigotry and xenophobia are, in garnering votes. The same is true here. The fact is, Trump voters aren't some racist fringe of perhaps ten percent of us. They are nearly half of our citizens. And there will be no amount of "messaging" any Democrat can do to win their votes. Trump voters are the quintessential identity voters -- they will do anything to ensure that whites remain in sole control in this country. It is really that simple.
2
"whatever indictments are looming"
Cohen is in denial. There is now no prospect of Trump being indicted. (Yes, I know about the New York investigations.) Democrats are going to have to oust him from office by beating him in flyover country.
While the left slept in America, the right wing quietly pushed farther to the right until we arrived at our present position, Trump as president and his continued drift farther to the right.
Now we are in dangerous territory at risk of losing the decency and fairness of the humanitarian left. Instead of a social democracy we are a borderline authoritarian government buoyed up and supported by an ignorant base of Trump voters.
None of this would could have happened without Trump as a long shot presidential candidate speaking to the worst instincts of the voters including greed, nationalism, and bigotry.
The way out of this decline in democracy is to recapture the decent element of democratic voters in America and give them a competent candidate in the 2020 election.
Trump will use fear to mobilize his voting base. His liberal opponent must expose the truth and dangerous authoritarianism of Trump to invigorate the more enlightened voters and return the country to reason!
16
@Michael Kittle
We are not a democracy at all and would not ever want to be, mr. france. We are a Republic. And the "humanitarian left" has always been a myth. Trump has already delivered what he promised....a strong economy. You see, unlike the "humanitarian left", most people don't want handouts; they wants jobs. Trump has already won.
1
The lesson for Democrats is that they need an agenda that appeals to a majority of he electorate. Their current House Diva, Alexndria Ocasio-Cortez has put forth the “Green New Deal” despite ominous warnings that its enactment will decimate the American economy. Their leading presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders has put forth “Medicare for All” despite warnings that its enactment will eliminate the private coverage enjoyed by 180 million Americans. The Democrat party as a whole disparages anyone daring to point out that there is a migrant crisis occurring on our border despite over 100,000 Central American migrants breaching our border last month and many more throughout the world ready to join in on the “asylum” scam.
Such an agenda may have supporters inside the Washington bubble and “liberal” enclaves along both coasts but it does not resonate with the electorate that will decide the 2020 election. Neither Roger Cohen or Democrats appear able to grasp that lesson.
17
Its exhausting to be a centrist today. The right wing is winning all over the world.
I am sorry to say Netanyahu’s victory means Trump will win next year just like Brexit refusing to go away for the British is good for Trump. Until Trump is forced to leave by term limits we are stuck with him for another 5 “ the US will never be the same again.
I agree, except that this is not really about Netanyahu. He is the symbol and symptom.
The substance is the people of Israel. This is what they have become, by a majority so strong that the left has disappeared into a center-right led by generals promising to be tough.
Netanyahu is a known quantity. He did not fool anyone. They just chose him.
2
Criticize Likud’s re-election strategy, but be mindful of Israel’s history—a history where right-wing Israeli governments, not left-wing, have been the only ones to successfully trade land for peace between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors. If Israel were to negotiate a final status agreements with Palestinian leadership (PLO and/Hamas), based on the UNSC Resolution 242 (1967), Likud will need to lean on its right-wing coalition partners to work with those on the left to garner support for the plan and restart the peace process.
And the media will be used as tool to spread their lies and misinformation when it should uphold the truth (not allow a platform for political propaganda. The reporting has not changes since the election of Trump so the result may not change.
The sad truth is that ignorant people, and religious fanatics are taking over, after years of what those who voted for George W. Bush thought they were getting, a moderate. Unfortunately, he had some of the most horrific foreign policy since the Vietnam War. It left millions dead, millions of refugees on the doorsteps of western Europe, and trillions of borrowed money spent in the middle east with nothing to show for it, at all. Barack Obama was voted in for a moderate position, until many found out that he, and his administration failed with not understanding the ethnic, religious, and long standing order in that region, too, and his rhetoric encouraged the overthrow of Mubarak, and Gadaffi, and further destabilized the area, plus in not leaving 10,000 troops in place, ISIS took over Iraq, and by the time we went back in death and destruction were rampant again, Assad stayed in place in Syria, and the war in Yemen was started. The reality is, the only person who should be elected by independents, would be someone who could admit all of the above mistakes, explain what our foreign policy should be in a world of authoritarian dictators, and explain how they would shore up the current social programs that are running out of money to pay all the bills, and full benefits, like Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans, Social Security. The right man or woman could pull off a win from both DT, and the left.
1
P.M Netanyahu has his "problems." But, in the end he is a politician and he is very good at it. Yet, to really understand why he was re-elected you have to accept the following.
1) Israelis feel more safe than before (from terrorism and war).
2) The economy is strong.
3) Diplomatically, he's had a lot of success.
4) He's willing to talk peace, but he's realistic about the outcome, and accepts (like most Israelis) that there is no one on the other side (HAMAS of the PA) really interested in ending the conflict.
5) The good news: Many Israeli Arabs have grown tired of their knesset members who focus more on the Palestinians (and hating Israel) than improving the lives of their constituents (keeping in mind that the standard of living/health of Israeli Arabs is already comparatively high compared to surrounding states)).
2
For once I completely agree with Mr. Cohen. The Messianic proposal of a "2 state solution" might sound terrific here, but Israelis know its time has long since passed. Given two opportunities democratically elected Palestinians leaders turned it down, started wars, and lost those wars. Thousands of people are dead or maimed. You don't get the same offer again.
The world has changed too much. Most importantly Israel can't negotiate with kleptocrats who incite terror and have no electoral mandate. They use our money to reward terror and then blame others for their problems.
In the meantime Israel has no choice but to pursue her national interests-security and prosperity. And Bibi has delivered on both. Israel's prosperity; start-ups like Waze, Nobel Prizes, winning Eurovision, and sending a rocket to the moon happened specifically because it does NOT negotiate. Negotiations bring terror and instability.
Those who don't live in Israel will justify Bibi's win and their Messianic belief in a 2 state solution by calling him a racist. The tactic of calling those you don't agree with names just stifles debate. It never leads to progress.
The article failed to mention there is an alternative to creeping occupation other than a 2 state solution. The March 26 edition of Ha'aretz details them. They could all be temporary should the Palestinians elect a government based on rule of law and due process.
But Israelis can't wait for the Messiah. You could Google them too.
2
I think we have moved to an age of majorities. United States, Israel and sometime this month another Nationalist in India will win elections. For some reason, suddenly vast majority of people have lost interest in secularism, tolerance and protection of minorities. But for the redeeming news about the image of a black hole taken with the help of international cooperation I see the decline of arts and later true sciences. I used the word true sciences as opposed eugenics which usually intolerant societies promote as science.
Trump's performance in the last election ,winning the primaries despite overwhelming odds and his subsequent victory is not to be underestimated ..again. Comparing Bibi's performance is not instructive . Both are focused on achieving their goals . That's the main similarity.
Trump will win ..again. Get used to it.
Comparing these elections is ludicrous, although yes there are probably some lessons for democrats in there somewhere. Israel has 8 million people, and a completely different set of political structures, factions, ethnic issues, etc. Broad stroke analysis can only go so far.
More importantly what Trump has on all the Democrats is his stance on illegal immigration. And the majority of the population both Democrat, ndependent and Republicans or with. As long as it Democrats keep talkin defunding funding ice and allowing illegal immigrant families into America they will lose like they did in 2016.
Excellent article.
1
Any pundit who predicts the winner of the presidency with such confidence automatically loses all credibility. None of us knows what will happen. See: 2016.
I am British so am somewhat removed from the immediacy of living under Trump or Bibi but given how small the world is now believe me, I can feel your pain. I fully agree with the general tone of the comments on this very good article. Moving away from specifics my feeling is that there is an underlying disquiet in people, barely apprehended, that something very bad is going to happen. A sort of animal instinct and it is a worldwide phenomenon. At such times people forget about democracy and look for strong leaders, which is an understandable but primitive reaction, which unfortunately can only make things worse in the long run. At times like this we should be looking out for each other and thinking about what is really important. OK, sermon over. As far as Bibi is concerned his victory rather reminds me of Cameron's in the British G.E. in 2015. A great campaign, the opposition obliterated, the guy was riding the crest of a wave, applauded by all and then...Brexit. By 2017 he was being vilified and being called the worst Prime Minister of all time, beating even Lord North, to whose stupefying incompetence you owe your independence ;-) I think Bibi is peaking and will have his Brexit moment - Hurled headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Sky With hideous ruin and combustion, down. You never know with politics of which a previous Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, replied when asked to define them 'Events, dear boy, events...'
The pundits were surprised when Trump won, and now with Netanyahu’s apparent victory. Maybe it is time to accept the fact that outside the hard core liberal fan base, people want their country protected, their values uncompromised, and their world views not insulted by patronizing liberals.
3
First. Israel is not the U.S. and to conflate Trump and Netanyahu makes no sense. Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 and the Dems took the House decisively in 2018. Doesn't mean the Dems can coast in 2020 but things are looking up.
Second, the real loser from this election is Israel. Neither voting block has any semblance of a Mid East plan other than having the biggest gun in the neighborhood. That will work in the short term but it never works in the long term. Ask the Crusaders how that plan worked (about 90 years).
Third, it is clear Israel will become more conservative and eventually it will start a creeping annexation of the West Bank and possibly restricting the rights of Israeli Arabs.
Fourth, Israel's policies and politics are increasingly in danger of becoming a partisan issue in the U.S. Partisanship is the single biggest threat to Israel.
My 2 cents
8
@C.G.
I think that having the biggest gun in the neighborhood is good not only for protecting Israel, but also for increasing Israel's value. Despite their hatred of Jews, some Arab countries are becoming friendly to Israel because they want Israel's big gun on their side in any confrontation with Iran.
Similarly, Israel's growing economy & technological prowess make Israel more valuable. Even countries that hate Jews are becoming friendlier because they want Israeli hi tech & Israeli hi tech weapons.
Israel's recent election is also a lesson for the entire U.S. A. and not just for our democratic party in 2020.
Trump is not Netanyahu and the U.S.A . is not Israel. There are vast differences.
Israel is growing more religious( Orthodox right is multiplying to keep up with the Arabs in Israel and West bank)
However the religious right in the U.S. is a detriment to Christianity in our country.
Asians and Hispanics are growing rapidly here . Both tend to vote Democrat.
Netanyahu is viewed as a protector from enemies close by while Trump is not respected by most Americans.
We are afraid of becoming overconfident in our country but the data favors the Democrats for 2020.
Israel's real lesson for Democrats in 2020 is that we must not tear each other down and should be positive in the upcoming campaigns. Tell us what you are for. We have the ability to decide without a bunch of nasty comments about each other.
A strong positive campaign should render a Democrat as our next president.
The United States is not finished yet. We have the good judgement to choose an excellent president.
Our country is still healthy and strong. The U.S. allows an amateur like me to disagree with respected opinion columnist, Roger Cohen.
I'm also allowed to vehemently disagree with our current president which is not allowed in many other countries.
So there remains much hope for our country no matter what just happened in Israel's election.
This is the REAL lesson for Democrats in 2020.
6
@M.W. Endres We are in a much more dangerous moment than you appear to apprehend. You sing the praises of our structural aspects here in the U.S., but you do not see how Trump is tearing at the very foundation of our society. You did not note that Netanyahu is under indictment for corruption, you did not note that Trump is in his own legal jeopardy, and you did not note that people seem oblivious! to the very real requirement that society's members have fealty to laws. Laws. Laws are what make society work.
2
Misguided views about the lot of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank led many non-Israelis to believe that Netanyahu was vulnerable heading into this week's election.
A simple tally of the support he was guaranteed from smaller parties would have showed that Netanyahu's reelection was inevitable.
Another reminder that wishful thinking doesn't trump political reality.
3
The connection between mr. t and Prime Minister Netanyahu are the use of fear which is far more real in Israel than in the United States. In addition, the US government is a representative, one person has one vote. Israel is a parliamentary system of multiparty representation. In addition, Israel has a very strong technology sector that provides some significant support to local Arab states which is a significant source of Israeli income. Further the Israelis are in many other ways significantly technically advanced over their neighbors. On the other hand, Israel is regularly bombarded by short range missiles that create a reign of terror from time to time. The net effect is that many Israelis are constantly reminded of the precarious nature of their personal danger. So far we have none of these issues.
Mr. t. is clearly trying to scare people with claims of criminal behavior by any number of groups who are in fact no real threat to the citizens of the United States. Democrats need to emphasize his criminal actions. The gerrymandering of voting districts in many states is a direct attack on our democracy. The deliberate loading of our criminal justice system with extreme conservatives is being used to destroy the freedom of actions of our citizenry. Worse yet is the clearly criminal behavior of mr. t. He is using his supporters to infringe on the civil liberties of many individuals which has made it difficult for southern refugees to get relief.
4
@Tlaw: Agree with most of what you write, but presidential elections in the USA are anything but representative. One person has one vote, yes, but a Californian vote counts for only a fraction of a Montanan vote. That’s why we have Trump as president, not Hillary Clinton.
16
Thank you Mr. Cohen for your article, I have to agree with you, this Netanyahu victory is a call to every democratic nation, it hints that freedom is in jeopardy, and that people seem to prefer "Strong Leaders" , this is very frightening.
As you state in this opinion page, " hate and fear are the strongest currency in politics now", the sad reality is that in uncertain times every politician, particularly those with autocratic tendencies, are masters of that manipulation.
Unfortunately now the whole Western World is under that very same spot of choosing either freedom or that Putin character that seems to be beloved by so many, even by Israelis of Russian origin.
12
@jmsegoiri - People in America that support Trump do so because they champion freedom and individual liberty. Anybody who thinks differently doesn't understand our motivation.
@brian nelson
Our current leader does not "champion freedom nor individual liberty". What he does champion is his own enrichment. His base, in reality, is in love with the clown and his circus. the thrill of spitting in someone's face and the chants of "lock 'em up". This is what America and it's politicians have become, clowns. There is no substance, no thought and no intelligence. Just look at the constant chaos within this Administration and it's ever changing "policies".
They will rule, until the unknown event upsets the entire circus. Then we can pick through the refuse to see if there is anything left of our Democracy.
@brian nelson
But do you champion the freedom and liberty of all American citizens?
A related question, does the freedom and liberty you champion include freedom and liberty from the oppressive chains of laws and responsibility?
