Palestinians are oppressed, right? Who oppresses them? The Jews--or Progressives?

The anti-Israel drumbeat doesn't wane. If anything, it grows stronger. It pops up continuously like teenage acne. 

It's a scourge. It scars its advocates with hate.

So far in 2021 alone, anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism and anti-Jew rhetoric appear to have risen to historic heights (see here and here). Even the anti-Israel Human Rights Watch has become concerned at the level of Jew-hate in the US (here). The jerusalempost seems indeed correct to suggest that global anti-Semitism is expected to jump dramatically this year (here).

Just today, June 30, 2021, a report has surfaced that the UK now experiences the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents on record (here). In the US, anti-Semitic attacks are considered to be persistent--and worsening (here). In Europe, a "surging" anti-Semitism provokes concern for many (here).

Make no mistake. Jews everywhere are under assault.

In many of the anti-Jew incidents reported in the media this year (here), Israel has been the trigger for much of the anti-Jew rhetoric we see. It is Israel that triggers rally expressions of violence, not "Jews". 

No longer is it the Jew who must be driven off in order for a community to feel safe or pure or wholesome. It is Israel that must be driven off to make the world safer or purer or more wholesome. 

This idea is, of course, nonsense. If anything, Israeli high-tech advances have been one of the main reasons the world has become safer and healthier. Israel has become the fabled 'start-up' nation--the smallest nation in the world to  enhance at such a high level our daily lives. Though tiny, Israel has successfully developed new technologies for everything from cell phones to autos, medicine and even water resources for nations literally dying of thirst. 

Israel is one of the world's leaders in high tech. In the world of high tech, Israel's "punch" is far, far greater than its tiny size. 

Israel and the Palestinians play on the same geographic stage. They are neighbors. We know what Israel has done. It has become a science powerhouse. What have the Palestinians done? Nothing.

Curiously, according to a spreading international rage, it seems that the more Israel brings high tech miracles to the world, the more it is demonized by an evil intent--to destroy the Jewish state simply because it is Jewish. That is what we have seen this year. Israel is evil because it is Jewish!

So far as much of the world is now concerned, the 'Jew-Israel'--despite its passing the tests to be named the only democracy in the Middle East--has become the world's worst human rights violator. 

It is impossible to be termed a democracy and also at the same time to be called the world's worst human rights violator. Yet for many, Israel is both. Israel is the new Nazi Germany.  

You might not know this epithet has been attached to Israel. But the world's "Progressives" know it. They believe it. They promote it. They teach it at almost all the West's colleges and universities. 

"Progressives" don't just teach their anti-Israelism/anti-Jew beliefs. They indoctrinate their students with their anti-Jew/anti-Israel lies. 

Today, this is easy to do. Better than 90% of today's college/universities are now staffed by "Progressives"--and by those now too afraid to stand up to "Progressives". The "Progressive" anti-Jew/anti-Israel political agenda appears to have become academia's education agenda.

Therefore, some form of Jew-hate will now be taught to your children and grandchildren when they go to college. Today, learning Jew-hate is what it means to be called, 'educated'.

Here's a "Progressive's" poster that tells an interesting story. Take a look  (from here):  

In this poster, you see what kind of lives Palestinians lead in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and in Gaza. They live under a dictator's thumb. They live in fear. They have few--if any--freedoms. Helping to improve the lives of Palestinians certainly should be a "Progressive" Cause.

But it isn't. The plight of Palestinians will not be relieved precisely because "Progressives" control the narrative about Palestinians. "Progressives" do not work to alleviate Palestinian suffering. Instead,"Progressives" are not very progressive at all. They have a different goal: to proclaim that crimes against Palestinians are all Israel's fault because Palestinians do no wrong.

Naturally, you may not believe that it is Palestinians who are guilty of the crimes listed in this poster. You may well believe what "Progressives" say--that it is Israel who is guilty of these crimes. 

Well, if you believe that, congratulations. Your anti-Jew/anti-Israel indoctrination training has been successful. Very successful.

But it's not Israel which commits the crimes listed in this poster. It's the Palestinians themselves who commit these crimes--against their own people.

