On the plus side, it's about time that Israel's government is able to form a coalition. But it's really too bad that it's with Netanyahu. Guilty or not, he has no credibility outside Israel, except with Trump. Birds of a feather?
1
In an op-ed piece on February 21, 2020, Rabbi Avi Shafran urged the media and academia to stop dehumanizing Haredi Jews by referring to them pejoratively as ultra-Orthodox - a change that was long overdue. Sadly, The New York Times and its correspondents David Halbfinger et al. turned a deaf ear to Rabbi Shafran’s request by again and again resorting to the ultra-Orthodox slur.
March 3, 2020 “Israel’s Election: 7 Takeaways”
1. ultra-Orthodox allies
March 2, 2020 “Israeli Election Gives Edge to Netanyahu, Exit Polls Say”
1. ultra-Orthodox allies
March 2, 2020 “The Israel Election (Round 3): Here’s What You Need to Know”
1. a handful of ultra-Orthodox
March 1, 2020: “Israel, ‘Start-up Nation,’ Groans Under Strains of Growth and Neglect”
1. welfare for ultra-Orthodox Jews
2. ultra-Orthodox boys
February 29, 2020: “As Israel Votes Again (and Again), Arabs See an Opportunity”
1. appeals to the ultra-Orthodox
February 27, 2020 “Trump’s Plan Backs Israeli Settlements. So Why Are Settlers Unhappy?”
1. the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism
Will the New York Times change its policy in regards to this matter in the near future?
Ha Tikva. Keep hoping....
And yet another Trump-like tragedy unfolds half a world away. I wish Israel luck. Now it's time to return our attention to our own political dramas to avoid a rerun of This American Nightmare.
1
It's more than a little strange that Israel considers itself " the only democracy in the Middle East." Only a tiny percentage of Palestinians are allowed citizenship and the right to vote, and the overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews oppose giving Palestinians equal rights either in the electoral process or in Israeli society at large. Based solely on their race, Palestinians are not allowed to live in the settlements in the occupied West Bank or much of East Jerusalem. The Israeli apartheid system of institutionalized discrimination of the indigenous Palestinian people is a recipe for instability, discontent and rebellion.
4
@W Traveler If it were about race, then Arabs living in Israel would be treated the same as Arabs in the West Bank & Gaza, but they're not.
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.
Unlike the Arabs in Israel, Arabs in the West Bank & Gaza can't vote in Israeli elections or hold office in Israel. Canadians can't vote in USA elections because they're not Americans. Arabs of the West Bank & Gaza can't vote in Israeli elections because they're not Israeli.
4
And how many Jewish members of the Palestinian Authority or Hamas legislature or Jewish diplomats, Jewish consuls general or Jewish deputy consuls are there in the West Bank (also known as Judea-Samaria and containing numerous important Jewish religious and cultural sites and long-standing populations) and Gaza?? Answer: Zero.
How many Arabs serving in these kinds of positions in Israel? Plenty.
1
Israel now resembles the US, where religious zealots coalesce around a candidate with a troubled relationship to laws they are sworn to uphold in order to further an agenda seen as 'holy'. This is a perfect example of why the framers of our Constitution employed when they strove to separate church and state. Those who proclaim their fealty to god the loudest are those least interested in reason and most willing to sacrifice freedoms and democracy on the alter of faux piety.
3
Note to my Jewish friends: When your rabbi secretly records your conversations, find another rabbi.
2
I hope that that young Israeli lady in Monday's article about the Israeli election who decided to go skiing instead of voting enjoys the new right-wing corrupt governement her non-voting helped usher in. She is a warning to all voters everywhere of the consquences of not voting or being flippant about elections.
4
It is incredible that Israel cannot find a righteous majority to oppose a leader that has been long standing with pending corruption charges. Instead, he continues to live like a king awaiting his re-anointment, to continue those actions unimpaired.
9
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
12
Another demagogue con-man clinging onto power by using every dirty trick in the book, because to lose power would mean answering for his crimes.
18
Because caring about felony corruption is so yesterday.
20
In Israel, voters have to cast their ballots for a party; despite this, the heads of the various parties influence choice of the voters as if the they were directly elected candidates. Mr. Gantz (Blue and White party) did not campaign and that is why he "lost". He did not try to make direct contact with the voters, as did Netanyhu (Likud party). Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu party) also tried to make direct contact with some voters, but most Isralies do not support his hate campaign against Israel Arabs.
2
Although I despise the direction Israeli policies toward the natives of Palestine, I can’t really blame Israeli voters for again voting Netanyahu, given the minuscule differences between him and rival Gantz. Why bother to change leaders if the new leader is the same as the old?
2
As an American Jew and a Zionist, the policies of the Trump and Netanyahu administrations bring me to despair.
America and Israel were founded to enshrine justice. To show the best we are capable of.
Trump and Netanyahu have been elevated to power by inciting hatred. Is this the best we can do?
16
@pi You are spot on. I despair. Just look at Salvini in Italy, Johnson in the UK and Erdogan inTurkey to name just a few.
