Elections in Israel

[nino_savatte]

Tzipi looks a bit odd without her make-up. (apols VP)

So who is going to play Bungle to Tzipi? Will it be Barak, BiBi or Lieberman?

 

[TomUS]

The Israeli public has moved to the right, no matter who becomes PM. I don't get it, except that they were beaten by Hez & couldn't beat Hamas....actually made it stronger. Iran is scaring them. And the world is criticizing them a whole lot more. The victim/bunker mentality gets stronger. So, I guess they get defiant & say screw you to the world & get more extreme. They see their invincibility slipping away & are trying to hold on to it. When countries feel threatened, they move right it seems. Suicidal.

 

[tangentlama]

The Israeli public has moved to the right, no matter who becomes PM. I don't get it, except that they were beaten by Hez & couldn't beat Hamas....actually made it stronger. Iran is scaring them. And the world is criticizing them a whole lot more. The victim/bunker mentality gets stronger. So, I guess they get defiant & say screw you to the world & get more extreme. They see their invincibility slipping away & are trying to hold on to it. When countries feel threatened, they move right it seems. Suicidal.

Their brand is crisis. The Govt/Business are screwing their workforce, whilst in the Occupied Territories, construction is constantly expanding and 80% of Palestinians are unemployed. Of those 20% who do have jobs, they have to queue at checkpoints, often from 3am just to be able to get to work on time.

 

[goldenecitrone]

Should be interesting to see what kind of support Obama will give to an increasingly right-wing, racist Israeli government.

 

[TomUS]

Should be interesting to see what kind of support Obama will give to an increasingly right-wing, racist Israeli government.

Yea, interesting question. The pro-Israel lobby is so powerful, & he can't afford to alienate it much at all, especially until there is some traction on his economic laws & stuff. He'll probably make statements way more reasonable than Bush, but I don't see much action coming there real soon.

I think he knows that the ball's in Israel's court to have a real peace settlement. But to push it too hard would be political suicide now.

Seems to me both Israel & it's opponents are under a good deal of control of right wing racist leadership. The Israeli election is no step in the right direction.

 

[nino_savatte]

Well, the only thing to come from this election is the fact that whatever sort of government is formed, it won't last very long.

I found this on the Socialist Party (ex-Militant) website.
http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/6926

The AWL have a laughably different spin on this. Here they call for solidarity with the Israeli left, while taking a swipe at anti-Zionists, who they broadly label as closet anti-Semites.
http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2009/02/12/right-gains-step-solidarity-israeli-left


This AFP article claims that Peres could ask Bibi to form the next government. To head off the prospect of a totally right wing coalition, the slightly less right wing Kadimah party are making overtures to Likud.
Kadima called on Sunday for a power-sharing deal with Netanyahu.

"A rotation is the minimum that Kadima can demand so that a stable government sees the light of day," said Avi Dichter, a Kadima member and public security minister in the outgoing government.

He was referring to a power-sharing arrangement Israel had in 1984 after another close ballot, when the two top parties each held the post of prime minister for two years.

That government was one of the longest-serving in Israeli history.

Netanyahu has so far rejected the rotating premiership option, but has made it clear he favours a broad coalition including Kadima, rather than an alliance with parties to the right of his own.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7VhKuX6XHaKk04XBYYb2PIAr-rQ

US Jewish academics call for a coalition without Liberman, according to Ha'aretz. Does that include the noted 'academic' and 'legal mind', Alan Dershowitz? No.

The petition, entitled "No government with Lieberman" and signed by at least 300 people, will be sent to Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu this week.

"Granting Mr. Lieberman a senior ministerial post would endanger the foundations of Israel as a democratic state and delegitimize it in the eyes of the world," the petition states, citing the politician's call for Israeli Arabs to sign a loyalty oath or be stripped of their citizenship. "Such a government would be one that even Israel's friends would find increasingly difficult - if not impossible - to identify with or support."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065117.html

Same article, next paragraph

Meanwhile, several hundred American Jews participated in a 24-hour protest across from the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency buildings in New York over the weekend to protest Israeli policy toward Palestinians as well as the Israeli election results.

Organizers said the rally was held for 24 hours "to highlight the reality endured by the people of Gaza who are forced to live under inhuman conditions without reprieve, 24 hours a day."

 

[danny la rouge]

I see Netanyahu's ready to form a government. Interestingly, though, there tends to be more settler activity during Labor periods in power, doesn't there.

 

[danny la rouge]

Nobody with views on Bibi? Are we going to see a search for a new Bhantustan-style tribal leader in the Palestinian territories? Or has the two state solution globally got the upper hand for now? Will Bibi therefore be reacting to that?

 

[nino_savatte]

Peres has asked Bibi to form a government.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7901486.stm

I don't expect this government to last long.

I'm now taking bets on when the next general election will be called.