Want the truth? Just look at the Palestinian Authority's (PA) track record of offenses against its own people:

--No real freedom of speech or freedom of the press (here, here and here). 

--Gay rights: the PA has outright banned gays (here). In both the PA and Gaza, gays are being arrested, jailed without trial and even executed (at least in Gaza, but possibly also in the PA) just because they are gay (see a 2-minute video by the Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin here; and here)

-While "Progressive" media has lots to say about allegations of Israelis torturing Palestinians in Israeli prisons (which may or not be true), no "Progressive" news outlet will tell you about Palestinians being tortured in the PA by PA Security forces. "Progressives" want you to believe only one thing: it is Israel that tortures Palestinians. 

Nevertheless, in the PA and in Gaza, where rule is maintained by just two authorities (Fatah in the PA; Hamas in Gaza), there is only one way to speak or to think--and zero dissent allowed (here). Both Fatah and Hamas "have established machineries of repression to crush dissent, including through the use of torture" (ibid).

--Palestinian Christians are actively persecuted and harassed in the PA by the PA. Too often, when Christians are attacked in the PA, PA security forces will not intervene, leaving these Christians terrified--or worse (here);

-The PA offers little-to-no protection for women in the PA (here);

--Honor killings and the abuse of women in the PA has reached such a high level that Palestinians are outraged (here). But PA officials do little to address this issue. 

Naturally, if you are yourself a Social Justice Warrior, such a poster should, in theory, speak to you. After all, it suggests how, in 'Palestine', Palestinians face oppression. That's what you fight against, right? It's what you want to fix, right? It's why you--or your children--go to anti-Israel rallies, right?

Unfortunately, too many well-meaning Jews (and non-Jews) do not understand the first thing about the lies generated to demonize Israel--and to exonerate Palestinian crimes. Too many simply accept as gospel what "Progressives" tell them. 

By believing lies about Israel--and with those lies, protecting PA criminals--these well-meaning individuals who support the "Progressive" narrative against Israel actually end up hurting Palestinians, not helping them. They end up protecting the abusers. They shield the Palestinians who kill their own. They hurt the innocents by supporting and honoring their Palestinian oppressors. 

Eighty years ago, the silence heard across America about the evils of an unfolding European Holocaust helped Nazis to exterminate 6 million Jews. Few from America complained about what Hitler was doing to Europe's Jews, so of course Hitler felt perfectly comfortable he could proceed as he pleased with his 'Final Solution' program.

Today, America's (and Europe's) silence in the face of rabid Jew-hate only thinly disguised as 'anti-Zionism', does the same thing--it abets the PA's drive to exterminate Israel. It helps to bring the Palestinian dream of wiping Israel off the face of the earth closer to reality. 

Here's the dirtiest truth of all: the only people in the Middle East who actually care about Palestinians are the Jews.

Only the Jews give Palestinians jobs with decent benefits. Only the Jews take into their own hospitals Palestinians who need cutting edge medical assistance. Only Jews give Palestinians a chance to enter almost any field of endeavor. Only the Jews give Palestinians who commit to Israel a chance to vote far more often than once every fifteen+ years.  Only the Jewish Israel gives Palestinians the right to sue other Palestinians in Israeli courts in order to seek justice for Palestinian crimes. Only the Jews allow Palestinian the right move freely within large Israeli cities.

 Few if any Israelis are granted these same rights within the PA. 

Listen: the Palestinian people are oppressed, all right. But not by Israel. Until the world wakes up to this horror, Palestinians will continue to be condemned to suffer--and to die.

Is that the true goal "Progressives" are after? Is that your goal?

 

What does Netanyahu-bashing say about Israel's political discourse?

 (Last update: June 22, 2021)

Within a single 19-hour news cycle this week, two attacks on former Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu splashed across Israel's news horizon. These attacks may be instructive. They may indicate that, as long as Netanyahu has any political life potential whatsoever, he will continue to be bashed.

The first of these two attacks came from within Netanyahu's own Party, Likud. Currently, Netanyahu is head of Likud. But now, he has a serious challenger in Likud's Yuli Edelstein.