Strong economy, good. If "fear" means acknowledging real problems and doing something about them, it can be good; and the Cherokees would probably admit that too much immigration, and immigration of the wrong people, can be real problems. Racism bad, but facing facts--including the collections of facts known as "statistics"--is not racism. Strongman, careful, but sometimes we need well-controlled strength. (Read C.S. Lewis's obscure essay "The Necessity of Chivalry.") Bloated bureaucracy--rule of the bureaucrats, as opposed to "democracy"=rule of the people--features millions of strongmen rather than one. (Read Lewis again on the advantages of a robber baron rather than the inquisition.) So the Bibi/Trump playbook has its virtues.
9
This just shows that many people may talk of Law and Order, but have nothing against being ruled by criminals, as long as the criminals are "from our people".
16
I had not heard the Ben-Gurion quote before, but it rings true. There is no solution to the problem. Except total separation. Israel should seize the moment with Trump in power to expel all Palestinians into Jordan. That is basically what Poland did with all its Germans after WW2 and it has enabled the two peoples to develop an uneasy friendship 50 years later. If the people had remained mingled, tensions would probably have never quieted down and the hatred kept fresh and inherited from one generation to the next.
Of course this may be politically impossible even with Trump's backing. It should have been done when Israel was founded.
8
@GS
There is a solution: true democracy, the country being a country of all its citizens. The two state solution seems to be have been made impossible by the continuing colonisation and land confiscation program.
7
@GS How about a "final solution" while you're at it? So much more effective than simple expulsion. The only problem is, both solutions require one to believe that the expelled have no human or political rights. I gather you're fine with that.
1
@GS: There is no reason to expel West Bank Palestinians. Many of them live peacefully with us. Hopefully, the rest will also someday.
I have a question that I hope someone can answer.
Seats in the Knesset are assigned on the basis of the percentage of votes won by parties. In the latest election it seems that only 20% of dispirited Arabs voted. Since this reduces the total amount of voters, is the percentage of votes of parties increased?
I am asking because if this numerical change takes places, are the small parties that struggle to achieve the minimum percentage in order to qualify for seats benefitted by the Arab abstention?
@Frank Casa: Small parties, other than Arab parties do benefit if fewer Arab Israelis vote -- unless these Arab Israelis voted for one of the bigger Israeli parties. Did you know that the ruling party, Likud, has a multi-year program in place to improve living standards (ane business) in Arab Israel areas?
@Frank Casa
Yes, that it what I read.
One big difference between Israel and the US is that Israel is facing active terrorists lobbing bombs into its heart on a routine basis. Netanyahu and Trump are experiencing notably different political and security circumstances. Mr. Cohen is drawing the parallels a little too boldly. There are more significant differences than he lets on. Just because Netanyahu won going away does not mean that Trump will, although Trump does seem to be in the driver's seat at the moment.
9
@Dave Oedel You're right about the significant differences. And tRump is in a lot more trouble in lots of places than most realize. Netanyahu didn't win "going away." An election victory by less than 10% is problematic for the victor on a daily basis.
2
@Dave Oedel
There will be fighting until there is peace. That's how wars work. But to be fair, count the bodies on both sides. Look at these statistics from an Israeli source. They are only since 2014.
https://www.btselem.org/statistics/fatalities/after-cast-lead/by-date-of-event
1
This is a forceful essay. I take the suggested parallel seriously, and yet I think there's another that may be closer to the 2020 elections in the United States: the idea of a second Brexit referendum.
The Brexiteers won, the first time. The true believers among them are highly conspicuous and vocal even now. But would Leave win a second referendum? Shame on the Brexiteers for fooling the majority once. Shame on the majority if they've stayed fooled.
Donald Trump won, by narrow margins in crucial states, as an unknown quantity. Now he's a known one. Enough -- I hope -- said.
27
@Longestaffe A U.S. emigrant to Canada after 'W' was re-elected said "I didn't give up on the U.S. after Bush's first election because he was an unknown quantity. But the 2nd time he was a known quantity and I can't forgive the U.S. for who they chose." There will be many more emigrants to Canada after Trump, tragically, is re-elected.
5
As usual, Roger Cohen picks the garnishments and is blind to the substance. But, to be honest, he is not alone in this.
Netanyahu didn't "nail it" because of his shrewd ability to play with the cards he was dealt. That is a skill that is important, but it's not the main cause for his endurance. The real reason is because the people of Israel refuse to give up on who they consider (no matter what others think) a once-in-a-lifetime leader. For them, it's like the Yankees dealing away Mariano Rivera.
Even more than that, the reason why Netanyahu resorts to rightist and religious partners is because the center-left took up the extremely powerful media's obsession in conducting a relentless witch hunt of Netanyahu's alleged misdeeds as the main focus of the campaign, ignoring the issues, to say nothing about ideology.
Ganz came close and can still change the rightist make up of the government if he will be willing to be as pragmatic as Netanyahu, shed the albatross of Yair Lapid and join the government.
The only reason why the people of the US will re-elect Trump is if the majority will believe he is good for the country. If the Democrats will come up with a really good candidate with a strong, resounding vision of what will cure the country's ills. Fighting Trump for the sake of fighting Trump won't work just like it didn't work in Israel.
8
@A. Grundman Trump doesn't need a majority of voters. He didn't have it in 2016. Structural flaws in the Constitution give Republicans a huge advantage. His government now is a minority government.
22
The problem that I see with your analysis as regards Trump is that he didn’t win the popular vote even the first time. He need not win the majority of votes the next time either and almost certainly won’t, but he may well win the election. Moreover, given that his followers seem to adore him and to believe everything he and Hannity say, it is unclear whether - in the event that he does lose the electoral college the next time - a peaceful transition is even possible.
14
@A. Grundman No one I know is fighting trump for being Trump. I never get why people think that. He's an unfit incompetent and compromised person. That's why people don't want him as President. It is hard to to unseat an incumbent. But not impossible. So we'll see. Many let their guards down in the last election which was a mistake. Hopefully, not made again.
Israel was a modest, slightly left leaning, slightly afraid for its safety, but reasonable and very legitimate nation, in my opinion. Until the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russians arrived in droves. That set the turn of the country onto the path into this harsh, right wing ideology driven new era. They tipped the balance.
11
Not so simple. The arrival of about a million Russian immigrants in the early 90s made a difference but they were part of the population that elected Rabin in1992, Ehud Barak in 1999. The terrorist bombings of the 90s and the Second Intifada had a greater impact
I disagree that the economy is strong. When the federal government was shut down & federal employees and contractors had to go to food banks after missing just one paycheck, that's a sign of severe weakness in the economy. Just because unemployment is low doesn't mean people are doing well. You could have everyone working 20 hours a month at Burger King for $8 and hour and that would give you a low unemployment rate but a horrible economy. That's close to what we have now with rampant underemployment, crushing student loan debt, and stagnant wages. The average hide the impact on the majority of Americans. You're missing too the fact that the tax reform bill did little/nothing for most Americans (and hurt many of us with the capping of the SALT deduction) and you've got an unhappy electorate.
30
It's always dubious to make broad pronouncements based on the results of elections won by razor-thin margins. It could easily have gone the other way, as it did it could have with Trump. That said, given the results. however narrow, both Israel and America now find themselves in dangerous territory.
12
@Guy Baehr It was not a "razor-thin margin". It was a decisive win for the right. 67–53.
5
Israel is not the U.S. Netanyahu is not Trump. The former is an excellent politician; the latter is an entertainer. Israel has actual existential security threats. The U.S. does not.
That said, there is one usually overlooked similarity: both are multi-ethnic societies. Though Israeli is essentially a religious state (as much due to the exigencies of parliamentary politics as the minimal to moderate religiosity of most of its citizens), it's people are mostly immigrants or first or second generation Israelies coming initially from Europe, then North Africa, then Middle Eastern Arab countries, then Iran and Ethiopia, and then from the Soviet Union/Russia, with a smattering from everywhere else. Each group came with it's own culture, values, political traditions, fears, and hopes.
The U.S. is, in that respect, similar. Though mostly Jewish and self-proclaimed as such, Israel has religious divisions pretty much as great as those in America.
Yes, Netanyahu's cult of personality is much like Trump's, but that's as far as it goes.
16
@Steve Fankuchen
"The U.S. does not have {actual existential security threats}."
So nothing actually happened on 9/11?
I appreciate the warning. Trump knows how to create hysteria and marshall public opinion. He scares people and creates false issues. Hordes of invading property strikes and terrified brown women and children for instance. I fear he'll provoke a war just before the election. There could be some trick, just as Bibi getting Trump to recognize the annexation of the Golan Heights. I think the Democrats need to keep the real issues, like climate change, and health care in the forefront. People must recognize climate change has caused flooding in the Midwest, hurricanes in the south and drought and fires in the west, and Trump is doing nothing to make it better. Educating people about the true issues shouldn't be too hard. People see them in their everyday lives, but we who care about our country, democracy, and our planet, need to be aware we are dealing with street smart demagogue, and plan accordingly.
26
@Lisa Educate people? Too many Americans want to watch football and drink beer. Their minds are made up, so don’t confuse them with the facts.
5
@Lisa You're dreaming the leftist dream of what concerns people. What concerns people is the massive unfairness of our current capitalist culture as to income and wealth. And even the Billionaires are getting the message. So, my advice is that unless the party of your choice focuses on the "left-behinds", you will lose, big. And 80% are left behind. Consider that fact and what it is doing to our society and our children's opportunities for their future. The first article is long but is by hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio and he nails it!! Worth your time to read, and everyone else who may read this post.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-how-capitalism-needs-reformed-parts-1-2-ray-dalio/
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/18/to-my-fellow-plutocrats-you-can-cure-trumpism-215347
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/22/the-new-elites-phoney-crusade-to-save-the-world-without-changing-anything
I always try to give Roger Cohen the benefit of the doubt. He earned it way back in the lead up to the Iran Deal. I remember his column in which he said: "Do the Iran Deal. Iran is a youthful hopeful society. Embrace the hope. Do not imprison it."
Today's column is a little thin...for lack of a better word.
Under Netanyahu, Israel's strategy seems to be to humiliate the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and get the US to humiliate Iran through sanctions and conditions for their removal. This strategy seems to work for Netanyahu personally but is it what Israel wants to be about in the long term?
Humiliation is a tremendous motivator. The status doesn't stay quo forever.
14
It is enough that it works for Netanyahu. It’s unlikely that he cares in the least what long term consequences it may have for Israel or peace in the region.
1
@Tom Callaghan
You are partially correct, The Arabs have been humiliated over and over in defeat by Israel. However Netanyahu's strategy is to prop up Hamas and prop up Fatah both of which are irreconcilable with each other, thus there can not be a "Palestine".. Abbas wants to strangle Gaza, Hamas wants to take over in the West Bank.
Mr. Cohen may be right.
Israel was created to be a beacon of knowledge and tolerance, but it has descended into a pit of appeals to bigotry and is on the verge of becoming an apartheid state that will be appropriately shunned by the world except for countries led by murderous dictators.
In the same way, the U.S. has become under Trump a country where right wing fanatics can kill while citing their affection for the president and religious tolerance is being swept away unless you are of the "right religion" and where our only allies will be those same dictators.
37
@Steve No. Israel was not created to be a beacon of anything. It was created because the Jews of Europe finally realized, after two millennia, that remaining in Europe, as unwanted and unwelcomed “guests” of the European Christians, was a really bad idea. So the survivors of Europe’s “largesse” had no better option.
1
Unfortunately, the Dems will lose on immigration and Health Care.
They certainly would seem to have the advantage on Health Care, but they are doing their best to fumble it. It is evident that any proposal that jeopardizes existing coverage for people covered by their employers is a non starter.
This country desperately needs a third political option. The crazies of the right have sunk the GOP, while the crazies of the left are about to sink the Dems.
23
Unfortunately, given the winner takes all political structure in the US, all that third parties achieve in US elections is to take votes from the party closest to their program and thus help the other party to win. This has happened several times over the years. Small parties can be effective where coalitions can form the government and choose the head of state such as is the case in most European countries.
6
@El Lucho
Crazies on the left want a healthcare system that exists in every other country in the world.
The crazies on the left or calling for decent wages versus low-wage subcontractor economy of uber. Thus they are calling for strong unions. just doesn't seem crazy to me. I am a business owner, in the past 20 years I have employed anywhere from 10 to 20 people. I am the quintessential small business owner that drives of this country, and I happen to be, barely, a millionaire. I am not bragging I'm just saying I am not some crazy left-wing wacko. I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes I just wish richer people did.
Why doesn't that make sense to me? Please explain
1
@Ralph Elliott
You are assuming that a third party alternative would remain very small.
If a credible alternative existed, I believe most people would desert the extremist alternatives.
Maybe pie on the sky for now, but I believe that most people in this country would vote for something closer to the center.
The fact is that most elections would swing differently if they were decided by international rather than national votes. The international community has different priorities for Israel’s election from Israelis. Israelis vote on security because they face the very real possibility of violent death; the Palestinians destroyed the Israeli left with the second intifada and with rockets from Gaza. But of course Americans and europeans don’t have that skin in the game, so they would vote differently. The same applied to the election of W in the US: no matter how the international community craved an alternative, there was simply disbelief that he was re-elected. And just look at Trump, or Brexit.
Too bad. Like him or not, prefer a more pacific alternative or not, Netanyahu has been a superb Israeli prime minister. The fact that people who don’t share the risks of Israelis would prefer otherwise doesn’t change that. Elections are national - and a lot can be learned from paying attention to national votes.
28
@Mike perfect analysis! As an Israeli, I often wonder why it is so hard for others to understand the basic truths that Mike has laid out above. We have tried alternatives over decades; they ended poorly. Trying the same thing again and again and expecting different results is insanity. Doing so because others not impacted by the results insist it must be done is sheer stupidity.
Ahk, this is so correct and speaks directly to my dread. The wave has not crested, not even yet. What times we live in. I can only hope they not one day be superseded by worse.
14
Netanyahu won again because Israel has basically become a right-wing country. This is not the case in the US, so we can hope Trump will be gone in 2020. Also, even Netanyahu may not last that long - he has destabilized the region, there will be no peace and he will eventually have to face the consequences.
30
Netanyahu did not destabilize the region- it's always been unstable and became more so after the Arab uprisings in 2011. The Sunni Shiite conflict is more destabilizing than the Israeli Palestinian one
if Israel is a right wing country, then so is the U.S. according to your logic. Both elections, but especially the Israeli one was very close.
Mr. Cohen: What DID happen is that Democrats took control
in Congress. There is no logic to the Trump administration:
and Democrats will upend Trump in 2020. It took all of us to
win back Congress, Democracy is not a "PLAYBOOK". The American Working Class is not a pawn in a power play.