8
@pi Please stop lumping the USA in with that other country please.
There are no vehicles rolling onto 'someone-else' land' and cutting down vegetation in the US. In the US, the Sheriff will do his/her job.
These two countries are not the same and not that similar.
@Pixle Dot, not yet. Give Trump time. Really.
Why is it that, worldwide, political criminals possess such appeal to the general populace?
11
We should pray that Netanyahu wins. Anyone else would be a disaster for Israel.
5
Religious conservatives are fighting desperately across the globe to hold back the clock of modernization. Meanwhile crooked leaders play them to maintain control with their support. The beat goes on.
8
Neither Bibi not the vast majority of his voters are religious.
2
With the rise of so much right wing politics and action around the world, World War is not far away.
6
@debating union, how I wish you are wrong. How I fear you are not.
In both of the previous elections, Netanyahu and Blue and White both had over 50 seats, and Netanyahu had more. He's pretty much at where he was before, the most popular candidate for Prime Minister, but not quite popular enough. If he weren't worried about getting arrested, he could have stepped aside before, and a different likudnik would have been PM two elections ago. As it stands, I see no reason why they won't have a fourth election.
4
@David Weintraub
Too expensive and the people are exha. A 4 th election unlikely. Trump’s deal also time sensitive as no guarantee he’ll be president after 2020
I look at Mr. Netanyahu and see:
A man who is now Israel’s longest-serving and arguably most-successful-ever Prime Minister;
Whose country remains surrounded by enemies on all sides who after more 70 years are still sworn to uproot and do his people in;
A country that experienced serious Iran-sponsored attacks by Hamas just a few days ago;
A man who presides over an intensely democratic country known to be full of highly contentious and vociferous people who constantly feud among themselves and with their coreligionists elsewhere;
A nation that is now widely recognized as a world leader in science, technology and medicine that was recently ranked in a landmark publication of the United Nations as the 13th happiest country in the world. The U.S. ranked 19th.
A man being asked by the N.Y.Times and many of its readers to negotiate with self-appointed, never-elected Palestinian "leaders" who have frittered away the many billions of dollars they have received in international aid in the past 70+ years on arms, graft and terrorism.
A man who is currently telling Palestinians in the clearest possible terms that their game is over;
And that by obstinately refusing to come to the peace table with an offer to Israel of permanent recognition as the Jewish State with its capital in Jerusalem -- including meaningful land trades and security provisions -- means accepting the dreary, unenviable conditions they are now living in and the permanent loss of their dream.
10
@A. Stanton I read this article and I think Hasbara.
1
I say, let's have another election in a few more months. No harm to the government. Same witb the USA every year or so.
Natanyahu keeps winning because he has provided Israel with security, economic opportunity, and victory after victory on the international front. More countries have relations with Israel than ever before, including African and Muslim nations, its embassy is recognized as Jerusalem, and its people have good jobs.
Israel achieved these things not because it negotiated with the Palestinians but precisely because it did not negotiate with them. Negotiations brought instability, violence, and economic uncertainty. Bibi campaigns on strength and Israelis understand that brings a better future.
Personally, I'd rather he have his day in court and let someone else run the country in the meantime. Political deadlock and caretaker governments are a disaster. Israel needs roads and hospitals but can't make the investments without a government.
But I don't get to make this decision. The Israeli people (Arabs as well) chose the government they chose. Trump's peace plan recognizes this reality. The American people should as well.
Vilifying Natanyahu, calling him a racist as Sanders and Obama has done, simply because they don't the result of a democratic election will not produce peace nor advance our interests.
13
Israelis have an excuse for wanting someone who is under indictment to nevertheless continue to serve as prime minister - Netanyahu is someone who has given and continues to give Israel's citizens a real sense of physical security in the face of military and terrorist threats from its numerous enemies. What's the excuse of Trump supporters?
9
Pretty obvious! Trump has kept us all in this country safe. There haven’t been any major terrorist attacks on US soil during Trump’s presidency Thank God - His confrontation with Iran ended in their retreat. North Korea isn’t bothering us either. Trump’s brand of crazy and unpredictable aggressiveness keeps our many enemies at bay and thinking twice about harming us. Can’t say the same for Biden or Sanders should either become president - they would appear very weak as leaders of the greatest country on earth!
6
There will never be peace between Israel and Palestine so long as he remains in power. He is the Trump of Israel and a stain on its history.
24
How could there ever be peace with a people that doesn’t accept Israel’s right to exist and in their Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel?
12
@John M How can there be peace between the Arab countries & Israel when the Arab countries can't even get along with each other?
Why can't they get rid of that man? He has been in office far, far too long.
48
He keeps Israeli citizens secure from terrorist attacks - that’s extremely important living there - if there’s no security then life cannot go on as normal like it does here in the USA. You would vote for the candidate who did that here even if it meant compromising your principles with regards to a corrupt leader. Security is paramount.