On Sunday night, June 19, 2021, Edelstein, seeking to win an internal Likud vote to depose Netanyahu, accused Netanyahu of having made "every possible mistake" while losing the Premiership (here and here). But this accusation was just that--an accusation. It seemed more overreach than precise.

Netanyahu did not lose his command of the Premiership because he made "every possible mistake". That is too big an accusation. Netanyahu lost because the entire nation was trying to survive an unprecedented four-elections-in-less-than-two years-nightmare to elect a new Prime Minister. The entire nation was in uncharted waters. No one in Israel knew the 'right' formula to win. No one. 

I doubt that a fair assessment of Netanyahu's failure to create a coalition government can be made with the statement that Netanyahu made 'every' possible mistake in his loss. But certainly, a biased and unfair conclusion can be made.

Edelstein wants to lead Likud. By his own admission, he wants to 'win'. Clearly, he seems willing to do 'whatever it takes' to accomplish that goal. He will bash the boss (Netanyahu) to depose the boss.

Does Edelstein believe that the 'ends justify the means'? This saying suggests that, so long as an action accomplishes a desired goal, virtually any action that gets that job done will be termed, 'good'.

For a Machiavellian politician, the achieving of a desired outcome--no matter how unethical--will always justify the means. But then, Machiavelli has never been known for his ethical behavior. He is instead known more for ruthlessness than morality. A politician who might use a 'Machiavellian' tactic will not win any awards for moral behavior. But he could win his political fight. That seems to be what Edelstein does.

Therefore, if an Israeli politician--Edelstein--wants to push out Netanyahu, and a Machiavellian approach would work, what else would he say to help dislodge Netanyahu? Would he tell Likud members how wonderful Netanyahu was? Of course not.

Instead, a ruthless Machiavellian politician--Edelstein?--might choose to employ an ethically slippery accusation (one that is possibly or probably false) to motivate Likud members to turn out Netanyahu. Is this what Edelstein has done? 

Some in Israel will say yes, this is exactly what Edelstein has done. They might even say Edelstein has used an ethically questionable argument. 

Others, however, will disagree. They say, nothing wrong here; Edelstein is correct, for that is exactly what Netanyahu did when he lost. He made only mistakes; he made every possible mistake.

Still, is bashing your opponent the best way to win? For too many in Israel, it is.

The second attack against Netanyahu may have been more  sophisticated than Edelstein's. This second attack came in the form of a comment that, shrewedly, seemed to attack Netanyahu, but only subtly. 

On June 20, 2021, newly appointed Foreign Minister Yair Lapid declared that, as the new government began the process of taking over different Ministries, "The destruction and damage we found in government ministries is inconceivable. We are not starting from scratch, but from minus" (here). 

Since Netanyahu was the Prime Minister over these Ministries, Lapid's implied allegation was, 'look at the havoc this man--Netanyahnu--brought to the government! He had created a mess so awful it will take a very long time to clean up.

There's just one problem with this accusation. It is too unfocused to be meaningful. You see, many of the Ministries during this last government were not controlled by Netanyahu's Likud Party. Yes, in the 16 (of the proposed 35) Ministries that were controlled by Likud (here), such a claim by Lapid could be correct, depending upon the details of the 'mess' Lapid said had been found. 

But in the 19 Ministries not controlled by Likud (ibid), Netanyahu had little-to-no control. That control had been granted to the political Party to whom those Ministries were given. Placing the blame on Netanyahu for any mess in these 19 Ministries might be construed as a lie.

In Israel, after an election, as in other democracies, the winning Party gets to take over government Ministries. But unlike some other democracies, in Israel, Ministries do not all go to the one winning Party. For in Israel, to form a 'government', a winning Party must recruit other, rival Parties to join the winner in a 'coalition'. The winner must offer 'spoils' to these rival Parties--to entice then to work with (and not against) the newly elected PM. These 'spoils' typically come in the form of handing out control over one or more government Ministries. 

Once a rival Party is assigned control of a Ministry, the Party that rules the Prime Minister's office can lose a greater or lesser amount of control over that specific Ministry. If the government Ministries referred to by Lapid were not controlled by Likud appointees, then Netanyahu cannot entirely be blamed for the mess created there. That blame should go more directly to the political Party that controlled that--or those--Ministries.