43
@Debra Uhm not exactly. The Democrats took control of one HALF of congress. The other half is still controlled by Republicans as is the Executive branch. The Supreme Court has a Conservative majority that that is likely to expand soon. I’d say things look bleak for you.
14
@William, sadly, I agree. However, it just may BE bleak for the future of this nation and its citizens, which will include everyone, as we move backward instead of forward and with an even bigger deficit around the necks of our children.
2
@William I don't think they look bleak, but definitely a tough road ahead. Trump lost some support with the pointless long shutdown. As many people file their taxes and end up paying, that will have some effect. Democrats were asleep at the wheel in 2016. We are not now. Will it be enough to unseat the incumbent? Maybe, maybe not, but it won't be for lack of trying.
1
A fine analogy - but only in some sense.
Israel is never far from an existential war and this is a heavy burden on its populace and politics. Trump won in part by stoking fears that the USA is not far from various existential "wars" and won votes from many who are weighed down by such fears.
The difference is that people here have far more opportunity to see that these fears have been super-sized by a corrupt administration who has no capacity or even interest in meaningfully addressing them.
40
@Alan
I would say your last paragraph also applies to Israel. The Israelis through the Oslo agreements had the chance to make peace with the Palestinians on the basis of 2 states, which the Palestinians wanted, but Israel continued the colonisation project at the same time, and couldn't resist trying to humiliate the Palestinians. The "deal of all deals" that Ehud Barak offered really wasn't. But the growing hatred and racism against the Palestinians is a fire that is carefully stoked by the current corrupt administration. And it's a strategy that pays off for the right, who are not interested in peace unless it's peace through absolutely crushing and humiliating the Palestinians. You have only to look at what the recent right candidates have said. The "existential threat" to Israel is useful for motivating voters by playing on their fears.
4
@Alan
How is an "existential" war different from other wars? And what, for decades, have the Palestinians faced?
1
The economy may be doing well but a large number of Americans are not. A large number also lack healthcare. A Trump victory is not assured. But more important is the Democrats choosing a winnable candidate who sticks to the right issues. Immigration is one issue, but healthcare is a bigger issue as well as retirement.
50
@alan
Havenots don't vote, and when they do, so often they vote against their own best interests
1
@alan
"A large number also lack healthcare."
Huge swaths lack healthcare voluntarily, judging by the massive increase in uninsured once health insurance coverage was no longer mandatory. Over 180 million people get health insurance coverage through work and/or private insurance plans with a large majority liking their plans, which does not seem to be taken into account by so many of the "educated" "progressives" in the pundit class and among the ever-growing Democratic primary candidate field.
People forget that even when Yitzhak Rabin won in 1992 and signed the Oslo deal, more Israeli voted for right-wing parties than left-wing ones. Rabin only won because it was a parliamentary system and the Right was splintered, so Labor took the most votes. Rabin had to rely on Israeli Arab parties to stay in power. Why? Because a majority of Jewish parties didn't want the Oslo agreement and still don't. They want the "gray zone" too. This elections wasn't so much a referendum on Bibi as a referendum on settlements and West Bank annexation. On that, Israelis have spoken. Just as they did in 1992.
17
@A referendum on settlements
But the Palestinian Authority has spoken also, and IT wants to annex all of Israel.
That easily-verifiable fact throws a distinctly different light on the situation.
@A referendum on Settlements
Long live Rabin!
I think people are forgetting the 2018 election in which it was the rhetoric and statements of Trump that was rejected--especially among independents--the key factor. I don't see indies moving back to Trump if he keeps up his style--no matter his policies. Something like close to 40% of voters in 2020 will be younger folks, who overwhelmingly are against trump and came out more in 2018 and will for sure in 2020. Though still early, generic ballot thus far has dems ahead exactly in what happened on election day 2018--8.3 points
Politico/Morning Consult
4/5 - 4/7 1992 RV 45 36 Democrats +9
GU Politics/Battleground
3/31 - 4/4 1000 RV 42 37 Democrats +5
Politico/Morning Consult
3/29 - 4/1 1945 RV 42 40 Democrats +2
PPP (D)
3/27 - 3/28 846 RV 51 40 Democrats +11
Politico/Morning Consult
3/22 - 3/24 1994 RV 43 38 Democrats +5
Politico/Morning Consult
2/22 - 2/24 1994 RV 42 36 Democrats +6
Emerson
2/14 - 2/16 1000 RV 53 47 Democrats +6
Emerson
1/20 - 1/21 942 RV 52 48 Democrats +4
Politico/Morning Consult
1/18 - 1/22 1996 RV 43 38 Democrats +5
Emerson
14
@Abby The gains for Democrats in 2018 came primarily in states that Trump lost in 2016. The states he won remained solidly Republican or - like Indiana - became even more so.
8
@Williams
Or like Michigan, which saw a Democratic sweep of statewide offices and major gains in Congress.
10
@William
It’s not that simple. Some were flipped, some were lost. It’s complicated. Below find some maps of what happened below.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2018/nov/07/blue-wave-or-blue-ripple-a-visual-guide-to-the-democrats-gains
It was predominantly a structural victory, which has been in place since a million Russian Jews, then 20% of the population, flooded Israel after 1992. It's no coincidence that Bibi came into power 4 years later. Combine mass immigration and the rapid growth of the Orthodox and you have a similar immovable base as the US. Only by peeling off the outer layer of nationalists and religious fundamentals will that base be reduced. In short, without an appeal to religion, or an acknowledgement of paramount sovereignty/cohernt immigration policy, which none of the Dems are doing, it's unlikely they will sway anyone from the right with the economy doing well. To win the Senate back, they will need to do so even if everyone on the left shows up to vote. Ditto the Executive Branch.
18
@Ask Better Questions
Excellent analysis.
@Ask Better Questions It's a waste of time for American democrats to try to sway trumpolii's hapless "poorly educated." All they have to do is get their lazy behinds out to vote so that the gerrymandered districts have no chance. They have the majority already.
1
If the House Democrats can get their act together and show a united front, they will come across like the pro-Brexit Conservatives in the British Parliament. Bernie Sanders has to be able to show he's got strong backing, but we could end up with a lot of Democrats either not voting, or voting Independent instead, as happened in 2016.
4
Some decisive factor could be the Democrats running, say, the front runner?
Bernie.
12
@Corbin You need to read the news a tad more closely and objectively. Biden is the clear frontrunner at present.
@Corbin
So we don't need primaries?
From what we know, Netanyahu took a dead heat election with the Blue and White party and was able to convince right-wing to far right-wing parties to back him in forming a government. Trump has a pretty solid lock on some (but not all) so-called conservatives in the GOP. Where the 2020 election is going to matter are some of the same states that gave him roughly 80,000 more combined votes than Clinton (i.e., Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania).
Netanyahu is a corrupt, Machiavellian politician who seems more devoted to authoritarian capitalist power than the ideals of liberal democracy. However, he's a savvier political actor than Trump. Trump operates first on what's best for him and his money. His world view is framed by what he sees on 24-hour cable news. He's almost gleeful about the destruction of American institutions. He thinks he's doing a fantastic job as president, but his national poll numbers never get beyond the mid-40s.
In 2016, fear worked for him (i.e., "The American Dream...is dead" and "I alone can fix this."). Many in the midwest didn't like Trump's style but felt he was the only candidate in the race who could make their lives better economically. Has he? If we go by the stock market, unemployment numbers, and corporate profits, it's all wine and roses. However, if we look at wages, housing, consumer confidence, and anxiety over health care, well...the Democrats have an opportunity right there to focus on issues that voters really care about.
72
@Ted – Yes, as you say, "Trump operates first on what's best for him and his money". But he's successful in doing that because he knows how to constantly fire up his base, how to intimidate GOP politicians and how to dominate the daily news cycle. He may not be as knowledgeable as Netanyahu but he knows what he's doing and he's been getting away with it his whole life.
16
@ Ted
Re: "Trump operates first on what's best for him and his money."Really? How would you know that? Would you provide an example of a policy decision in which the country was worse off, but Trump's money better off, than before the decision was made?
8
@Oxford96
Really too easy. Just start with the new tax law which had big benefits for certain, BUT not all LLC's, and saved the favorite deductions for real estate developers.
23
The lesson from Netanyahu’s victory is that the unimaginable can happen. It’s a cautionary tale, but we have a different set of threats.
If Trump wins in 2020, the effects will be lasting for generations—a dangerous prospect.
If he loses and refuses to accept the fact, the threat is steeper and potentially more damaging. Unless he bows to the will of the majority and the rest of the GOP accepts his defeat, then we have a standoff unprecedented in our history. Institutions of government will be forced to choose sides in a partisan political environment that they were not designed to address. The rules will be scrambled beyond recognition. If the GOP has any majority in either house of Congress, the path to removal of a squatting president will be blocked.
The GOP have shown a generation of disregard to the will and the rights of the people through gerrymandering and voter suppression. They have blocked a lawful nomination to the Supreme Court out of partisan spite. Will they cede power just because the majority wills it?
72
@David Potenziani
"If he loses and refuses to accept the fact,"
That's really rich, coming from the party that launched the Resistance.
Cagey politicians from both the left (Obama) and the right (Trump) do what needs to be done to win elections. This includes painting their opponents in unflattering terms and framing their messages in response to sophisticated polling. In the same vein, Netanyahu clearly determined and delivered the messages his electorate needed to hear in order for him to win. In all instances, whether observing it coming from the left or the right, a centrist can only feel a cynical sense of despair that while elections are won, progress in advancing solutions to the real problems of the day persist unresolved and ignored.
12
@Bruce: Obama was centrist, not left, and he won the elections because he presented something to vote for, not because he painted his opponent John McCain in unflattering terms.
5
@Bruce Lumping Obama and Trump together as "cagey politicians" puts a major dent in your credibility.
1
Obama was from the "center", not the "left".
Democracy in any form is arduous, messy, and hard work. Thomas Jefferson didn't think the new government would last 200 years.
The serious problems each country face, while very different, do not have simple solutions. Each country carried such promise at its founding, and that is hard to surrender to demagoguery and partisanship.
I believe both countries will carry on, but will never be the same as the ones I grew up with.
23
@Citizen60
And Jefferson was correct. By 1989 we were 12-14 years into the end-game of the American Experiment. I see no real indication that people who haven't voted for 40+ years, or who were taught by their parents that it doesn't matter, have either the will or knowledge to bring it back.
15
The 2020 vote will be a turning point for this country. The impact of six more years of Trump style politics and policies will act as an anchor on this country's ability to move into the next century. It will put us in a position of undoing the damage done and put us in overdrive to make up for lost time. The consequences are dire for those who will age out in what is left of this century. Will our gift to the children and grandchildren of the 22nd century be the squandering of 8 precious years lost to shortsightedness, fear and greed?
37
I agree with many of the points made and would add, the more morally bankrupt a person is, the more likely they'll set fire to it all to obtain or stay in power. This game is best played by Republicans who'd gladly sell their souls for a tax cut. Democrats have little choice but to do something rarely done in politics - educate the electorate. Democrats are simple infinitely better governors of the public trust and need to make that the referendum. I mean really, just look at the types of appointments made by Republicans and approved by Republicans to this nations highest offices. Governance to a Republican is merely a game for the rich at the expense of the bottom 99%.
65
@David
No conservative I know would be able to believe your comment--"just look at the types of appointments made by Republicans and approved b Republicans to this nation's highest offices."
Are you really unaware of the known corruption by all the people appointed to those same high offices by Obama? Corruption defined the highest offices of his IRS, his Dept of State, his DOJ, his CIA and his FBI.
What Mr. Cohen and most commentators miss is this: republicans use this playbook in every election, because the party is one of bigotry and terrorism. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes when it doesn't work the party simply overthrows the will of voters (see 2000). It has been thus since the 1960s and the sooner Mr. Cohen, the commentariat, Democrats, and the general public awaken to it, the better.
45
An interesting analysis, but the Bibi/Trump parallel goes only so far. The US population is much larger and more varied than that of Israel, and its growth is in a different ethnic/political sector. There are too many differences to be sure.
34
@Mike Livingston
Netanyahu is awful in many of the same ways as Trump, but not mentally and emotionally unstable like Trump. Oh, and Netanyahu didn't have bone spurs.
1
Speaking as a Jew, I feel profoundly sad that the Israeli electorate has effectively handed control of the State of Israel to someone with contempt for democracy and human rights. The comparisons with Trump are invidious because although the United States has been seriously harmed by Trump's presidency, the country will survive. By contrast, Netanyahu's continued premiership puts Israel's very existence at risk. It is ironic that Netanyahu's supporters, fearful of the Palestinians, have chosen a leader that promised to annex the West Bank, thereby creating a Palestinian majority in Israel. (And now that this promise has been made, the rightists in Israel will insist that Netanyahu keep it) Eventually, this Palestinian majority will demand political representation in the Knesset. Israelis will then have to choose between a Jewish oligarchy with a Palestinian underclass or a multicultural democracy with a Jewish minority. If the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians were bleak before, they have become decidedly worse today.
68
@James, Toronto, CANADA
The US has been severly "harmed" by Trump's presidency? On the contrary, the country has been severely blessed by it.
5
@James, Toronto, CANADA
The settler movement in the West Bank is extremely violent, and has the support of the government. If there is outright annexation, there will be extreme violence. Given the uneven nature of the conflict, the Israelis will massacre thousands more Palestinians.
A one state solution in which Palestinians have equal rights would result in a democracy, a real democracy.
@Oxford96: Is that why the House went to the Democrats in 2018 and a majority of the voters wanted Hillary Clinton in 2016?
Can't really compare coalition politics in a parliamentary democracy with our own constitutional weirdness. So let's stop reading tea leaves and telling the Democrats what to do.
19
That Bibi could be elected yet again, is both depressing and surprising to me (alone evidently).
The Israeli treatment of average Palestinians is inhumane. And now the voices of the left will be even further diminished.
I don't understand how reactionary and ill-informed conservatism has become so prevalent in this world of ours. It is not a friend of the average citizen, yet they appear to lap it up.
The author is wrong on one point though...Trump does have a structural advantage in 2020. Incumbency and the power to mobilize the apparatus of the GOP from day one, no primary, all those things might result in a squeeker of a win. All that anyone will remember is that Trump was a two time president.
His base is tone deaf and far too emotional to care about facts, consequences, or policy actions....much like the man they love.
Dismal days for sure.
84
@Jack
The Israeli Arabs who are eligible to vote comprise 20% of all eligible voters.
That is a lot of people.
They also have free, hidden voting like everyone else.