8
One day, about a decade from now, people in other countries are going to be saying the same thing about us and Trump.
1
@Beth Perhaps because elections are for parties and not people and the Likud has massive support and perhaps because Mr. Netanyahu has a fair degree of success and skill and perhaps because getting cigars or trying to get good press are not considered serious crimes by the Israeli public.
6
In the end greed wins out over understanding. Exceptionalism in the case is dead. Israel is no different than any other place. If you have to oppress to exist then what does that existence mean?
33
According to the latest exit poll (that took into account the last two hours of voting), the projected number of Knesset members who will support Netanyahu for Prime Minister has dropped from 60 to 59. If this number holds, it means that Netanyahu probably will not be able to cross the 61 threshold needed to form a government. Another deadlock.
But this is not the worst outcome possible. It is far better than a Netanyahu-led government. Israel has shown for nearly a year now that the country can run perfectly well without a government in place. Maybe this is a lesson for other countries. Top-down government is not as necessary as the rulers say it is.
13
@Caleb Actualy caretaker governments do not run well and have many problems. A budget for instance cannot be passed.
The difference between the US and Israeli system though allow the engine to idle in neutral, as it were, and does not shut off the motor.
8
@Caleb Please let it be true... Netanyahu isn't as central to Judaism as he thinks he is.
The original purpose of Zionism was to normalize the position of Jews in the world. In that they have been wildly successful. Now Jews, just like Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, have their own country run by self-serving, corrupt, power-hungry, egomaniacs. That's equality for you!
54
There is no way Netanyahu (and certainly not Gantz) can form a government. Netanyahu's 59 seat coalition is 2 seats shy of the 61 needed. Remember, he had 60 seats last April and couldn't get even 1 defector. Israel is likely headed for 4th elections, as Lieberman will not sit with Netanyahu, the Arabs, or the ultra Orthodox. To end the madness the following reforms need to be made: Raise the threshold to 5% to get into the Knesset; make the largest party (most mandates) head the Prime Minister, with 75% of the Knesset required for a no confidence vote to pass; otherwise the govt serves a full 4 year term; if 2 parties get the same number of mandates then have the President choose who will govern. Without these reforms Israel will remain in a state of paralysis.
4
Energy matters. Bibi has it, Gantz does not. In a world increasingly pummeled by emotional decision making, brute force ultimately prevails.
5
@woofer If brute force ultimately prevails, then what separates humans from the other animals? If everybody carried a sidearm, do you think brute force would win, or would peace prevail? What part of the MAD Doctrine allowed the USSR and the US to survive the era? Was it the most mega-tonnage in a warhead, or was it individuals wanting to see their children grow to adulthood?
2
@woofer All of Bibi's energy (much like Trump's) is of the negative variety. It's the energy of a nasty child taking out the aggression he feels for his parent(s) on those classmates he regards as occupying a lower social station than he does. And it's the energy that manifests itself in the vicarious thrills he gets from persuading other kids to beat up the ones he considers to be his inferiors.
9
Netanyahu is ahead because under Trump he can leverage US power unconditionally. Trump presumably expects him to help his re-election, as quid pro quo.
It is about time that Israel's absurd degree of influence over the US was ended. It is a foreign country pursuing its own interests, not a sacred object.
As an example according to Indian media, Israel is helping India to suppress Kashmir using tactics proved in Gaza. China is investing in Israeli venture capital, as a backdoor to getting US technology As Asia rises, Israel is looking out for it own interests, not those of the US.
If Netanyahu wins, the odds of Trump winning in 2020 go up.
23
@Baddy Khan In 1999 the Clintons unseated Netanyahu and put Ehud Barak, a leftist, in charge who almost gave a quarter of the country to Arafat, who thank God still declined as it wasn't sufficient. So if Trump is supporting Bibi this is payback and nothing new.The US interferes in Israeli and many other country's elections. Hardly news.
1
@Jgarbuz In my opinion it is a big deal. The Israel lobby establishment is now a strategic threat. No foreign country should be able to meddle and be immune from criticism.
2
I feel the same way about Netanyahu as I do about Trump. Accordingly, as our European allies feel about America, I feel the same towards Israel - disappointment and disillusionment about the future. Sadly, in both cases there is no going back to what once was.
29
@Harry F, Pennington,nj
My favorite Israeli prime minister was Shimon Peres followed by Yitzchak Rabin and Ehud Barak.....They were men who wanted peace. In his later years, Sharon became somewhat more moderate.
I do not like Netanyahu. I like Trump even less.
Obama and Kerry and Bill Clinton before them made the best effort possible.
4
Hate wins again. Humanity is a cesspool. Violence. Not negotiation. Autocracy. Not democracy. If you want something in life, just go out and take it, by any means necessary.
21
Patrick Kingsley revealed an anti-Israel bias in his column yesterday in describing the West Bank areas controlled by Israel as "occupied territories" instead of "disputed territories."