In the last government, 19 of the government's 35 Ministries had--by political agreement--to be filled by other Parties, including a second-best 12 Ministries to be controlled by Benny Gantz's Blue-White Party. Given how Israel's political system works, some of the failed Ministries might not have been controlled by the Prime Minister. Because Gantz controlled so many Ministries, some of the failed Ministries could have been his responsibility.  

Therefore the question is, which Ministries was Lapid referring to--Ministries run by Likud, or by other Parties? Lapid's vagueness creates questions, not answers. His implied accusation becomes--because of vagueness--irrelevant. 

I believe the purpose of Lapid's claim was not to accuse anyone. I think its intent was to suggest that the supposed 'great' Netanyahu not only turns out to have had feet of clay, but feet of an incompetent clod, as well.  For Lapid, a vague, unspecified report or claim works to make this suggestion without being specific enough to run the risk of being branded a liar.  

Right now, these two Netanyahu-bashing suggestions (by Edelstein and Lapid) that have appeared in the same 19-hour news cycle are important only because they reveal the low level of political discourse in Israel today. Unfortunately, that level is very low.  

Netanyahu-bashing lives on even after his 'defeat'. For Israel, the dirty truth about the nation's political stage is that politicians here will bash the former PM for as long as the bashing gets headlines. As soon as those headlines stop, the bashing will stop. 

This bashing hurts Israel. It sullies our reputation. It pushes political discourse into the gutter. The gutter seems too, too familiar to Israeli politicians. 

Really, now, is this the best Israel can do on its political stage?

Cracks in the new Bennett-Lapid coalition

 

After just four days of existence, the Bennett-Lapid coalition government has already developed some potentially serious disagreements. These disagreements represent cracks in the superstructure of the new coalition. These cracks could lead to the collapse of the coalition.

As you will see in a moment, these cracks begin with a simple 'technical' issue. But these cracks are not limited to 'technical' issues; and that's the problem. These cracks are systemic.

The first 'crack' involves the size of the coalition. This 'unity' coalition controls (in theory) the bare minimum of Knesset seats to be called a 'government'. In practical terms, this means the coalition 'controls' just 61 seats of the 120-seat Knesset. 

61 is a 'majority' of 120. This should suggest that the coalition can, in theory at least, still get its legislative agenda passed--but only if all of the political 'stars' align exactly.

For this coalition, that will be a tall order. A bare-minimum majority means that, again in theory, a single coalition MK (Member of the Knesset) who is a part of the coalition but who nonetheless refuses to vote in the Knesset with the coalition's dictates, could leave the coalition with just 60 seats for any given vote. A coalition with 60 seats does not have a Knesset majority--which in turn suggests that, in theory, the coalition lacks the power to fulfill its legislative agenda. 

That's the problem. Without a dependably compliant majority, the government could end up unable to pass any legislation. It would be a frozen government.  

Now all of this is theory because the Knesset does not always meet with all its 120 seats occupied. Sometimes MKs are absent. Sometimes an MK abstains--is present but does not vote. 

The impact of this practical reality is simple: if the coalition can muster only 59 votes for a bill but---because of absentees and/or abstainees--the opposition is able to muster only 58 votes, then the coalition will not need 61 votes to prevail. That is, in this scenario, the final vote could be 58 votes for the coalition and just 57 votes against.  At least, that's what I understand from what I have read. The coalition's legislative agenda could be saved.

These Knesset voting considerations might be doable for skilled leaders, if there are no other problems. But with this coalition, problems are everywhere.

For example, during the coalition's first four days of existence, two coalition MKs threw a monkey wrench into the 'works'. They declared they will not necessarily vote according to the wishes of their Party leaders (here and here). 

Sure, such declarations of 'independence' happen in Israel's Knesset all the time. Mks do, sometimes, vote their conscience despite what their leaders want.  

Nevertheless, here's the operational problem--and why these two MKS create a serious crack in the coalition. If a coalition had a total of, say, 66 seats (not 61), as many as five 'defections' on any particular vote could be meaningless because the coalition will still be able to bring 61 seats--a majority--to a Knesset vote (66-5=61). But if the coalition has only 61 seats, as is the case with this coalition, the coalition will lose its majority when only one Mk 'defects'. If two or more MK 'defect' or are absent, the coalition could fail to achieve any number of its goals on its legislative agenda.