They could have easily voted for Netanyahu's rivals and things would be different.
Though there were calls from the mosques and on the radio by their leaders to come out and defeat Bibi, they never showed up.
Beyond a tiny number the Arab vote was almost nothing; the worst turnout in recent memory.
So who is to blame when you refuse to vote and your vote would have totally changed things?
They knew it was close and they decided to pass.
28
@simon sez
While Palestinian Arabs have been serving in the Knesset, the Knesset has passed laws that:
- make Hebrew the only official language of the country
and
- say that Israel is a state of the its Jewish citizens only.
The Left had no real presence in opposition. The other "close" candidates such as Ganz are also right wing.
Where is the motivation to participate, when your participation remains mainly symbolic?
3
@simon sez
Or .... they figured the new boss would be the same as the old boss, and so they said "what's the use?"
2
So...immigration is our West Bank? If so, the difference is that a majority of Americans opposes Trump's immigration stance.
17
@Pecus - Correction: majority of Americans do not oppose Trump's immigration stance at all. In fact, only a MINORITY of Democrats oppose it. The rest simply oppose anything Trump. Don't forget that the part of wall that does exist was put up and funded by Democrats.
1
@Pecus
"the difference is that a majority of Americans opposes Trump's immigration stance."
It amazes me how your side has one version of the truth and mine has the other. Literally everything I hear and read is that the majority of Americans want a wall, and they want it for many reasons, but the cost of illegal immigration is surely one. To see the illegal's expense clock ticking along, go to OANN.com. $73 billion to date, this year alone, and it is only mid-April.
I wouldn’t be too sure of that.
1
Three things the Dems MUST do if they have any intention of winning:
1. Turn away from intersectionality and identity politics.
2. Openly admit and begin to deal with the border crisis.
3. Cast out the Far Left Progressives to win back the center.
If they can not do ALL of those things it will all but guarantee a Trump 2020 win.
54
@Mystery Lits
If the Democrats move to the centre, they'll hurt turn out among many of their most fervent constituencies. If they move left, they'll lose some centrist white voters. Since the Democrats get hurt either way, what is going to really matter is how people feel about Trump. If Trump can get 46% of the vote and increase turn out among Republicans he probably wins. If he can only get 43% of the vote or if Republicans are less enthused he loses. I think that's the same whether the Democrats run to the middle or run to the left.
18
@Mystery Lits
1. I don't disagree. Tearing apart people in the name of justice is no way to achieve justice.
2. Yes, but not like Republicans are doing. We need to face the impacts immigration is having on the gentrification and shortage of housing, congested traffic, and ill-equipped schools. We also need to discuss how the H1-B visa program impacts all of this, and we also need to start programs to resettle immigrants outside of our already congested cities.
3. No, not at all. We need the vision of the left as aspirational goals to work toward. We need to to know what kind of country the left would fashion and then we can better decide which vision we want to pursue.
7
@Mystery Lits
1. "Stop with the identity politics" is code for "stop talking about inequality and the suffering of some groups" so, no.
2. The border crisis is entirely manufactured, so, no.
3. Centrism on the part of Democrats has gotten nothing but a GOP that has moved so far right they would cast Nixon out as a socialist, so, no.
Join us in reality, we'll go from there.
23
No, Millions did not vote for him they voted against him. Like our country we have a very divided population on what direction we should proceed. No "winner" represents all the people, they were elected, usually by a few thousand difference.
Trump lost by 3 million and "won " by 70,000 . Go Figure.
41
@RichardHead
"Trump lost by 3 million and "won " by 70,000 ."
Wrong.
Trump won 304 - 227 (with 2 faithless electors).
That is how presidential elections are won or lost, and always has been. Clinton knew this going in (as did Trump, who ran a campaign almost exclusively targeting an Electoral College win and almost completely ignoring any sort of realistic popular vote victory attempt).
Clinton's mistake was assuming PA, OH, FL, and WS were all in the bag and deciding to instead to focus heavily on long shots in places like AZ and GA to try to run up the score even more and rub The Others' noses in it.
I read your column with apprehension because I'm afraid you are right. I read earlier this week that some progressives want to primary those who win in moderate districts. All elections are local except the presidential race and right now I don't see a candidate who can beat trump. Democrats, both progressive and moderate, need to put their differences aside and defeat Trump.
36
Illegal immigration is a big problem that will keep getting worse, thanks to climate change and reduced foreign aid. Democrats have to get tough on immigration policy, and tone down the identity politics.
Reach out to Republican voters with economic and healthcare policies that benefit the masses.
31
@jzu How about the GOP goes first on "toning down the identity politics"? Specifically, the white rural evangelical identity they have chosen to define as Truly American, the real targets of any persecution that might exist. "Stop playing the victim," they cry, "I'M the victim!"
1
@jzu if you lived here, you'd understand. the left (which is really conservative lite) has tried this approach over and over.
it doesn't work.
when you think of the stereotypes of the ugly american, you are thinking about modern american conservative...unapologetically sure of their way, ignorant of alternatives, dismissive of others.
you can not communicate with them on a policy basis...without becoming them. there is no dialogue.
1
@jzu
By “toning down the identity politics” I assume you mean pandering to the fears of older white citizens. Because only their identity matters to conservatives.
1
Could not agree more. People say Trump is becoming unhinged on immigration lately. He's not. He knows what he is doing and it is going to escalate from now until November 2020 unless, as noted, something happens. But the Mueller and impeachment threats are past and he may be stronger for having absorbed those blows and survived. And people are satisfied with the direction of the economy. It's a difficult situation for Democrats, and one hopes it leads to more sober choices regarding issues and candidates.
26
@Kurt S
Actually, people are most concerned about access to healthcare that won't bankrupt them. Trump is threatening to blow up the system completely. Maybe the Republicans need to make more sober choices.
The success of both Trump and Bibi shines a light on the two overriding political issues of our time:
1) Some people, when the faced with an existential threat, look to an authoritarian solution. It is an automatic reaction. The greater the perceived threat, the greater the reaction. We shouldn’t waste time hating them; we should address their fears.
2) In this country, the 2020 election will turn on moderate centrists, the swing voters. Many are fearful of Trump, and want to see him replaced. But identity politics, as it's now being practiced on the left, will only drive them away. We shouldn’t commit the folly of ignoring them; we should address their fears.
The way to address the fears of both groups is give identity politics a rest, and focus on "kitchen table" issues—a strategy that worked particularly well in 2018. What are those issues? They are what a family would normally discuss around their kitchen table, either among themselves, or when interviewed by a reporter or a candidate.
There are many such, but they are all mundane, centering on economic concerns: jobs and job security, health care, taxes, day care, and the education of their kids, to name a few. If the Democrats can focus on those, thus providing a responsible contrast to the buffoonery of Trump—they might, just might, have a chance of winning in 2020, despite a strong economy.
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@Ron Cohen
If you listen to the candidates, not the media filter, the conversation is 95% about kitchen-table issues. Unfortunately, they don't make for eyeball-gripping TV footage.
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@Ron Cohen
Your comment is simply not correct. In 2018 the winning Democrats ran the sorts of races that their own particular districts required. Some campaigns were more progressive, and some were more in line with your "kitchen table issues." You lost me when you started throwing around those Fox Republican propaganda terms like "identity politics" and "hate." Needless to say, we Democrats don't hate Mr. Trump. We simply believe he is unfit and inept. We believe society should be fair and equitable. What's not to like about that?
2
@Ron Cohen - "Identity politics" is a made up bogeyman created by the right. Whenever the left stands up for the human rights of ALL people, the right swings into action working to convince too many of my fellow white Americans that they are at best being forgotten about and overlooked by Democrats in favor of those blacks or gays or illegals or at worst being actively threatened by Democrats harnessing the power of the "identity" group to somehow hurt them. It's a myth, albeit a powerful one among white people, but why do so many Democrats buy into it and criticize their party instead of calling out Republicans for the liars they are?
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I am one of those, like others here who encourage everyone to VOTE...
However, it seems that encouragement is nothing more than a word to those who don't.
We need to understand how to get people to the polls, to motivate them to want to vote and to put infrastructure, special mini-buses dedicated to make neighborhood runs to/from polling locations and other mechanisms that makes it easy to get to the polls, create enthusiasm about voting and make voting an "event" that people will want to participate in.
I am guilty of saying "vote" too many times, but that alone just ain't gonna cut it...
How can we make voting an "event" that will create "viral" excitement across the country?
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Perhaps there are more similarities to W Bush's reelection after 9/11. People voted based on their fears of terrorist attacks only to find they paid the price in the end with the worst recession since the depression.
I hope America is better than this.
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@Joseph B We already elected him once...proving indeed that we are NOT better than this.
1
The top issue is the economy.
So, what can Democrats do to put more money in workers' pockets? The workers are already bummed about gov't rules on giveaways of food.
The next issue would be safety. What are Dems doing to keep parents from having to worry that their kids won'r get hurt at school or while out working?
Next up may be religion. Can dems do things to keep churches or groups from being punished by such wild-eyed radicals as the Yale Law School in news just from the past week or two?
3
@The Observer
Factually, the economy is not the top issue. Healthcare is. The Democrats are trying to increase access. The Rwpubkicans are trying to take it away. I'm sure cancer patients are deeply concerned about Yale Law School.
https://khn.org/news/health-care-tops-guns-economy-as-voters-top-issue/
1
Democrats have much to learn from Israel’s recent political history.
Due to Trump’s shamelessness, to the legacy of McConnell’s obstructionism, to political polarization and to the post-Citizens-United role of money in politics, U.S. democracy is devolving into competitive authoritarianism.
Democrats must fully acknowledge this and realize that the Trumpublicans play this game much better than they do.
Within a competitive authoritarian system:
~the trappings of democracy remain in place, but democratic norms and the rule of law are undermined; democratic institutions are severely weakened; (this dissolution of democracy is chiefly due to the sharply increased influence of money in politics, to incessant fear-mongering and to other demagogic practices);
~the major political parties compete for donor dollars and base support; when elected, empowered politicians make little effort to achieve democratic compromises; they instead attempt to impose the policies favored by donors and base on the citizenry as a whole;
~in unprecedented ways, government officials abuse state power in order to aid their allies and disadvantage their adversaries;
~the considered preferences of the majority of citizens are ignored and abuses of power go well beyond those associated with traditional patronage.
Competitive authoritarianism results in a cynical and demoralized electorate—and readily devolves into virtual one-party rule.
But of course that can’t happen here.
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@Andrew G. Bjelland, Sr.
The most recent examples of real authoritarianism were Barack Obama's playing with the immigration system and his raw emotion regarding policemen and the military.
His daring the bondholders from Chrysler & G.M. to sue for the way bankruptcies were always handled before - they would face his ''street justice'' also fits your idea of authoritarianism.
Was changing the PPACA fifty times on the fly also authoritarian?
@The Observer
Is the authoritarianism competitive? Is it undermining the rule of law? Is it demoralizing the electorate? Are Trump and McConnell much better at the competitive authoritarian game than the Democrats ever have been or likely will be?
1
Not that it would happen, but a Seth Moulton-Stacy Abrams ticket has the potential to devastate the Republican Party by not only winning the Presidency but taking 55 or more Senate seats. It will be the most vicious campaign in modern history. Trump fights for his and his families survival. Moulton bio immunizes himself from any Trump "branding" as weak, corrupt, low-energy, socialist, or any allusions to Venezuela. For to launch personal attacks on a former 4 combat tour Marine Platoon leader is to attack the core of many Trump voters. Indeed, it points the campaign of 2020 back to health care, fair tax policy and other economic issues where the democrats have decided advantages.
7
@George Cooper, I am personally impressed by Seth Moulton and his promise for the future. But where is his political experience? A country is bigger than a platoon.
5
@George Cooper - "For to launch personal attacks on a former 4 combat tour Marine Platoon leader is to attack the core of many Trump voters." Uh, have you forgotten John Kerry? They'll find something, no matter how twisted and distorted with which to attack him and Trump's base will lap it up.
1
McCain was a decorated veteran. Trump blew off Nam with his excuse about bone spurs. Trump's flagwaving supporters, many of them veterans, sided with Trump. I have no explanation for this.
1
Mr. Cohen this article comes too late. Trump did this in 2016. To many people he is the most honest, god-fearing, politician they've ever had the opportunity to vote for.
I told you Trump would win because he is old male which supposedly makes him wise, born again Christian, and a TV star whereas Hillary is not only woman she is old and everyone thinks old women have outlived their usefulness, unless they are good cooks. Thus Hillary baked cookies to prove her continued usefulness.
I really love that the Dems won the house back but they will lose it come the next election. They are going to be losing nearly all elections from now on. When it comes time that Trump will meet term limitation the Supreme Court will have long ago decided a term limit of some state unconstitutional and open the way for Trump to run again. If he dies, and I am sure he will because even Chairman Mao died, then Pense or the next guy will step up.
I am glad not to be living in the states any longer. If I were still there and I were a young female I would be looking for a any other country in the world that insured human rights and complete equality to women and move now to that country nearest my goal. If I were a person of darker toned skin or of almond shaped eyes, I would be searching harder. What's happening in America is not pretty and I believe it is going to be a lot uglier before very long. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
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Term limits are in the constitution so they can't be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. A state supreme court cannot override the federal constitution. Trump is out in 8 years no matter what if not sooner.
22
I feel the same way when I hear of the chaos in the British government and the inability of the EU to work out a solution.
Trump won't last but I'm not sure about the EU.
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@adrianne Thanks Adrianne. Apparently I have forgotten it is an amendment. I need to brush up on my history again.
Netanyahu’s victory is truly a dark day for democracy and it will take more than 20 or so Democrats campaigning around the edges to stem the slide toward autocracy. The clock is ticking.
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He won an open and free election.
@Lawrence Garvin,
Israel was ranked 30 out of 167 on The Economist's Democracy Index. That's better than Belgium, Greece, Cyprus & at least a dozen other European countries.
Israel has maintained democracy even though it's been under continual attack. By contrast, we Americans locked American citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps during world war 2 & we confiscated Joe DiMaggio's father's fishing boat because he was of Italian descent.
@Lawrence Garvin, have you been to Israel? If not for an extended time ( not two weeks in a fancy hotel) to really get to know the country you do not know what you are talking about. Netanyahu is the best man for the job at this point in time. PM of Israel is the most difficult job on the planet.
Simply put: He nailed it, like Trump will, even if by 1 vote. For them it is a zero/sum game, and that is the message Cohen wants us and the Dems to take home.