11
@Edward R. Levenson
This is why Americans are staring to turn on Israel - the stance that saying something factual like “occupied territories” instead of the less factual but more pro-Israel “disputed territories” leads to people like you saying they are anti-Israel and biased and anti-Semitic.
Israel is not perfect. The world condemns the Israeli settlements as illegal. By pitching every criticism as anti-Israel you are further pushing away people who are pro-Israel but have many well founded critiques of Israel’s policy.
Instead of uniting, this “Israel is infallible and can’t be criticized” rhetoric is pushing away your biggest ally, the American people.
Good luck with that, and keep trying to make the conditions in the West Bank look totally fine, the truth is coming out and it does not look good for Israel. You want rights for your people while systematically stripping basic necessities like food and clean water from your neighbors.
Tough argument to make, it’s a losing one.
20
@Edward R. Levenson
Sorry Ed. They're occupied. But whining about the terminology is about the only defense left I guess.
4
@Edward R. Levenson No, they're occupied territories, as per the U.N. demarcation of Israel's borders as of the date that the Jewish state was recognized.
5
What’s with these people?
7
Obama's tricks didn't work this time, huh?
He sent his cronies last time to interfere in their elections. Looks like he lost interest with his short attention span.
Nothing new.
Israelis know the real deal when they see one, someone who cares and fights for them -- Netanyahu and Trump.
13
Keep it up!
It’s this kind of language that is pushing the moderates towards the democrats.
Moderates do not want to be pulling the same lever as the people peddling this madness.
So keep posting!
16
@Bhaskar You gotta love a world we live in where Obama, an ex president with about as much influence in Israel as a toaster, can interfere in their elections and somehow Russia couldn't possibly have mettled in the US 2016 election. Truly glorious.
2
@Bhaskar Netanyahu, on the other hand, doesn't rely on cronies to interfere in American elections- as he endeavored to do when he got John Boehner to allow him to hector Congress to oppose the Iran nuclear treaty (and thereby ingratiate himself with American Evangelicals and Zionists).
1
I respect that Israelis are confronted with security and other issues particular to their volatile region. Nonetheless, it’s disheartening Bibi has apparently secured yet another term as Prime Minister with a religious and far right coalition. He and Trump are drunk on narcissistic power and ego. They are so undeserving of the countries they rule, especially because they do so with only a minority of votes cast under their/our screwy political systems.
31
It seems like Israel no longer stands for anything but politically motivated fear.
34
this is a disaster for jews world wide. the apartheid like repression of Palestinians is a major factor in the large increase in anti Semitic attacks in europe and the US. people are unable to separate the actions of the Israeli government from the sentiments of the rest of world wide Jewry. this is particularly true due the almost unquestioned support given to the israeli government by jews in the US. it is time for jews in the US to understand that the national security interests of israel and the US are not one and the same. frequently the israeli government takes actions that are diametrically opposed to the national security interests of the US. its also useful to understand the the support of israel by christian evangelicals in the US is based on their belief that israel's continued existence is necessary for the rapture to occur which they believe will happen in their lifetime. of course when the rapture comes the jews having served their purpose will all go to Hades, thank your very much. so US jews get your heads out of the sand and put some pressure on the israeli government to pursue a realistic two state solution with the Palestinians.
42
@allen. Your comments betray your lack of understading of Israeli politics. In fact, there is little daylight between Gantz and Netanyahu on the issue of Israeli security. Both have endorsed President Trump's peace plan. Neither supports dismantling Israeli settlements. Also, the idea that violence against Jews would stop if only the Jews gave more concessions to Hamas and other anti-Israel forces is, at best, hopelessly naive, and at worst, anti-Semitic.
24
@allen
I am Jewish and a Zionist. I am distraught that Netanyahu may be returned to power. But anti-Semitism in the form of attacks on Jews (inquisition, The Crusades, Pogroms, Dreyfus, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Hebron, Babi Yar, the Holocaust- to name only a few) all occurred prior to the State of Israel being established. In fact, all of those very horrid events mandated that safe haven be found for Jews. So please, be upset with Netanyahu and his policies but understand that anti-Semitism has always existed and really has only to do with the fact that Jews exist, not the fact that Israel exists.
24
@allen On Dec. 2, 1947, just days after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to partition historic Palestine into Jewish and Arab-ruled sections, the Ulama or chief scholars of Sunni Islam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo– the leading university of the Arab World– issued a fatwa calling on the world’s Muslims to launch a Jihad to destroy the incipient Jewish state. It was reiterated by the Ulama, in April 1948, days before the Egyptian Army and three other Arab armies attacked Palestine, giving the campaign a “religious imprimatur.” The fatwa was reissued later that year.
“It was clear the Arabs had lost the war,” Morris said, but reissuing the Fatwa signaled it was meant “to stand for future years, for future generations, for whatever bout there will be against the Jews.”
As noted in his book and repeated at the conference, Matiel Mighannam, a Lebanese Christian woman who headed the Arab Women’s Organization in Palestine, affiliated with the Arab High Command, told an interviewer: “The UN decision has united all Arabs as they have never been united before, not even against the Crusaders.” She added that a Jewish state had no chance to survive and “All the Jews will eventually be massacred.”
http://www.theseniortimes.com/1948-was-a-holy-war-for-arabs-historian-says/
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.