Just days old, this coalition is in trouble. There is no cushion. The coalition majority margin really is razor thin. 

With two coalition MKs already asserting their 'independence' so early in the coalition's life, all of Israel now realizes that there is no wiggle room in this coalition to offset the impact of any non-supportive coalition MKs--on any vote. To succeed, the coalition has to make sure that everyone in the coalition must vote according to the coalition's desires. For a country like Israel, which is so fractious, argumentative and stubborn, getting 100% obedience for any Knesset vote would be a  challenge in any case. But with two MKs already showing 'independence,' are we to conclude that maintaining its 61-seat majority will be an impossibility for this coalition? That could happen.

This reality has practical consequences for the 
Bennett-Lapid coalition because just days into its existence, the coalition has also begun to show additional signs of cracking. Yes, some of these additional cracks do not seem fatal. But they are still disturbing. Taken together, they threaten the coalition's very survival.

These additional cracks are not technical or 'procedural'. They are more serious. They speak directly to irreconcilable ideological differences that exist between Parties in this politically ill-begotten coalition. 

The three additional cracks are: (1) the issue of how to address what some Arabs in Israel call a 'historical injustice' against them; (2) the issue of legitimizing currently illegal Bedouin settlements in the Negev; and (3) the coalition desire to extend (that is, renew) a current law that prevents Arabs who are married, but currently separated by the de facto border between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), from 'reuniting' in Israel (see below). 

These three additional cracks first began to appear on June 15th, the second full day of the coalition. That was when coalition member Mansour Abbas (head of the Arab-Islamist Ra'am Party) announced that, during his tenure in the coalition, he will commit to fixing the "historical injustice" Arabs in Israel suffer (here). 

The phrase 'historical injustice' is not an Israel-friendly term. It is a kind of code-word for anti-Israel Islamists and their supporters. It is commonly used as a cudgel to demonize and/or agitate against Israel. It is not generally used in the frequently collegial corridors of an Israeli ruling coalition. 

Indeed, at first, Mansour Abbas's use of the phrase did not cause much comment. But that changed two days later.

What changed was, after Abbas made his statement about those 'historical injustices', an Arab Imam in the Israeli city of Lod was arrested by Israeli police for inciting violence. What did this Imam do to deserve getting arrested? He apparently 'clarified' for his internet followers what Mansour Abbas must have meant when he had spoken of "addressing" the 'historical injustice against Arabs'. The Imam had posted a video on the internet saying this is how to fix those injustices. 

What did his 'this' refer to? It referred to what some Israeli Arabs feel is 'the right thing to do'. It referred to a video the Imam had himself posted showing the brutal murder of two Israeli police officers, with an accompanying caption that said, "Be with me. [this is] The best way to deal with injustice" (here). He was arrested for inciting violence against the police.

This kind of anti-Israel outrage is not unusual for Israel. Too often, when an Arab politician calls to deal with some kind of 'injustice' committed--or allegedly committed--against the Israeli-Arab community, it is followed by words of a more radically anti-Jew Arab--who, typically, calls to kill or to attack Jews. Sometimes, such calls for violence have been suggested by the same Arab politician who made the accusation of 'injustice'. 

Public calls by Islamists for violence against Jews in Israel happen. Such calls are part of Israel's democratic culture, one that grants to Arabs in Israel far more freedom than Arabs get in any Arab country in the Middle East. Too often, that freedom leads to violence.

In the Middle East, perception is everything, and the Islamist Mansour Abbas' presence in the coalition--and his use of the phrase 'historical injustices'--was immediately associated with the Imam's call to violence. That association could be, perhaps, just an unintended consequence of an Arab politician echoing Muslim attitudes towards Israel. But whatever its motivation, those words nonetheless left in many Israeli 'mouths'  a bad taste for what the coalition might have done to Israel by including an Islamist in the coalition in the first place. That bad taste could threaten the coalition. It could destroy the public's confidence in the coalition. 