11
@DBR - Trump can only do that if the number of gullible idiots who fall for his con and the racists in his base allow outnumber the rest of us. That worked last time because people either didn't bother to vote, or didn't vote for Clinton, or were prevented from voting by Republican states. Will that happen again? I hope not, but it could if enough Democrats are once again fanatical enough to fall on their swords for Bernie or some other zealot rather than voting for whoever gets the nomination. Yes, that could happen again.
1
There is one thing the editorial did not take into account: the problems created by these "strongmen" on the right. With Netanyahu in its helm, Israel has essentially been converted to an apartheid state. At the end, this would lead to the extinction of Israel. What would likely emerge is a secular Palestinian democracy with both Israelis and Arabs having equal rights and equal voting strengths. Netanyahu may have destroyed the 2-state solutions, but along with it, it has likely destroyed the state of Israel. And all of that, just in order to hold on to power.
The same can be said for a 2nd term by Trump. Sure, Trump can win by playing the immigration/nascent racism issue. In addition, he can pursue nationalist protectionist and isolationist policies with thunderous applause. At the end, all this would likely achieve a depression and the fraying of America's alliances and broad influence. In trying to stop the emergence of China with protectionist measure, the US would essentially cede the western Pacific/Indian Ocean area to China and the emergent India. Trump may win the election (and he would likely win, with the current slate of Democratic challengers), but the problems would only begin. An American Empire in the modern multipolar world can only work by "gentle persuasion" not by unsophisticated unilateral moves. At the end, Trump may be presiding over a crumbling edifice.
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@adretzios, There are more than 50 Muslim-majority nations. I challenge you to name just one of these that is a secular democracy with Muslims and non-Muslims having equal rights and equal voting strengths.
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Every single fact in this comment is false: Israel is not an apartheid state; a fifth of Israelis are non-Jewish and they have the same rights as everybody else. There is no reason to believe annexation of settlements would lead to Israel's extinction anymore than annexation of the Golan did. The idea of a secular Palestinian democracy is preposterous; there are virtually no secular states or democracies in the Middle East except Israel.
Trump is not winning by playing the immigration issue; he is botching the immigration issue and winning on the booming economy. America's economic position is the strongest on the globe and no depression is likely. America has no alliances; just mooches who do nothing for us and throw a nutty if we suggest pruning back their free stuff. Trump has made a series of shrewd calls on China; he has China begging for quarter and he is aware that China will enter a population distribution death spiral within a decade.
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@adretzios, WRONG, Israel will NEVER be an apartheid state. It’s impossible. Within its state it’s a democracy. All peoples have full rights to rise to whatever heights they put their minds to. It is the PLO & HAMAS that have ruined everything for their people. Put the blame where it belongs.
If the economy is still doing well in 2020, that would certainly increase Trump’s chances of re-election.
But there are plenty of indicators suggesting the economy will be slowing, perhaps significantly.
The bigger worry is the ability to manipulate people with fear and hate. This is the secret “ingredient” in Trump’s brand of “genius,” his uncanny ability to sniff out the collective fears lurking just beneath conscious awareness and then manipulate enough of the electorate to maintain power.
The chaos factor also works to his advantage. Although at first glance it seems counterintuitive, when chaos reigns, nervous voters look for a strong man who can reassure them that everything is actually ok.
This is the kind of thing that inspires “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Because after all, he creates all of the chaos, and the voters who watch Trump work this “magic” assume that his behavior is so transparently absurd that it’s equally obvious to everyone.
Then, when his base, fearful of the impending chaos created by Trump, cleave ever more closely to Trump “I alone can fix it,” it reduces the more perceptive voters to a state of incoherence.
It’s beyond comprehension to many people.
Job number one is to clearly grasp the psychological dynamics in play.
It is essential to see the PROCESS at work. This means ignoring the CONTENT of what he’s saying, and using psychology to derail his process.
Reason is not your friend right now. Maybe someday.
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Netanyahu was greatly assisted by Hamas. The terror group's commitment to Israel's destruction and attacks played a huge role in Netanyahu's re-election. Mr. Cohen makes no mention of this hard to dispute influence on Israeli politics. I imagine if Mexico starts launching rockets over the border at U.S citizenry Trump will likewise be re-elected. Time will tell
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I wonder if he was also assisted by Russian disinformation, meddling. Maybe even personal advice.
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@Mike Brown One can always spread the blame but the Palestinians have been living under Israeli rule for over half a century. There have been long periods when they were peaceful, and the Israelis took their land, bit by bit, saying that the Palestinians were giving it up voluntarily. Then there have been times when the Palestinians became frustrated and rebelled, and the Israelis crushed them with bombs, saying they were terrorists. Pretty much like what happened to the Native Americans.
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I did not vote for Mr. Trump in 2016, but I will vote for him in 2020. He has delivered in all his promises.
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@Sara
Right. So, where is that "big, beautiful wall" that Mexico was going to pay for? And the wonderful health care that will be less expensive and cover all Americans includng those with pre-existing conditions, and where are all those coal and manufacturing jobs that he promised would return? And, has he won the trade wars he started?
Which promises are you thinking of?
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@Sara So, you didn't vote for him in 2016 because you didn't like his promises? But now that he has kept those promises you didn't like you plan to vote for him?
Or, you didn't like the man but you liked his promises, so you effectively chose to vote for someone making none of his promises?
I'm confused by your position.
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@Sara Sorry, but I did not get a tax cut or new infrastructure. Or a better health care program than Obamacare. Or anything else Trump promised.
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I still recall one of Frank Rich's farewell articles before he left the NYT some years back. He predicted with certainty that America would eventually succumb to an autocratic demagogue who would install a fascist type dictatorship in America. Maybe Trump, or someone like him, was inevitable. How else do you explain how two or our most important fBill of Rights freedoms have resulted in billionaires buying elections and kids being almost routinely killed by gunmen in their classrooms. The most recent Democracy Index has seen America plummet to only the 28th most open and democratic society. Ireland, where my folks came from, has jumped into 6th place just behind places like Norway and Iceland. My folks came here to escape oppression and deprivation. Maybe it's time for me to make a return trip.
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@Bob Burke It's amazing how many Americans are thinking about returning to the country of their origin if it would have them.
2
The most dependable path to winning elections is to sow disinformation, create scapegoats, cultivate fear, and appeal to the base emotions of the lowest common denominator. Not always, but more often than not.
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The problem here is that Trump has an unshakable 35% core of supporters, basically a non-ideological personality cult, that has high turnout rate and is strategically distributed across the country for maximum Electoral College impact.
On the other side, the 65% non-Trump group is radically diverse with a wide range of views from the far left to the center-right.
There is simply no one candidate or set of ideas capable of uniting this disparate group. Inevitably all of the various anti-Trump groups will end up fighting each other, while Trump and his loyal and homogeneous supporters enjoy the spectacle from the sidelines.
Add to this mix a news industry obsessed, both positively and negatively, with Trump and all the money and ratings he brings in and it is difficult to see how Trump can lose.
In other words, It Can Happen Here.
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@John M You are right on the bullseye correct. Even though I'm frightened almost to wits end, I can't see a way out. Maybe the (or at least my) problem is the we of the 65% see multiple possibilities and select from among them and the 35% think that they see a revealed Truth. Maybe 60 years ago, heaping praise on a family with none children, a neighbor said, "They are so blessed, there isn't a heretic among them." That's our intractable 35%. I hope that M/M R. Zeyen (below) is right.
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@John M
If the electorate is "permitted" to have a real primary, with the various candidates debating onstage, they will sort themselves out and the strongest will win. The problem with this picture is 1. The debates are moderated, often, by "gotcha" celebrity interviewers who ask puffball and foolish questions and 2. The media has its finger on the scales for its favorite candidate of the week. Bring back the League of Women Voters to run the debates and the Fairness Doctrine to the corporate media and we might have a shot. Absent these two wishes, it behooves us all to pay close attention and not be fooled or lulled by puffball candidates.
3
The Democrats will run on issues like Health Care, Voting Rights, Infrastructure and the "new" economy. Trump will be secondary - a side and snide show. Democrats won't be seeking votes from his base but will not reject rural areas. This is quite a different Democratic Party and base from just a decade ago. If given equal media coverage the Democratic candidate will do very, very well. Trump will again try to dominate the news cycle and if that happens like it did in 2016 the nation will be ill served if the media falls for that trick.
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@R. Zeyen
The media will certainly fall for that trick. Show me one--ONE--news outlet that refuses to talk about Trump. The media can't, nor should they, ignore him. I just wish they would report what he does, not what he says. That's where the flame wars start.
I certainly hope the Democrat candidate runs the type of campaign you describe, and I hope even more it succeeds. But I think our country and the world are in for a long spell of authoritarian and right-wing rule.
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@R. Zeyen
Let's see what the line in Vegas turns out to be. Because you can't trust the polls, as 2016 demonstrated.
I think Trump can, and I'll say it, will, win. It'll recall the emotion we all felt once before -- hint: it's the name of your city -- only this time it will hit us even harder.
1
There are stark differences between the US and Israel. Although, we've had our share of causing horrors to others, we neither occupy another population with an ever encroaching agenda on what little they still have nor are we a declared racist nation that favors a certain denomination above all others. Moreover, the opposition is not Trump light, as was the case with Gantz, rather it's represented by the most vibrant and open minded candidates the country has probably ever seen. I am not saying that we shouldn't take the threat of another Trump term seriously, just that comparing us to Israel as it stands now is a stretch if not an insult.
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Mexicans with long memories may beg to differ. We should never forget that the entire southwestern US used to be northern Mexico, and that Mexican school atlases continued to depict Texas et al as Mexican territory within living memory.
1
Well, didn’t we do something like taking Native lands and African slave’s labor? Do we not have many who wish to beli e we are or should be a Christian nation? Stand back and look?
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@esthermiriam @Richard Jansen, I am definitely not defending anything the US has done or still doing, whether that be to Native Americans, Mexicans, or, more recently, to Iraqis - and many others; I am just starting from what is now considered the legal borders of a country according to international law, including those of Israel.
With reference to the election as a referendum on Netanyahu, he didn't "nail it". Benny Gantz was a serious political threat, and Likud and the new Blue and White party won an equal number of seats in the Knesset. There are enough seats from conservative and right wing parties to ensure that Netanyahu will form the next governing coalition. It must be so frustrating to the progressive and left-leaning Israelis that their political views and hopes for Israel will be marginalized. War and suffering will end only when people stop becoming enamored with leaders who appeal to nationalist, tribalist and xenophobic tendencies, and support instead leaders who are prepared for the hard work of true diplomacy and well-conceived policies. Israel is a great country with great ideals. She deserves better leadership.
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I'm not sure if this is about the 2019 in Israel or the 2020 election here, and it's important to know which it is, because they're very different situations in every way. A two-party Presidential election carried on in 50 different jurisdictions is one thing and a scrutin de liste, proportional representation Parliamentary election is a very different thing.
Yet there is an eerie similarity between the two, and the similarity is that each is strongly structured by the absence of what had been a major factor. In Israel, the Left, discredited by the Second Initifada and the Gaza fiasco, has been obliterated. In the US, the Democrats are going to provide another test of the proposition that you can't beat something, not even something as low as Trump, with nothing, or with one of 18 are-you-kidding lightweights for that matter.
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One important distinction is that far right figures like Trump and Netanyahu consider a Pyrrhic victory to be a victory.
20
Funny your quote from the Russian immigrant. I worked in an IT department which was majority Russian. (The managers were Russian and HR had no problem with them surrounding themselves with their friends.) In every US election, they reflexively went with the supposed "strongman". I believe their only quarrel with Putin as president would have been an uncertainty about their money - would he let them keep it? If he did, they would have tolerated any other sort of totalitarian tendency.
26
Well said.
My biggest fear for the 2020 elections is not that Trump will win, but that the Democratic candidate will lose.
16
The problem with the left wing everywhere is that they just talk to each and start believing the fairy tales they spin. Then they are suddenly bewildered that there are people that don't agree with them.
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@Rahul
And when their utopian world fails to materialize, it's always the fault of others. If any responsibility is assumed it's usually along the lines of "More cowbell."
6
The problem is propaganda and hate sells easier than diplomacy. Policy discussion akin to senator Warren is boring instead of engagingly part of society. And the left side isn’t as black and white in ideological aspects as they represent a diverse group compared to the white nationalists.
In other words there really isn’t a radical left in the US. How many mass shootings or domestic terrorists were left leaning democrats angry at the world for not being their black and white version? They don’t pander to that base which seems to yield spades in political power unfortunately.
Liberty is the concept of the greatest amount of freedom with respect to other people’s freedoms. It is basically respect. When respect is lost liberty fails and you tend towards authoritarian and anarchy.
A snow flake will respect your liberty far better than the authoritarian who by their nature undermines liberty and justice for all.
Is a strong party that isn’t diverse and pushing a nationalist narrative healthy for liberty? Liberty doesn’t actually require a dictator to combat a dictator. It needs an informed people who are weak as individuals but listen and work together to accomplish goals. We are strong together.
Liberty and justice for all is weak. It’s very easy to abuse and destroy. It’s amazing our society lasted as long as it did.
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@Rahul ditto with you on the right
Netanyahu's win is a convincing demonstration but only of the Machiavellian principle that "politics have no relation to morals". In all other respects, the world is a poorer place when a man with abysmal character flaws is allowed by his people to triumph. No one has really won. Everyone has become more diminished.
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It's disappointing that Benjamin Netanyahu won, but it's just a reminder to all decent Americans that we need to fight hard and register and vote in record numbers to get the result we want and to not be disappointed in 2020 as were in 2016.
But something else incredible also just happened in another part of the world; New Zealand's passed a law banning most semiautomatic weapons.
Reasonable representative democracy is still possible.
Political leaders can still do the right and decent thing in the world, especially when the cancer of corruption is removed.
Let's fight for and support better leadership.
The other side has fear and loathing; we have reason and better angels and greater numbers......if we can just get them to the polls.
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@Socrates
They don't have a Second Amendment to the Bill of RIghts to the American Constitution in New Zealand, right?
Trust me, nobody here is giving up their guns any time soon when we look south. Quibble about the types, if you must.
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@Socrates
The US, New Zealand and Israel are very very different places.
1
@Socrates Quite frankly, the Democratic party always wants to run on something new and fresh.... now it's national healthcare, childcare, and free college tuition. Trump is playing on SAFETY and JOBS, both of which are much more basic needs and impact every single American. What is the Democratic answer to the enormous immigration, both legal and not, that has clearly depressed wages for native born Americans? What are you doing about personal SAFETY? And how about someone come out and suggest pulling back significantly on our military???