1
Netanyahu's resilience is impressive, and I say this as someone who loathes him.
8
The original purpose of Zionism was to normalize the position of Jews in the world. In that they have been wildly successful. Now Jews, just like Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, have their own country run by self-serving, corrupt, power-hungry, egomaniacs.
27
The once-oppressed have become the oppressors.
17
@WAMama Self-defense is not oppression.
7
@WAMama that’s really a distortion and simplification. Israel requires certain security protocols because it’s neighbors constantly have and continue to use violence against Israeli civilians. Palestinians’ issue is now what Israel is doing but what Israel is - that it exists. This won’t end any time soon. Until Palestinian and Arab culture changes, the status quo will remain.
4
Let's see the US is ruled by a gangster and Bibi charged and arrested is elected another gangster. Yes, the world is on the moral plan. By the way for all those that will attack my comment check out organized crime in Israel and how brutal never discussed and its rise is connected to the years the Soviets let large numbers of Jews emigrate to Israel. How I love it Bibi will have his trial while being the PM can anyone guess the outcome and also this has been nonsense about a third election, he never left office he has had a caretaker government for the past two years so it really does not matter. Democracy a joke. Jim Trautman
15
I wonder what's going to happen. Benjamin Netanyahu appears not to have won a majority, falling at least one seat short. That's better than before, but is it enough?
2
Elections are about the future. The future of Israel and the Middle East. It's not about one person, or one party or one nation. These elections are no different. Whoever wins at the end, will have to deal with the reality. Reality comes from knowing the past in order to ensure a greater future. check out "Israel History Maps" (available on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1946575984 ) which clearly describes 3000 Years of Geographic Chronology of Jewish Sovereignty in Israel. What will the next page in Israel's History be like after these elections?
1
I wanted to thank the NYT for a great article about Israel yesterday. It emphasized that for ordinary Israelis, issues like education, infrastructure, and healthcare are a big part of the election.
It's easy from a distance to view Israeli elections strictly through a geopolitical prism. The NYT article really provided a valuable new prism to understand the Israeli voters.
Thanks.
14
So now the US and Israel have proved that they want criminals as leaders!
25
Clinton led us for 8 years
8
Not true at all.
1) The majority of Israeli voters did NOT vote Likud. Likud seems only to have won a plurality.
2) Those Israelis who did vote for Likud did just that - vote for Likud, not for Netanyahu specifically, regardless of his apparent dreams of a never-ending premiereship. Israel’s system is parliamentary, so, technically, Likud could select a different person to be Prime Minister. In America, people vote for a specific person to be president and, as far as I know, even the Electoral College with its supposed right to disregard the popular vote, cannot pick an entirely different person who happens to be of the same party because we don’t vote for a party, we vote for a person. I think Israel is different — they vote for a party and if that party has the majority of seats in parliament (on its own or in coalition with other of the 10s of political parties), and then the party chooses one among them to be Prime Minister.
5
@James Missed something was he charged with a crime or is it that vast conspiracy network that you refer to it. And even if he was so that makes it ok now to be ruled by mobsters. Jim Trautman
9
This is a day of mourning.
The things Netanyahu is doing to Israel in order to not go to jail are worse for the country than arresting him. If the country were to drop the convictions than it would be undemocratic but it would save us from much worse actions. It's a lose-lose situation.
Benny Gantz's party did not have much of agenda besides "Anything but Bibi" and didn't pose an ideal alternative, but how did we elect a corrupt crook?
I am genuinely scared for Israel's future and what will happen in the next four years.
22
I can't think of anything else to say but "bummer."
17
Does democracy even work anymore?
11
Not if the Russians or white supremacists have anything to do with it.
11
@JS
No.
4
Has anyone investigated whether Putin/Russia has meddled in Israeli elections as well? Or Iran or NK or any number of other adversaries?
This question is only partially tongue in cheek.
Will say this: Unless Likud chooses someone other than a man who’s already been indicted for (alleged) domestic criminal activity and is awaiting trial in a couple of weeks, they stand to lose whatever moral credibility they still have. Same goes for whatever other parties join in coalition with them.
Please, Israelis, don’t corrupt or erode The Hope, The Land, or the nation’s neshema. Reach for that higher calling.
9
As we in the United States have proven beyond doubt, there is no underestimating voters' judgment.
16
@Jeff M God Bless The Deplorables for making the right decisions most of the time, when the bi-coastal paper pushing media scribbling elites always get everything WRONG! When have the Leftist pseudo-intellectuals ever get anything right? I defy anyone to give me even one correct Leftist theory since Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto."