The second of these three additional cracks showing up in the coalition's first week of existence involved the question of legitimizing currently illegal Bedouin settlements in the Negev. Over the course of Israel's 73-year history, Israelis have fought and died trying to defend literally every inch of Jewish land in Israel. They do not want those bloody battles to be forsworn. They do not want Jewish-owned land to be given away. Nor do they want to give a soapbox to Israel-hating Islamists who will  encourage Arabs to take over Jewish land. 

Of course, some call this Jewish reluctance to give up land 'Jewish racism'. But many Israelis beg to differ. They see such calls by Arabs instead as an example of Arab racism against Jews--for these Arab claims over Jewish land are usually followed by Arabs then claiming the disputed land as their land. Following these claims, Jews are called upon to get out!

That is where the Arab racism shows up: get out, Jew!

 Israelis feel it. They feel the threat of it. 

With this coalition just days old, Mansour Abbas of the Arab-Islamist Ra'am Party stepped up to a microphone and did nothing to allay these Jewish land fears. Instead, he fed these fears by suggesting clearly that he will not support the  Bennett-Lapid coalition, and will work against the coalition if Israel takes no steps to recognize and legitimize Arab Bedouin villages in the Negev. 

This threat was not good news for coalition stability. This coalition could truly crack apart because Israelis are really sensitive about how believers in Islam use language in Israel's political sphere. They have good reason to believe that Islamists shape political language in Israel to smear Israel, to demonize Israel and to question Israel's existence and its national rights.Therefore, if this leader of the Ra'am Party makes what many perceive to be an anti-Israel demand regarding Bedouin land in the Negev, that demand doesn't just threaten to destabilize the coalition. It threatens to blow up the coalition. 

The third additional crack (for a total of four for the coalition's first week) appeared when coalition member Meretz Party announced it would not support the coalition's call to renew an Israeli law that prevents married couples separated by the de facto border between Israel and the PA from reuniting in Israel (here). This Party (Meretz) objected to the coalition's desire to extend this law. 

By the way, the reason for this current law to exist in the first place has nothing to do with what some call, racism. The reason for the law is to prevent fictitious marriages. It is to prohibit the State from allowing anti-Israel Arab activists who live in the PA to enter into a fraudulent marriage with an Arab-Israeli just to receive a free pass to enter Israel (as a wife reunifying with her husband--or a husband to reunify with his wife), no questions asked (here). 

Some in the coalition see this existing law as a security issue, to keep Israel safe (here). Indeed, given the PA's open and public hostility to Israel's right to exist, to say nothing of the wars Israel must fight every few years against Palestinian Jew-hate, wanting to renew this law is certainly reasonable. 

Others in the coalition--including Mansour Abbas of the Ra'am Party and now Meretz--oppose renewing this law. Apparently, they do not want to block PA Arabs from living in Israel. 

Without the votes of Meretz and Ra'am, this part of the coalition political agenda will fail. Failure is never a good start for any coalition.

Goodness. When Bennett agreed to create a 'unity' government, he did so saying specifically he wanted to end the political 'chaos' in Israel. But Bennett did not end chaos. He has simply introduced into Israel a different kind of political chaos. 

The ink on this government coalition isn't even dry yet.  The coalition's first week hasn't even ended yet--and all we can see are these cracks showing up?  

This does not bode well for Bennett. My guess is, this coalition is on very, very thin ice. Will it last?

Not at this rate, it won't..

In Israel, Democracy is out. The will of the elite class is in

 

As perhaps you already know, Israel's March 23, 2021 election has--in theory, at least--moved Israel further to the political Right. For example, in the still-current Gantz-Netanyahu 'unity' government, Israel's political Right holds 65 seats in the Knesset. But in the new-incoming Knesset, the political Right in Israel will hold 72 seats (of 120 total seats). 

Since most Israeli voters already lean to the political Right, such vote results as described above represent an accurate reflection of Israel's voter preferences: this nation not only leans to the political Right, it also wants a government that will lean more to the Right.

This seemingly perfect match of voter preference with election results suggests that if you supported Israel's Right in the last two elections, you'd expect to be happy today. After all, Israel's newly-selected (not elected) Prime Minister (Naftali Bennett) has already claimed he is more Right-leaning than Netanyahu. That's what voters voted for, right?