There is absolutely no comparison between a small country of 4-5 million people, surrounded by actual and possible enemies, infertile rocky soil, a large indigenous population with no civil rights, an emerging theocracy, dependent on a great power for billions in aid, and with proprtional representation leading to very small parties wielding power far greater than their voters to the USA.
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@Edward B. Blau
No comparison except the leaders exhibit the same personality traits, traits that an intractable base loves.
Your "it can't happen here" attitude is the thing we should fear most.
14
@DD
"a large indigenous population with no civil rights..."
False. 1.5 million Arab Israeli citizens have full voting rights, seats in the Knesset, and a Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court.
1
@Edward B. Blau
How is life for Israel’s Arab minority? Khaled Abu Toameh, the Arab journalist who reports for the Jerusalem Post, U.S. News & World Report and NBC News, talking about life for Arab Israelis: "Israel is a wonderful place to live ... a free and open country.”
Arab women in Israel live longer than Arab women in any Arab country.
Arab babies in Israel have lower infant mortality than Arab babies in any Arab country.
Hadassah University Medical Center in Israel established a registry for Arab donors of bone marrow and stem cells to facilitate life-saving transplants. The registry at Hadassah Hospital is the only one in the world for Arabs and will no doubt save the lives not only of Arab Israelis but also of some citizens of Arab countries, not a single one of which has a registry of its own.
Yes, the message for corporate Democrats is crystal clear: Republican Lite ain't gonna cut it. Unfortunately, I fear our misleadership class would rather hold onto their donors than win power -- then they might have to deliver something.
14
Didn't Rome have a "structural majority" before it fell on its face?
15
@David Henry I share your hope!
In the face of Trump, all the Democrats have to date is a circular firing squad that's getting larger by the week. It is terrifying.
Trump is a unique problem. Somehow, the Democrats need to find a unique solution. All we see and hear is the left wing fighting the moderates.
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@bnyc
Seems it might be time to change your media/news source.
Don't believe the hype.
1
Corporate Dems don't want to win, they receive donations whether they win or lose. They are PAID TO LOSE. And we all lose with them.
Biden will receive the blessings of the establishment and go on to doing his job of losing the election. If the Democratic party wanted to win they would not be at war with its future base, forcing a political calculus that is WELL past its expiration date down our throats.
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@NonyoBizness no one is forcing anyone on you. Read up on the candidates and pick your favorite. Volunteer, donate, and help others register to vote. When the primaries are over, fall in line , and work hard so we win. Then guess what, write, volunteer, and do what you can to get the winner to adopt the policies you want. Being a citizen is a lot more than just being an online consumer of the brand that most satisfies you.
1
@NonyoBizness I think I remember that Trump was elected thanks to the College Electoral, not really by a majority of Americains. Was he? Many of the moderates who were tired of the Clintons and voted for himhave since changed their mind. Netanyu doesn't sound like a lunatic as our president does. Israeli voters may not agree with him, but I believe they don't think they believed he could not compete with P.T. Barnum.
@NonyoBizness You go right on calling moderate democrats "corporate." Tens of millions of American work for large corporations, are satisfied with their health care, and they are not stupid. If the Democrats lose their votes, they lose, period. With your philosophy Trump doesn't need to run against the actual Democrat candidate, he can just run against AOC and Sanders.
1
With all due respect Mr. Cohen, this Fake President of ours made the recent midterm Congressional elections all about him and there ensued an historic disaster for House Republicans. Trump’s attempts to make “immigration” a centerpiece of his platform in 2020, through habitual lies, race-baiting, scare tactics, and xenophobia, may cause him to retain his minority base, but will further drain essential votes from appalled women, independents, establishment Republicans, and younger Americans. This losing issue will be exacerbated by Trump’s continued incompetency and undeliverables on crucial health care reforms. If Netanyahu is indicted and successfully convicted, even if not immediately imprisoned, his air of invulnerability will surely dissipate. Trump could very likely follow in his courthouse footsteps as existing federal investigations proceed to investigate a lengthy corrupt and tawdry past.
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@John Grillo Trump can and will cripple and federal investigations. He controls the federal government. The only hope, and it is a slim one, is investigations by states such as New York.
2
The comparisons between Trump and Netanyahu are limited. So are the external or internal problems. The U.S. has a broken immigration process and a leaky border, Israel has Hezbollah with its arsenal of deadly, precise rockets, Syria which is being used by Iran to build bases for yet another location of attack, and of course Hamas, which despite a sea and land blockade is still able to receive sophisticated weaponry, mostly Russian made, being smuggled in thru Egypt, sent by Iran (or, Russia?) If our border problems were compounded by what Israel faces on three sides, Americans would be reliving the fear of the Cuban missile threats of the earlier 1960s. Remember that?
Israel's cost of living is too high relative to average income, America is struggling with a needed overhaul of providing affordable healthcare for all, and a rise in minimal wage, too.
Trump hasn't the experiential background of diplomacy, security/intelligence, or general knowledge base as compared to Netanyahu. On the other hand, don't underestimate Trump's business savvy, which has improved job growth.
Annexing the west bank? More likely to annex the major settlement blocs. Beyond those, annexations is a physical impediment to a future Palestinian state. But the biggest impediment is Palestinian disbelief, or refusal, in two side by side states (a huge challenge even if both parties are gung ho on it), and/or the absence of leaders who are willing to go that route.
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@Rosalie Lieberman delusional. Israel has nukes and the best defense that American taxpayer dollars can buy. Quit the martydom routine, it isn't convincing on behalf of a racist and corrupt regime.
1
"Netanyahu is savvier than Trump, but they share a shrewd assessment of how to control and manipulate the politics of spectacle, as well as a fierce determination to stay out of jail. They campaign ugly."
So the salvation of American democracy depends on two factors: Trump's lack of strategic intelligence and and the hope of economic collapse. Maybe.
Another factor is that Israel's inability to either integrate or make peace with its Palestinian population constitutes an existential threat, while our border crisis is at worst a localized problem. Can Trump inflame the border crisis enough to expand his political base? If not, the numbers are against him.
One hopes the debate over the direction of the Democratic Party, as manifested in a wide open presidential primary, will be lively but not become fratricidal. All players understand that the unspoken rule of the game will be not to hand the election to Trump, so irreparable breaches are unlikely and at the end there will be a show of unity.
And if it remains focused on ideas, principles and programs, a healthy and far-reaching debate can provide a national service -- and some conservatives will see that. It could come down to a stark choice between lockstep authoritarianism and a messy participant democracy. If democracy can explore its differences without getting mired in hateful personal wrangling, it could be a positive, useful and successful exercise. The key is to not let Trump set the agenda and dictate the tone.
17
@woofer
I hope I’m wrong, but it sure feels to me that the Democrats are allowing the Republicans and Trump to define this country’s agenda. The Democrats are so busy with their circular firing squad, that they’re too busy to figure out their own narrative. The Reeps have defined the Green New Deal...and have done so because the Democrats haven’t. Same thing with health care.
I am heartsick.....and terrified.
7
@woofer Really? The lack of unity after the 2016 primaries destroyed Hillary. Too many "Bernie bros" didn't vote for her. If Bernie isn't the candidate in 2020 the same thing could happen. If he is, repulsion by moderate democrats to his extremism could have the same effect.
1
Netanyahu is a problem, there is no doubt about that. But he did win the election, and without Russian interference. As for the two state solution, the Arabs have all the freedom they need to live a good life as long as they don't pose a threat to Israel. OR they can go live in Jordan or Lebanon, etc. Those that are still unhappy have questionable motives, including but not limited to religious issues- which will never be resolved. Whatever land they have is a mess and a disaster of mismanagement. Let Israel alone, or if they really want to trap Netanyahu in a box from which there is no escape, they can sign a peace treaty and lay down their arms. Then they can get a "left wing" prime minister who is not focused on ironclad security and will make further concessions to disgruntled Arabs once and for all. Oh, not in a thousand years you say? Uh, that is the heart of the "problem". And so we turn yet another page and hope for as little bloodletting as possible for the foreseeable future. Amen.
14
Just fyi, Russians have been detected and confirmed to be meddling in elections (by spreading misinformation) all over the world. They do it to shift circumstances to be most favorable to their own position.
1
@flyinointment Whatever makes you think there was o Russian interference? They are everywhere, bolstering the right-wing leaders who will most help Putin.
1
If Trump can do with Mexicans, what Netanyahu has doen with Palestinians, then he may have a chance. That is the playbook Trump is using, including building a wall. Israel built a wall around the settlements in the West Bank. Trump is doing something similar, we even have "gray zones", where the wall is s couple miles from the actual US - Mexican border. A place where Us citizens live cut off from the US, as well as Mexico; a try no man's land.
This is where the similarity ends. In Israel, religion dominates all aspects of life. In the US; it doesn't. The Us is also not surrounded by enemies which will like to destroy the country; Israel is. The US has a far more di verse population than Israel. The US has many more ethnic and cultural groups, than Israel.
So, comparing Israel and the Us, is comparing apples and oranges.
So, in a few weeks, Australia votes in a national election. There are far more similarities with the US and Australia. In a recent election, New South Wales voted to keep the Liberal-Nationalist (Conservative Coalition) coalition in place; just barely. On the national level, it seems that Labor (what we call liberals) may actually take back parliament.
Democrats should be watching this election very closely. The same tactics that Netanyahu used, and Trump si using, is being used down there. The election can be as early as 18 May. A date will be forthcoming in the next week or so.
12
@Nick Metrowsky
you are comparing vastly different countries with different politics.
Politicians especially on the left seem to forget that leaders are judged based on how the country is fairing under their watch. On this aspect Israel has little to complain about Netanyahu. True there is no peace with the Palestinians, but the country is booming and peace was not achieved under other more left leaning governments either. There are several breakthroughs in better relations with Arab countries as well as with world powers.
Regarding the reign of Trump besides making a fool of America vis-à-vis our allies there is little to complain. At least nothing visible happened yet. This is also subjective, some people could care less what others are thinking. All is fake news anyway.
He is probably going to win in 2020.
12
@Gabi . " leaders are judged based on how the country is fairing under their watch. "
narrow self interest is not the key to future success.
3
@Gabi
This is a serious question: you say that "the country is booming and peace was not achieved under other more left leaning governments either" but really, without the US's generous decades-long donations of money, arms, and other support, would Israel be 'booming'?
I suggest not, and that the country would have had to deal with its treatment of Palestinians honestly long ago because most of the world doesn't buy into the religious mandate that the evangelicals have put their so-called faith into.
5
@Gabi
You say "True there is no peace with the Palestinians" --- which is like saying "but how was the rest of the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"
As long as Palestinians are being dispossessed by the settlements; as long as a Palestinian living in Israel has fewer rights and opportunities than a Jewish citizen; as long as the ultra-Orthodox rabbis dictate what people can and cannot do, then Israel is not a democracy. In fact Israel is becoming more like the Rome that Jews once fought. Roman citizens had all the rights, while others lived as best they could within their respective strictures.
The cult of Trump may be at its apex right now, but it will be fascinating to watch it begin to crumble and disintegrate, which it will.
1
I agree and disagree with Mr. Cohen.
1. The democrats will loose to Trump if the only message they have is "Trump is a bad guy". Everyone knows that! His supporters acknowledge his short comings and vote for him despite these. His detractors know them and will not vote for him, no matter what. Everyone else wants to see some substance in your platform. I am different from the other guy is just not enough!
2. "Netanyahu nailed it"? How? He survived and yes he get to form the next government and yes his perceptions and policies will have a huge impact on the future of Israel. But his party won only 35 seats. To an outsider this implies that the vast majority of the people of Israel have voted "against" him. The rest is political machination. I wish the politicians would recognize this and the columnists would articulate this more often and more forcefully.
14
@SG
read more carefully, he won his FIFTH term, the most in Israeli history. It is unprecedented. The parliament is made up of many small political parties which likud will work with to form a government.
@SG
In Israel, a parliamentary system,a party rarely wins more than 35 seats because of presence of so many parties and the fat that you are really voting for a party. some of parties are not against the party which will lead and form the government.
I wish that the author, who quotes left wing individuals, could recognize that the populations of the two countries are actually intelligent, and for the most part decide how to vote based on studying the matter.
Democracies are usually short lived and hard to hold onto. They are very exceptional governing situations.They require an educated public that understands their value and knows how to participate in them and does so with energy and effort. Democracies are relatively rare. Rich democracies may be even rarer since wealthy people get fat, indolent and lazy.
Dictatorships are far easier. They require a strong iron-fisted demagogue who is happy to lie and decieve, has no compunction about doing anything whatsoever to to hold on to power. The people they dominate need only to do what they are told and keep their heads down. Period. They have no voice. The law they do have is corrupt.They have to endure the stability of poverty, since the money is all siphoned upstairs. Since people generally do not like the effort of participating in their government and of critical thought, and since people like to be told what to think, most democracies fail while dictatorships are common. The US is about to find out just what it takes to hold on to a democracy that the public have more or less taken for granted since 1776.
18
@joyce
Hi Joyce. I do not believe that Abraham Lincoln or the soldiers who fought during the Civil War or the families of the 600,000 who died took the survival of our democracy for granted. I also believe that the soldiers who fought and died in World War II took our democracy for granted. In fact, I do not believe that most of us alive today take our democracy for granted.
4
@Steve. Many of the Americans who fought in WWII fought to preserve our sovereignty, not to preserve democracy. The ardent democratic soldiers had already decamped for Canada to fight while the U.S. was looking for ways to remain neutral. If Japan hadn't attacked us, it might have been left to the Soviet Union to save democracy. How's that for irony?
3
@Steve quit flag waving and read the stats. about half of the people eligible to vote are registered. about half of those go to the polls in a presidential election. "we" are taking democracy for granted.
3
While interesting, Mr. Cohen's article overlooks the fact that Israel is a very small country (under 10 million) with, at least perceived, existential threats all around it. The US is 350 million strong and is "The Superpower." Only the most ignorant can think of us as physically threatened by any outside group.
One could go on listing the huge differences all day. For example, the US will always be a secular Nation, no matter how much the Trump base wants to make it a "Christian" one, but Israel was created to be a "Jewish Homeland."
In short, while we will have to work hard to get rid of Trump, it could well hurt him here if he tries to closely follow Netanyahu's guide book.
The big thing is Everybody Vote in 2020!
11
@Brian or trump....
Something that readers may not learn from the media.
Almost 50% of the eligible voters stayed home.
20% of all eligible voters are Arab Israelis.
Without much effort ( the outcome was 35 vs 35 seats for the two major parties), they could have easily denied Netanyahu a fifth term.
What did they do?