8
@Jgarbuz “Capital is said by a Quarterly Reviewer to fly turbulence and strife, and to be timid, which is very true; but this is very incompletely stating the question. Capital eschews no profit, or very small profit, just as Nature was formerly said to abhor a vacuum. With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10 per cent. will ensure its employment anywhere; 20 per cent. certain will produce eagerness; 50 per cent., positive audacity; 100 per cent. will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300 per cent., and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged. If turbulence and strife will bring a profit, it will freely encourage both. Smuggling and the slave-trade have amply proved all that is here stated.” (T. J. Dunning, l. c., pp. 35, 36.)
3
I am a lot less concerned about the number of elections Israel holds, than I am about the question of why Palestinians don’t hold any.
70
@A. Stanton Because Abbas afraid that Hamas will win it and transform the West Bank into Gaza.
15
@A. Stanton
They don't need to; there is no opposition to the governing parties.
3
Ambrose, the term of Mahmoud Abbas as president ended in 2009. Yet no presidential elections have been held. The last legislative elections were held in 2006.
Some democracy.
15
Everyone's first mistake was to adore and believe Television. Just like here, that's who "helps elect" politicians, especially agregious in the story of the Rabbi's recording. But then again, the choice was really no choice, between two militant men quick to utilize the military, and both determined to steal land without paying for it, by using television to convince everyone they had a divine mandate to steal?
So why did the big businessman who ran GE that owned NBC who Trump was on, and what country clubs did Welch belong to, die just yesterday?
I do believe whoever rules Television rules the world. So who does?
I read Welch's Obituary with great interest. It's full of very informative information. Thank you, but you still haven't told the big story.
Back to the Israeli election; it doesn't matter who won. It was a made for TV election, like here and Ukraine.
The moral of the story is to focus on TV instead of them focusing on us.
1
I have always said never underestimate the ignorance of the average American voter. The same, apparently, applies to Israeli voters.
71
@Moshe You make the mistake of thinking everyone's opinion is equal and right.
13
@Moshe Oh, right when has your hero Trump said anything great. I could not stop laughing with Trump who mocks even disabled people so give me a break. Jim Trautman
8
@Moshe You apparently have not followed the political right over the years, even decades.
1
Prime Minister Netanyahu's victory is great news for both Israel and the United States. He is a proven fighter and a consistent winner, and beyond all else he is passionately committed to defending Israel against its regional foes.
18
@Wesley Don't forget crook.
27
@Wesley...And I bet you think Trump is the Second Coming.
Same church, different false savior.
20
Are you suggesting that Benny G. or others are NOT completely committed to Israel’s security and protecting Israelis from their regional foes??
If so, shame on you, and the horse you road in on.
9
How in the world can Israelis favor a man who will be on trial for corruption soon? He should have been removed from office when he was indicted, or had the grace to resign. I support Israel, but this is meshuggah.
17
It appears that the tragedy of the present is the persistence of voting in candidates who lack a moral compass and empathy. This is especially sad in Israel which has a complex situation to work through and in the U.S. which is in the middle of deep division. Sometimes in eras of great need, such as the Great Depression, we get the leaders we need, but apparently not at this time.
19
I know democracy can be messy and that given the other known forms of governance it is probably the best, but holy smokes has it been shown to have some serious shortcomings in the last 5 years.
38
Can President Rivlin say no to Bibi in forming a government because of felony charges?
Ok You won but you can not be PM when under indictment?
7
@DennisMcG . How dare politicians that you dislike assemble coalitions and win elections.
Despotism isn't doing so great either: Abu Mazen is in the 16th year of his 4 year term, and is somehow a billionaire while leading impovershed people. But then he is not subject to courts, voters, or the press and therefore is not on the receiving end of a stampede of negative press from the NYT. Go figure....
17
@TMDJS
Strawman alert. There are options aside from despots, corrupt ideologues facing a felony charge, and borderline illiterate con men who were born 1 inch away from home plate.
18
As the article notes, this is Israel’s third election in a year. Apparently, one way to win a national election is to keep holding them until everyone is so sick of the political gaming that your core supporters, those who are also on the take, turn out to vote for you. Look for that in the US in 2024.
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@Julio Wong
It's happening HERE and NOW., and with the help of Russia!
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@Julio Wong Exactly. What a farce. Just keep voting until you cheat your way to a win. How disgusting.
10
@Julio Wong. You don’t seem to understand the difference between our system of government and a parliamentary one.
4
If they want to remove Mr. Netanyahu they need to nominate someone is capable of doing the job.
At this point, that person does not exist in their party.
2
what a shame.... Israel is sinking.
69
Unfortunately, Israel does not allow its Israeli Citizens who are living abroad to vote an Absentee Ballot. In order to vote, Israelis need to be physically present in Israel, which for most entails a long and expensive Airplane flight.
This is, frankly, an Anti-Democratic policy, which effectively disenfranchises nearly every Israel living abroad. This policy of excluding voters from participating in National Elections is promulgated by the Likud Party because it cynically serves their interests: Israelis living abroad are more likely to vote for the Opposition Party, and against Netanyahu and his Likud. Enough Israelis are kept from voting that it has provided a material, probably decisive advantage to Likud.