Ahh, democracy. This is exactly what democracy is about--giving the voter the power to select which direction the country should go. 

Yes, Israelis went to the polls a little more than two-and-a-half months ago. They expressed their political preferences. They voted 'Right'--and that is what they got, right?

Not really. The voters certainly chose in which political direction they want the country to go. But after Israel's self-appointed elite class (that is, Israel's politicians and media leaders) rolled up its sleeves, the voters ended up choosing nothing. They will get nothing. 

You see, Israel's new government will not be Right-wing. Instead, if everything goes as planned between today and June 14th (the day the coalition is scheduled to 'go live'), Israel's new government will say it is Right but it will look, smell and act Leftist. 

Specifically, here are the numbers. If you support the Right in Israel, you can read these numbers and weep. If you support the Left, you can read these numbers and cheer. 

The political Parties within this new 'unity' government represent 61 seats (the minimum for a Knesset majority) made up of eight political Parties (plus one Arab-Islamist Party): Yesh Atid (17 seats); Blue and White (8 seats); Labor (7 seats); Meretz (6 seats); and the Arab-Islamist Ra'am Party (4 seats). 

These Center- and Left-leaning (or, purely Leftist) Parties add up to 42 of the coalition's 61 seats. They have a majority in the coalition. 

In theory, there will also be four Right- or Right-leaning Parties: Yamina (6 seats); Israel Beiteinu (7 seats); and New Hope (6 seats). But on matters of settlements, sovereignty, the two-state solution, gay rights, how Israel handles the prospect of being placed on trial at the International Criminal court (ICC)--to say nothing about the question of religion in Israel--the Israel Beiteinu Party may in fact vote Left. This means that, for some of Israel's most important Jewish issues, the Right could really have only 12 of the coalition's 61 seats. 

Note: for accuracy purposes, the Arab-Islamist Party is counted as part of the coalition. But it is--in theory, at least--not supposed to be part of coalition decision-making. It will no doubt be expected to vote in the Knesset with the Left side of the coalition.

A political imbalance in the coalition that favors the Left does not portend well for Israel's political Right. In fact, this imbalance will spell disaster for Israel's political Right. 

There will clearly be more than enough non-Right votes in the coalition to out-vote every idea that is important to the political Right. The coalition will also have too many non-Right votes for the Right to control anything in the coalition. 

Yes, there is supposed to be a mechanism in place for the coalition to counter-balance such a Leftist overweighting, but it isn't entirely clear how exactly that would work. Worse, this counter-balance idea, while mentioned in the news, appears to have disappeared from public statements by coalition leaders--suggesting yet another unpleasant sign for the Right's prospects.

So far, in public, Israel's elite has indeed proclaimed that Israel has 'unity'--you know, like these elite influencers did last year for the Gantz-Netanyahu fiasco. Really now, we have just seen the still-current Gantz-Netanyahu 'unity' coalition blow up. Why would a more fractured, politically irreconcilable and more non-Right version of 'unity' be better for Israel's voters?

It won't be. Many in Israel give this coalition little more than six months before we head again to new elections. Is Israel's near-term future destined to fail, not succeed? 

Apparently, Israel's elites do not care. They dismiss the voters' voice. They dismiss the supposed reality of the Knesset's make-up (more Right than Left). They ignore the real danger of a dysfunctional coalition actually provoking more Arab anti-Jew riots and attacks, just as similar kinds of Israeli hesitation or weakness has in the past. 

Israel's elite class wants only two things; that Israel becomes less religious while Arabs become more influential. Despite what voters have voted for, Israel's elite want a more Progressive Israel, not a more politically Conservative Israel. 

The 'unity' desired by Israel's elite does not promise to unify anything or anyone. It will disconnect voters from Israel's political and ideological identity. It will provoke such ruptures between Left and Right and Arab versus Jew as to threaten to tear Israel apart from the inside. 

Insanely, Israel's elite really believes this new 'unity' government will heal the nation (here). It will not. When the elite rule supreme over voters, Israel will always be harmed--and this 'unity' arrangement is no exception. 