They stayed home.
Keep this in mind when you run across people complaining about Netanyahu.
57
While Trump and Netenyahu are both far right-wing politicians who appeal to fear and racial unrest to motivate their bases, that is where the similarities between Israel and the United States ends. The political landscapes in our two countries is vastly different. For example, there is no left-wing alternative to Netenyahu. His chief rival in the election was a more moderate conservative. Compare that to the United States, which has a majority liberal population that overwhelmingly supports policies like universal healthcare, climate change legislation, and tighter restrictions on firearms.
It is worth mentioning as well that Netenyahu, for all of his failings, is an able and cunning politician. Donald Trump is not. Donald Trump’s failures, corruption, and incompetence are an ever mounting testament to his sheer unfitness for office. Obviously Democrats will need to make a positive case for why they should be given more power in 2020, but not making Donald Trump’s unique awfulness part of the larger argument would be a mistake.
18
@Thad. There are many other differences. More like the right-wing in Europe, even the most right-wing in Israel would not dream of taking away the universal health care.
I am not sure whether Netanyahu nailed it. Israel has a demographic problem. Yet fear mongering is part of the strategy Netanyahu pursued and arguably succeeded. It would be interesting to see whether social networks contributed to the outcome and by what means.
All unsolved problems in the Middle East will not go away. In fact they may get amplified with the new government. A peace deal is only feasible if a new and sane US government might be elected in 2020.
5
@Volkmar k
peace deal? with who? name one palestinian politician who has ever supported the notion of a jewish state with secure borders. It has never happened and Bibi just came out and said it, that the two state solution is not possible. That's one of the main reasons that he is popular
@Volkmar k
In 1947, the scholars at Al-Azhar University (The highest authority in Sunni Islam.) declared holy war to return Palestine to Islamic rule. Therefore, as long as most Palestinians are devout Muslims (85% of Palestinian Muslims want sharia law.) and as long as the Jewish State controls even one square inch of land, peace is impossible.
The huge difference between Trump and Netanyahu is that there are many workable, better alternatives to Trump’s policies, but few workable alternatives to Netanyahu’s. Regardless of one’s thoughts about Palestinians, a workable peace agreement is no closer now than it was when five Arab nations declared war on Israel the moment it was declared a country. But whether it is immigration, or healthcare, or environmental regulation, there are many workable options to replace Trump’s policies, and only some 40% of the U.S. supports Trump’s ideas.
16
@Pete Bibi's largest asset is a complete lack of an alternative as you mention. The result is as Cohen wrote: an institutional right win majority in Israel. Trump has many of those same advantages. To get through a primary any democratic candidate needs to go much farther to the left than the american public. Its true that only 40% of the country supports trump, but thats a far more unified 40% than the 50% who oppose him. Likud only won 30% of the vote, yet Netanyahu is getting another term.
3
@Pete
I have a workable alternative to Netanyahu’s policies. Stop stealing Palestinian land. Stop expanding settlements. Stop shooting unarmed protestors. Allow Palestinians to enter and leave Gaza after checking to see they aren’t armed.
This isn’t a peace treaty and in fact it is unfair to the Palestinians but the point is that Israel could choose to be less thuggish if it wanted to do so with or without a peace treaty.
1
Not that I look forward to this, but the economy may well be deteriorating by fall 2020.
9
@Cal
Of course it will. Flooding the borders with hundreds of thousands of needy people will affect our housing stock here, and inflation too.
The Dems better hope Trump is blamed for this, or boy will they be in a pickle come election day 2020!
It is simply horrifying to watch Netanyahu follow the playbook of the many authoritarian monstrosities who preceded him in history. That this is happening in Israel, a country I so long and fervently supported, is tragic beyond words.
424
@dej1939
Bibi's popularity is an understandable response to the ongoing intransigence of the palestinian " leadership" in refusing to accept any notion of a sovereign jewish state with defensible borders.
3
I'm not sure what is left of Trumps ability to string together a cogent sentence can last another two years.
Bibi doesn't have that problem.
25
Roger Cohen is one of the more savvy writers on these pages.
Non-trumpers (read there; citizens of the USA that are not casual racists, misogynists, fact-averse, brown person fearing, math and science-averse simpletons - i.e., the trump base) should heed these words.
12
@Homer
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but lies will never hurt me. Our votes and our law-abiding ways will break you! Don't play us all for suckers just yet.
@Homer
That so many Dems thing Trump supporters (or Republicans) are casual racists, misogynists, fact-averse, brown person fearing, math and science-averse simpletons is exactly why Trump will win.
I think Trump is almost assured of victory in 2020 because a) the Democratic candidates are in a circular firing squad and will only hurt each other in a bruising primary, and b) the Mueller report could lead to the same collective shrug over Trump's blithering and corruption that the Israelis are giving Netanyahu. These are sad times for the U.S., and for the world. The right-wing, white supremacist (oh wait, I mean "nationalist" *rolls eyes*) wave that we thought might have crested last year, is still gaining speed.
13
Justice wears a blindfold and carries a balance. We have taken off the blindfold and put our thumb on the scale. We are Trump and we are just as miserable.
8
Thank you Roger Cohen. One wishes that your fellow "liberal" columnists had such an objective approach to world events.
3
One thing that Cohen says negates his other contention. He says that Israel now has “a structural majority of the right”. Maybe that is correct and if so it works for Netenyahu because he’s playing in a friendly arena. Trump isn’t. His poll numbers show him in a range averaging between 39 and 42%, and he can work on the doubtful logic that lightning will strike twice in PA MI and WI. He may well keep his base, yet that is not enough and he shows no sign of reaching out to expand that base.
As 2018 showed, an energized Democratic Party can take him. And for all his faults Netenyahu did nothing as far as I know to self-Sabotage himself whereas Trump does that automatically.
Let’s add one thing that is beyond dispute. The election is not for more than a year and a half.
Who knows what the economy will be like, whether the Democrats in the House will find anything and what other surprises are in store. A former British Prime Minister once said “a week is a long time” and we have 40 of them to go, so it’s much too soon to make significant prognostications
12
I think there are more like 90 weeks to go, unless you're talking about primary season.
2
Nationalism, racism, fear, power, and a good economy will always destroy the means in their search for an ends. The how no longer matters, only that the stated goals are achieved. This is the age old playbook used by tyrants for centuries.
And what is the great enabler of the tyrant's power? Apathy. In the case of Israel, the Arabs didn't bother to vote. In the case of America, about half don't vote. Of those that do, many are under informed or totally misinformed. But the supporters of the tyrants always come out to vote.
So there you have it. High turnout will defeat Trump. That is the only way to replace him. Meanwhile, the Democrats are busy trying to annihilate each other in their quest for perfection that pleases a half dozen differing causes. And, then they let the opposition define them in a disparaging way.
This is not going to be easy to dislodge Trump. Minority rule takes hold when only the minority bothers to vote.
126
@Bruce Rozenblit
Agreed.
The big tent party, after all the internal sniping is said and done and a nominee is finally selected, must coalesce around the overarching goal of getting Orange 45 out of the Oval Office.
No staying home, people. No bellyaching that it's just too hard to get to the polls--and, of course, Republicans in state with red legislatures will try to make it harder, which is why it's time to set up those carpools and phone trees and text chains and lawyer hires now. And CERTAINLY no protest votes to the Greens or whoever.
Vote Blue.
No matter who.
If it's not perfect?
That one still, too.
19
@Bruce Rozenblit
Well stated. America’s Majority is far more focused on the smaller issues that divide them than the major issues that unite them... and have been for more than twenty years.
Democrats and Centrists have only their own feckless political ineptitude to blame for the fact that radical Right Wingers and autocrats from the fringe now dominate American politics. The Purity Police are ruthlessly hard on their own, rather than taking the fight to the enemies of the Reasonable Democratic Majority.
Democrats blame each other, while Republicans blame Democrats - which means EVERYONE blames Democrats!
When will Democrats learn? 2020 is already shaping up to be a bitter political bloodbath on the Left. It’s the surest way to ensuring that millions of disaffected voters stay home “ out of principle” on Voting Day...
3
@Bruce Rozenblit Absolutely. GOTV is everything.
Just "a dash of racism" is all it takes to ruin an otherwise interesting comparison between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump. Both men are above racism but need to make a place for all. We must shake hands and be civil with racists, and with others who have even worse faults. In a free society only the private sector, and not the government, can improve the narrative. Dashing out racism (or some version of it) is not helpful.
3
@Eugene Patrick Devany
Racism and civility, how interesting. Laws did away with Jim Crow not a narrative between racists and civil rights activists. We also have the rise, of nationalism, not only in the US but across Europe. We need to come up with more creative approaches to push back racists and white nationalists supremacists. The vote in Israel is a frightening prospect as far as what the implications are for the US. Israel will survive, fear not. But it is what Netanyahus victory tells us about how Trump will act to bolster his position.
1
@Eugene Patrick Devany
In that case, let us disband government.
@Solon
Let's get rid if the Civil Rights Laws (gasp, gasp) ... by replacing them with a law that requires all to be treated fairly in education, housing, and other places of public accommodation. One's race, religion, sex should not matter. The law has evolved to the point where we all know what is reasonable and fair. We should not have to think in terms of protected classes which now protect all except straight, white, males. [No wonder the issue is easily confused with male dominated white nationalism].
1
Maybe the folks who brought you neo-liberal misery will some day look upon the disaster of their failure and refrain from offering any more advice to Democrats.
Some may recall that what was once deemed ludicrous, current Republican dogma, is now a norm. It took years, but they got everything they wanted, and more.
Democrats, by contrast, are terrified of controversy. The point is to have power, but not to use it in any way which will upset anyone -- meaning the important people. This does not include anyone who actually works for a living or aspires to the rudiments of social justice.
"How's that been workin out for ya?" might have been an effective taunt for the fortunes of the Democratic party under Trump, if folks who occupy this sphere weren't insulted from consequences. War, peace, the economy, life and death -- doesn't matter. When you're one of them, error and ignorance don't matter.
So how about it? Fess up and stay quiet?
2
the other similarity is that both Netenyahu & Trump have a history of corruption - Trump's history of corruption is even longer going back to his NY RE empire - I think you are underestemating the Democratic resolve to cleanse our fragile Democracy of this plague. Also as @LS points our threat is different and manufactured. Our actual threat is from within and it's promoted by the GOP's support of Trump / look the other way attitude. I don't know of a single Democrat that thinks the election will be a walk in the park nor have I seen such resolve in a long time.
6
Trump and America are set to treat all of the less powerful nations in the world like the 19th century Plains Indians of North America. All treaties are no null and void, and the might of this nation is prepared to sweep the will of all other governments aside.
This absurd form of manifest destiny has been a Confederate Southern dream for over a hundred years. It's been festering for years in some shot-gun house basement, but the dream of an all powerful America is poised to clubber the world. What will be punishment of our sins for allowing this moment to arrive?
6
It is too early to speculate on 2020 - if a week is a long time in politics then a year and a half is an eternity - just take a dep breath and think about the 2020 election in 2020 not now!
1
The lesson is not for Democrats alone, but for all Americans. Israel has elected a man, under indictment, who played to the fears of the people and promises to implement an apartheid regime. He did this with the overt help of Trump. Israel will come to regret this.
If Trump is re-selected by the Electoral College because he was able to scare enough old white people about brown people, he will inevitably move to establish the authoritarian regime he so desperately craves, and even those old white people will not like what their country has become.
That said, the Democrats need to make this election about what they will do for the people, and contrast that against what Trump and the Republicans have promised but failed to deliver. And against what they promised and the form in which it was delivered.
Just like they did in 2018......
489
@Peter
Well stated - "the Democrats need to make this election about what they will do for the people". We have the worst income inequality of all the "rich" nations, we get little for our tax dollars save a gigantic military (proposed budget of $4.5 trillion next year), no universal healthcare, a fraying infrastructure, under-funded public schools. We also have a real and serious issue of immigration. Which politician has the real chops to deal with these things? At this point - to me - it looks like Sanders and Warren only.
29
@Ellen Yep, the other candidates are not completely trustworthy in the area of corporate donors. Anyone who takes big donations does not represent the people. And most even do now, under the table.
10
@Peter I fear that you are wrong about those white men not liking what their country becomes. I think they will like it. It's like the quote in the article: "I don't want Putin, but I want a leader like Putin." There are a lot of Americans who happened to have been born in a democracy but are suddenly realizing they are not so fond of a democracy if they're demographic is not in the majority. And keep in mind when we hear that "the majority of Americans want this or that (gun control, access to abortion, etc.)" that most people don't answer polls. I believe it was the Times that reported on this--we simply cannot trust the polls. So I am deeply sceptical about the future of democracy in America. There are many people who live in dictatorships and like them -- this is hard to wrap your head around, but take Hungary for example. They tried democracy and didn't like it too much. They are comfortable under a quasi-dictatorship as long as the EU funds keep flowing in. I think a lot of white men and women in the USA will be quite fine with dictatorship as long as the dictator is one of their own and they can hold on to whatever white privilege they've got.
25
"Gather nationalists and religious voters in your camp, add in a strong economy, dose with fear, sprinkle with strongman appeal, inject a dash of racism and victory is yours" at least a Pyrrhic one. Does anyone even concern themselves with how history will see them? I would have imagined that history was on their minds when they decided to achieve historic levels of power, so why do they disregard how they will be perceived. This recipe could have applied to any autocrat in history. To be lumped in with them should be embarrassing, instead it is now lauded as smart politics. It's not hard to separate and scare people, the trick is to win by uniting people of good conscience. Congratulations to Bibi but Ben-Gurion led his people to a promised land, Bibi has broken that promise.
3
If the midterm pattern holds, trump will win reelection despite the 10 million vote plurality for Dems.
If simply breaks down to 2 states; Oh and Fla.
Republicans outvoted dems there last November, which means he won the electoral college.
And that occurred with trump's popularity in the 35 to 40 percent range it's been in since he's been in office, and the problem is it's likely to go much lower.
5
Actually since the Dems won in PA,, WI and MI even losing OH and FL would not deprive the Dems in the Electoral College, especially since I believe they won their n N C as well. They would have 276 EVs without NC
@Chris Manjaro *not likely to go lower.
@Chris Manjaro Trump can win OH and FL and still lose the election. WI, MI, and PA.
Dear "establishment" Democrat Roger Cohen, columnist in the comfortably ensconced "Democratic Establishment" NYTimes—
Israel is not the United States.
The "right" in Israel is not the "right" in the United States.
11
@srwdm -- that's not clear. Nor do I understand what point you are alluding to.