The next U.S. President ought to insist that the Israeli Knesset rectify the problem. If not, maybe the Green Cards issued to Israelis should be contingent on never lasting past the next Election date in Israel?
Ironically, whilst Israelis liking abroad overseas cannot vote, those Israelis living abroad in settlements on Occupied Palestinian territories are allowed to vote, and even have polling places set up for their convenience. Even the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who have been excused from even serving a day of the otherwise mandatory National Service (typically, a stint in the Israeli Defense Forces) are entitled to vote.
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@Outerboro As an Israeli living abroad, allow me to disagree on multiple points:
1. From direct experience, Israeli abroad are much farther to the right than residents. The only significant US organization for Israelis-abroad (Adelson-affiliated IAC) and very right-wing.
2. Requiring physical presence was the rule since the founding of the state, 29 years before Likud won for the first time. If Likud were to change it, they would be (correctly) accused of changing the rules to own favor.
3. Much as I'd like to be able to vote, I think it is more Democratic for the people who actually end up governed by the elected to be the ones doing the voting. Democracy is government is by consent of the governed, not the consent of those living far away and under different laws.
4. Regardless of how it will affect future Israeli balance of power, there is never a justification for the leader of one country to pressure another Democracy regarding minutia election rules -- particularly when intended to achieve a particular election outcome.
5. Affecting Green Card rules for the purpose of impacting elections (or election rules) elsewhere would be nothing less than using the applicants as pawns in disputes they have nothing to do with. Do you really think that deporting Israeli Americans in time for the next election would get them to vote the way you want them to vote (or at all)?
Dan.
14
Let this be a lesson to the Democrats: it’s not enough to be against Trump or against Bibi. To beat the incumbent you have to have a solid candidate with a message. Gantz was not the guy. He is boring and completely uninspiring. Keep that in mind when considering your middle of the road candidates - they will lose too.
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@Joe Landis So, we should support our own version of Jeremy Corbyn? How'd that work out?
11
@LEM Brexit and Labour's about face on Brexit is why they lost not because of his platform. Well that and all the anti semitic smears he got the UK's version of AIPAC.
@Joe Landis As the political establishment is doing everything they can to kill the campaign of the one man with tens of millions of passionate supporters that have donated almost $200 million of non dirty money and show up to his rallies 20k at a time. Instead they Biden, a man that has ZERO chance of beating Trump. Tells me that they don't care about beating Trump, they only care about blocking the one man that would end their gravy train.
What drives someone to vote for a crook? I just can't fathom it.
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@Marc
Because the choice is that bad.
Same thing happened here 3 years ago.
10
What makes politicians stoop to the lowest common denominator?
1
@Two Americas Gresham's law - bad politicians eventually drive out good - those that lie and manipulate appeal to the masses unable to differentiate rhetoric from leadership.
8
Right wing populists = 1
Palestinians = 0
17
A nation that votes in a known criminal, votes to keep millions in a position of stateless terror is not a nation the United States should continue to support. I’m sorry if this is considered politically incorrect to say, but Israel is a corrupt state with unchecked powers and a country that have aggressively meddled in our political system, often in favor of more unstable and extreme voices here. This vote is no surprise. Israel is not a democracy or a model nation. It’s a pariah state with few friends that would have changed course a long time ago if it wasn’t for our bully stick protecting them.
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@MJ
Apparently you know more than the Israeli justice system. Netanyahu has been charged with crimes but not yet tried, let alone convicted. As I recall from growing up in the US, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty.
Many Israelis feel the charges against Netanyahu are false and politically motivated. He will have his day in court.
Your president recently had his day in court and was acquitted. You may not agree with that decision, so what does that say about the US government?
Israel is hardly a pariah state. And if anything, it is hyperdemocratic-you should listen to Knesset or local government proceedings here.
And if anyone is keeping West Bank and Gaza Arabs in stateless terror, it's their own so-called leaders.
29
@MJ THere are more Arabs in the Israeli Knesset than there are Jews in all of the governments of the Arab states combines. let's talk about democracy and discrimination...
26
@MJ
Hyperbole does not make your argument correct.
10
What are the Israelis thinking?! Supporting a crook? Do they want to live in an endless state of anxiety and war?!
14
As the rule of law appears to have fallen out of favor around the world right now, I'm beginning to wonder will the value ever return? Is this the new "normal"?
19
Israel and the USA have now defined "normal" leaders as those who dare to break the law and get away with it. Got it.
126
This makes me personally, a very very happy person. Mr. Netanyahu is the right person for the right time in the right place. I do not doubt he has cut corners, taken a bottle of champagne here and there, and thrown his weight around. I don't care. Does anyone really think that politics and puritanical zeal mix?
He gets that conversation with Islamicists is a fools errand, and goes about making sure Israel is safe. He also pretty much making sure that all conversation about a two state solution eventually dies out, and that the J-streeters lose their relevance. There is not going to be a Palestine as a political entity - Mr. N will make sure of that.
Best wishes Mr. N.
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@Kalidan
"He's a corrupt criminal but I don't care".
You could have been much more succinct.
34
@cato54 You need to read up on history. Jews have always lived in Palestine. Arabs had attacked them for years during the British Mandate. They did not "steal" the land but were given it after 6 million were murdered for being Jewish. Non-Jewish people living there were not turned out by Jews. Jews had to fight to keep the tiny piece of land they were given. They have never started a war, but they have ended quite a few. They are not "terrorist thugs," but family people, by and large, who want to live in peace.
14
It is you who need to check your history. I believe in the need for Israel to exist but they drove many Palestinian's from their homes since 1948 and continue to do so today.
11
Netanyahu winning says a lot about Israelis, and none of it good. As corrupt as any American.
163
Let's not insult the Republicans in our government by confusing them with Americans.
6
It appears that Israel has been infected by the same crazy lack of judgement that the US demonstrated with Trump.
If you want a right wing warmonger nationalist or whatever, surely you can find one who isn't an obvious crook.
134
It is sad to see the criminal law be used as a political weapon. Whatever Benjamin Netanyahu's faults, and they are many, let the voters decide. Don't bring charges to try to influence the election.
8
@John Smithson
I don't believe that a leader should have immunity from the consequences of his behavior. If Netanyahu did not have the prospect and hope of keeping his privileges and immunity from prosecution, he would not have much incentive to continue on as Prime Minister, nor would the Likud Rank & File members be inclined to keep Bibi as party leady.
Make no mistake: It is Netanyahu's own choice to keep running and running. It is a cynical choice designed to serve his narrow personal interests, and to evade justice and accountability.
It is not that charges are being brought to influence an Election ( the charges and indictments against Netanyahu would have come much sooner had not "Politics" intervened); it is that Netanyahu is using this Election to influence the course of Justice
10
@John Smithson Unless you have some facts to support your claim that the charges were politically motivated, what you are really saying is that the PM, even if guilty, should not be held accountable for his crimes, i.e. that he is above the law.
3
Bob s, I do not know the facts of the case against Benjamin Netanyahu beyond what has been reported in the press. But I do know that the allegations are of political behavior, not the kind of crime that would (for example) be impeachable in the United States. That is, treason, bribery or other high crimes.
Without evidence of serious crimes a leader should be left alone for the people to decide their fate. Otherwise politics and crime become entwined. Then you have things like the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton that had a clear effect on her defeat. And the impeachments of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
Too many countries use criminal law to police politics for minor malfeasance. South Korea, Brazil, Israel. Too dangerous. Too much harm, not enough good.
2
Someone is accused. Netanyahu. Does that make him guilty? Why have trials? And it is one thing for a court to overturn an old election based on new information, but here the public was well aware of the accusations when they cast their votes, just today. Why have elections?
13
An indicted Prime Minister. The country's third election. What a combination.
109
The Israel that was established by the Zionists after World War II, on the ashes of the slaughtered Jews in Nazi concentration camps, was an entirely different place under Ben Gurion to what we have today under Netanyahu. I NEVER thought that Israel would end up with a government where the prime minister acts like a pope who thinks he's entitled to hold the office for life, whatever his deficiencies might be. If his conduct weren't bad enough, that he's one of our own gangster-president's most rabid supporters puts the final nail in the coffin in terms of my support for the country. Until they clean house and prove themselves worthy of American support and that of Jews around the world, I see no reason to continue arguing for financial aid to a country where minorities are ignored and where politicians under indictment are able to hold high office with impunity. Although I was born Jewish, I have NO emotional allegiance to Israel as it is today. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some changes which will allow me to change my mind and feelings toward the country.
186
@ManhattanWilliam
Really?
So tell me about another country where it becomes illegitimate because some people don't like its politics?
Have we abolished Germany because of Nazism?
Have we abolished Italy or Spain because of Fascism?
As you infer, you're a Jew by accident. You have other concerns than Judaism. And you need Israel to agree with your concerns. Sorry. Israel has its own concerns, and they don't have to dovetail with yours for her to be legitimate.
Someday, however, when those in this country that you find common cause with politically decide that they aren't too enthralled with the people you were accidentally born into, you might come to the conclusion that you no longer care whether Israel buys into your oh so important political views anymore.
You know that could happen? Right?
27
Although one must strongly disagree with the recently elected government in Israel , it does not mean that one’s emotional allegiance should be altered in any fashion. One can strongly disagree with the government but deeply believe in the purpose of the country.
11
@David Schalit No one said anything about the country being "illegitimate", those are YOUR words. What I'm saying is that since I'm not an Israeli citizen BUT I am asked to support sending American tax dollars to support the Israeli government, THAT gives me a right to weigh in on the issue of the government and the direction the country is taking. Israel is free to do whatever it wants BUT don't ask that I push the American government to send American dollars in the effort to prop up a government that is leading the country in a direction that I do not support. Israel has no god-given right to EXPECT American dollars to support policies that are objectionable.
27