3
In the United States people want change and progress (Progressive/progression)—
Not the same old comfortable Democratic Establishment Machine.
2
@srwdm - Such a facile response and so false. This time may well be different, but one problem that the "old comfortable Democratic Establishment Machine" (whatever you imagine that to be) came about because the American public by and large rejected Democratic candidates who "wanted change and progress." Remember Jimmy Carter? He talked about preparing for the future, even put solar panels on the White House. Yes, Carter had his weaknesses and, yes, the Democrats had their problems, but still, in the end, Americans lapped up Reagan's promise of making America great again with voodoo economics, otherwise known as trickle down economics. Much of what you dismiss as the old comfortable Democratic Establishment has been a reaction to what the American public demonstrated they wanted by electing Reagan. I'm not a Bernie Sanders fan, but I give him credit for showing us in 2016 that being bold in proposing a new way forward may just what a large part of the country is waiting for. At least, let us hope that enough people really want that and not a return to the 1950's version of a "great America."
1
The midterm election was just the preliminary bout but it was still a route and that does not bode well for the Republicans who continue to stick with Trump. I anticipate a much greater turnout this go around. It’s not that he can’t win despite that he lost by 3 million votes. This time there’ll be no doubt.
8
Here's how to win in 2020: common sense economic policies, strong economy, defending the nation's borders, hard work, self-responsibility. Not world salvation through climate activism, upending the economy with a Green New Deal, free guaranteed incomes, reparations, nebulous social fairness goals. It's the Republicans who are 'woke' to political reality, not the daydreaming Dems.
11
@Ronald B. Duke
A 'green new deal' program (hopefully renamed to emphasize new technologies and well paying jobs) will ensure US economic leadership. If we don't encourage these investments China and the EU will dominate and reap the financial benefits.
4
@Ronald B. Duke
And throw those who are handicapped, stuck in low wage jobs that don't pay enough to actually live on, poor children, etc under the bus?
3
Roger Cohen's point about the lessons for Democrats is worth listening to. However there are some salient differences:
First, the actual number of seats won by Netanyahu and Gantz's parties were identical. It is the many small parties that will allow Netanyahu to continue in power. The United States does not have a similar situation (though the Green Party and Libertarian Party can certainly affect the election). An election in 2020 which produces yet another minority elected president might lead to a revolt.
As has been pointed out by other readers, Israel does face actual and existential threats. The threats which Trump fights are largely imaginary. Whether or not most voters realize this or not remains to be seen.
Cohen is right to highlight the importance of taking nothing for granted in 2020. It will probably be the most important election in our lifetime.
29
@Gary A., Actually, the most important election since Abe Lincoln's first one.
2
Are you sure you don't have it backwards, Rog?
Netanyahu appears to have learned something about campaigning from Donald Trump. You asked for it, you got it...
7
I disagree with Roger that Trump WILL win in 2020 absent upheavals of some sort.
1. We're not wired for rule by governing coalitions of parties formed by a candidate at the request of a ceremonial president.
2. Trump won the Electoral College and the White House because his opponent was asleep at the switch. That won't happen again.
3. I'll bet Roger a brisket on rye and a bowl of matzo ball soup that Trump, if he runs (should revelations of criminality become too close for comfort, the party will pressure Trump to bow out), will lose both the Electoral College and the popular vote.
58
@Taz
I agree that there is no guarantee Trump wins next year. But can you at least work up the guts to admit he very well could?
This willed complacency of Democratic inevitability is profoundly dangerous. Stop talking about why he cannot win and start persuading and reminding people why he should not.
217
@Taz Wish I shared your faith. The Democrats will splinter as they did in 2016.
6
@Taz “ the party will pressure Trump to bow out” ??
But Trump is the Party and there is no countervailing force within the GOP to “pressure” him to do anything. The days of Party elders working behind the scenes to manage candidates and office-holders are long gone.
Trump will continue to do as he pleases and the “party” will do as it is told by Trump.
7
Absolutely spot on. Democrats have already given Trump the issue which he will ride to re-election. The border crisis is real. People around the world are watching what has been going on in congress for two years and what is going on at the border. Every person from the most remote island in the pacific to Manila, every African and citizen of the near and middle east knows that if they can make it to Mexico they have a good chance of spending the rest of their lives in the United States.
The Democrats response about poor Guatemalans fleeing violence isn't going to cut it.
31
@Ishmael Mauthausen. What is the solution to the US “border problem”? I am interested to know what the alternatives are to Trump’s simplistic approach. I ask because I suspect that, within 20 years we will see a mass movement of refugees like we have never seen before, as climate change starts to bite. Are we destined to erect ever higher walls and fences? Or is there a humane and yet politically practical answer?
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@Ishmael Mauthausen Go directly to health care , climate change, and job training in green technology.
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@Ishmael Mauthausen
So we just need to turn our backs on people (mainly women and children) fleeing violence, poverty and oppression in order to win? Awesome! All we have to do is lose our moral compass and we can call ourselves victorious? That's a solution for people who only care about winning. There's a name for the people who have to traded values for victories: Republicans.
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In the short term, maybe even in the middle term, what you posit is true. But in the long term a smaller minority cannot subjugate a larger majority indefinitely.
The Arabian and Palestinian population will eventually far outnumber the Jewish population. And if there are not two states, but only one state, what happened in South Africa and Rhodesia will happen in Israel.
Ben Gurion founded Israel. Netanyahu may be the beginning of the end.
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@Bottles
The longer term can sometimes be centuries. Cold comfort for those who live today and their children.
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@Jose Luis Quantity can definitely, very much defeat Quality, in fact it usually does! It has happened many times in history.
@Bottles Yes, they can subjugate - especially if that Majority cannot learn to Unite, Message, Compromise, Message - and above all VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!
A Majority is utterly useless unless it finds and properly wields its own power!
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The same will happen with Trump.
The Democrats are blinded by their isolation from the issues everyday people face and by their smug sense that they are morally superior.
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@Daphne, actually the Democrats are not accusing anyone of "moral superiority". They want to address climate change, inequality and health care. Trump is making things worse down on the border when he is not causing farmers to lose their markets overseas. Trump has done nothing for his supporters but lie to them. He stood in front of a portion of wall down by the border built during the Obama presidency and claimed they were making progress on that. It's a lie.
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@Daphne - everyday people are blinded by their isolation from scientific reality and the smug sense that we can just carry on like we are and everything will be fine. We won't be fine, and if we don't change our ways we are done for. That's the biggest issue that everyday people face right now.
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@Daphne
Daphne's comment, though factually insupportable, is valuable in that it is compounded of the resentment and sense of grievance that motivates Trump's base. It clearly indicates that it will be impossible to changes the minds of anyone whose answer to every argument is "I hate you because you're mean!" The Daphnes can' be persuaded, they can only be outvoted. So whoever the Democratic nominee is, we have to put aside our differences and get out there and vote for her.
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Meh, this race reminded me more of the Beto O'Rourke vs. Cruz Senate race than a Trump vs. Challenger. It was razor-close, and let's face it, it's hard to defeat even a corrupt leader who is competent. The difference between Israel and the U.S. is that Israel has a real rather than imagined threat from neighbor countries, isn't trying to take people's healthcare and voting rights away repeatedly, didn't swindle its citizens with a fake tax break, and hasn't faced a dismal stock market for 3 years.
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@JS
Yes, 35 vs 35 seats for Likud, his party, and his major, liberal challenger, Blue and White
Almost 50% of eligible voters stayed home.
20% of all eligible voters were Israeli Arabs.
They may complain but they don't vote and didn't even show up this time.
With even just a fraction of their votes they could have given a win to someone else.
They didn't.
Say what you want, they had their chance and blew it.
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@JS Perfectly put JS
All of which proves that behind most every authoritarian autocrat lies criminal gangsterism.
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I wonder what the reaction would have been if Gantz had defeated Netanyahu. I bet, there would have been praises about how people of Israel defeated a demagogue, how democracy worked, etc. etc. But now suddenly there is a huge outcry from intellectuals when their not so favorite candidate won in a free and fair election and not once or twice but 5 times. By trivializing Netanyahu's victory and by ignoring the reasons why so many people trusted him for such a long time, the intellectuals are actually insulting the people who voted for him. As far as coalition politics is concerned, that's the name of the game for multi party democracies where a party lacking a decisive majority (or having simple majority) has to make compromises, often with parties on the fringe. In our country, the quasi oligopoly of 2 parties has largely suffocated the multitude of opinions and people are left with just 2 viable but often unpopular choices.
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@Resident
I assume you wrote this stuff about “intellectuals” “trivializing Netanyahu's victory and by ignoring the reasons why so many people trusted him for such a long time” before you read any of the post election commentary filling newspapers around the world, because that is pretty much the exact opposite of what they are doing.
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@Resident
How do we know it was free and fair? It has been reported that Israeli Arabs were intimidated from going to the polls by Netanyahu supporters with cameras recording who voted in the Arab districts.
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A tragic day for Israeli democracy in one sense and certainly a warning to those of us in USA (and elsewhere). On the other hand, the "Blue and White" party , a new party with out an experienced politician at he top of the ticket tied with Netanyahu. The odd nature of Israeli elections with many, many small political parties which appeal to isolated and often insular communities is also a further distinction from the USA. Nevertheless, Roger Cohen is correct to warn all of us; nothing is certain regarding Trump's regime, let alone his defeat.
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@Michael Kaplan Your final sentence is spot-on perfect. Whosoever the Democrats nominate, must not only be able to rally Democrats, independents and the general public, but he or she must aggressively do so and not allow Trump to have a moment to breathe in the election campaign. No more of that Hillary 'sure thing/coronation' politicking.
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@Michael Kaplan
His defeat? Haven't the Dem progressive realized yet that they can have big government social programs, or they can have open borders bringing the poor of the world in here to care for, but they can't have both.
Somebody should tell the kids that.
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@Midway
Looks like what Trump is aiming for is a big expensive "wall" project that won't work to keep out the bad guys or the drugs but will cost enough that having given away the store to the fat cats including himself with the tax cut it will be necessary to cut the programs that help ordinary working class Americans! Evidently the fentanyl comes right through the US Post office because the postal inspectors have not been authorized to search the suspect packages for drugs. And we have our own home grown economic terrorists who are robbing the Medicare and Medicaid systems by sending out and charging for medical devices like leg braces that people never ordered. It will be interesting to see if the doctors and device manufacturers who devised this scam will actually be prosecuted or allowed to pay a fine and go on to other things like Senator Rick Scott whose for profit hospital corporation got away with scamming the system for millions if not billions. (And now Trump has appointed him to a commission to "fix" the health care system. And Democrats are NOT promoting open borders, just a system that works the way it is meant too. At least Israelis get subsidized medical care!
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Depressing, and absolutely right. The difference is that Israel faces actual, real threats, and here in the US Trump-- and by extension McConnell--is busy creating reality show "threats" as a way to keep power. I'm not saying that there aren't things to be concerned about in America, but it is not at all on the same level. And I say that despising Netanyahu.
Dems need to get organized, have a clear and coherent platform, and GET OUT THE VOTE.
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@LS There are REAL threats for us, and climate change is just one of them. The problem is 30 million people will vote for our own Bibi, no matter what. So it's up to us to reach out to the 20 million "neutrals/independents" (who are apparently easily confused, sad to say) with a fierce devotion to truth and competency. I don't know if you can fight dirty with clean, and this country cannot survive another "moral victory for the left" (Hilary won the popular vote!)—and we KNOW we can't fight dirty with shaming, because it didn't work the first time—but Trump MUST NOT WIN!
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@LS Trump and McConnell ARE real threats who disregard the rule of law. Merrick Garland. Brett Kavanaugh.
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@LS
As a former activist and optimist,I have participated in "get out the vote" actions for more years than most of you have been alive. They are ineffectual.
What is demonstrably clear is that Americans do not vote, while the small percentage that do, are mostly uninformed or controlled by their prejudices.
On the other hand, while Israelis turn out on a much higher percentage, the results are exactly the same.
Me ( as St Ronnie knew well) always triumphs over we.
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May I just say as an avid reader of this newspaper, that only last night just before midnight there were headlines clearly saying "neck and neck but a clear REBUKE of Netanyahu". I'm reminded of how unprepared this newspaper made it's readers for the "shock" of our own 2016 national election. Therefore, perhaps it's time to stop reading what the pundits say and focus entirely on a literal reading of the facts as they're reported. I realize that this is also a problematic approach in attempting to avoid "fake news", but I wanted to point out that this is a particularly stark example of how, in less than 12 hours, the SPIN on a story can go from one end of the spectrum to another. Food for thought, ladies and gentlemen, especially for those like myself who have come to depend on this newspaper for it's fair and accurate and complete coverage of the world's events.
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@ManhattanWilliam
I agree with you. The prediction was overly optimistic. The media has a very difficult job to do, but they must try harder to report realistically.
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@ManhattanWilliam I think the "rebuke" was that it was such a close race. That's a "rebuke" when someone is use to winning by a large margin.
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@Panthiest The idea of "rebuke" and "nailed it" are incompatible in my understanding of the terms.
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Depending on that "strong economy" is not necessarily something Trump should count on in November 2020. And by the way, Israel has had a structural right-wing majority since the mid-2000's - it was just dressed up in different electoral clothes since then. The situation is really different between the US and Israel. Not to say that Trump will be easy to beat, especially with a Democratic nominee who doesn't unify the party - but it would be a different race than the Israeli elections this past year or this past decade, for that matter.
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He barely won.
I wouldn't say he "nailed it."
Now let's see how he makes it through the pending corruption charges.
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Corruption charges .... how innocent of you? Simply put, he’ll dismiss ALL charges against him, and like his BFF in the WH who shows the same scorn, contempt, revulsion & distain for the law, will pardon himself.
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@Panthiest It was a VERY close election. He won; just. Not a landslide. Trump can win 2020; if the Economy holds up. If the Democrats attack themselves. If we allow Trump to make immigration THE issue. Health Care. That is THE issue. Trump/GOP WILL destroy the ACA. Millions of Americans will die. Hammer on Healthcare and Unity. Trump will continue to distract with immigration; make him play to his weakness. Ray Sipe
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@Nfa The US President (and the Israeli President) have the power to pardon someone. The Israeli Prime Minister does not have the power to pardon anyone, let alone himself.
Bibi may very well try and modify the law to either prohibit the indictment of a sitting PM (the "French" law, and similar to Justice Department policies in the US) or restore the default immunity extended to Knesset members of which he is one. The hope is that enough members of his future coalition, including some members of his own Likud party will refuse to participate in shielding a politician accused of corruption from the judgement of a court.
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