Like it or not, Israel is turning Left. Like it or not, this 'unity' coalition will mean that Israel will face enhanced existential threats, not enhanced prospects of peace or tranquility. 

In fact, this 'unity' deal is so suspicious, none of the coalition's agreements have been revealed. This means that no one knows what promises Lapid and Bennett made to convince the political Parties in the coalition to join the coalition (here). If this 'unity' is going to be healing, why such secrecy around those promises? How many acts of corruption and political betrayal have been committed to secure this coalition? We do not know. 

This is not democracy in action. It is more like political suicide in the making. Secrecy is not a hallmark of democracy. It is, however, a hallmark of the betrayal of democracy.

   For Israel, democracy has been thrown out. Democracy has been replaced by the rule-of-the-elite 

Stay tuned. We have not seen the last of Israel's political madness 

Israel's media celebrates that Israel has a new government. But did you know this government could collapse before it is sworn in?

 

After more than two years of confusion, anger and uncertainty, not to mention four elections, Israel believes it has finally found what it has been looking for--a new Prime Minister. Just minutes before the final deadline to do so, politicians Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid announced they were ready to create a new coalition government. 

Under their arrangement, the Right-Wing Bennett will be PM for the government's first two years. The Center-Left Lapid will be Prime Minister for the government's last two years. 

Following that announcement, there was singing and dancing in some of Israel's streets. Some happy Israelis were celebrating the apparent fact that the man they hated most--Benjamin Netanyahu--has finally been removed! 

The celebrants were ecstatic that the "evil one"--that is, the one who was the hypocrite, the political traitor and the corrupt, immoral criminal ( the so-called 'Crime Minister' Netanyahu)--was really gone. Finally, the 'Crime Minister' would no longer darken Israel's proverbial political doorstep!

They celebrated: three cheers for democracy! Three cheers for the triumph of Light over Darkness!

Hurray! Or, maybe not.

Despite all the media hoopla, all the dancing in the street and, most important, all the wishful thinking of Israel's Netanyahu-hating media, this 'new government' is not a done deal. Far from it. This deal will only become real after it has been finalized by a vote of the Knesset sometime on or after June 7th--maybe. Until then, Netanyahu's political career remains alive. 

Actually, until that vote, Netanyahu is still very much in the fight. Make no mistake. Israel's premier political infighter will fight to survive. The battle to replace him is not over.

This coalition has only 61 members, representing just 61 seats in the Knesset. It is the slimmest margin possible to create a ruling coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. One single defection from this 61-member coalition would kill the deal because a 60-seat coalition would have no majority in the 120-seat body. To control just 60 of 120 seats means you may not be able to  pass any legislation. You won't have a 'majority'. In theory, the coalition deal would die before anyone would be sworn in.

Many in Israel soft-peddle the possibility that this new government could fail. Few in the media want to admit their dream of destroying Netanyahu might yet fail. They are desperate to see Netanyahu gone. They report what they wish to see happen, not what is really happening. 

That's not exactly professional reportage. Failure is surely a possibility here because this coalition is a monstrous creation. It will not be a stable government (here). It will be an incoherent government (ibid). Instead of unity, it brings together Parties so ideologically diverse that there's a real possibility nothing will ever be agreed upon--or get done. 

If you thought the Netanyahu-Gantz unity government was a waste of time, think again. This new unity coalition could be ten times worse. 

There are little shared ideological beliefs within this coalition. Instead of creating a unified voice, it creates a confused mixture of Left, Center and Right ideologies. Indeed, the only shared belief is not even ideological. It is the belief that 'we all hate Netanyahu'. That's it. 

There is little else beyond that one belief. The ideologies of these Parties are simply too contrary, one to the other, to work together. The infighting within this coalition promises to be far worse than what was rumored to exist in the Netanyahu-Gantz coalition. 

In addition, news outlets report that this will be the first coalition in nearly 50 years with real Arab representation in it. The Arab Party that is scheduled to enter the coalition will present real pressure from Israeli-Arabs to forward Arab beliefs and causes. Some of these beliefs and causes will not sit well with Israel's Right. 

But to survive, the coalition needs every one of those 61 members to agree on all agenda items. That will never happen.

Indeed, the Arabs themselves could collapse the coalition. They have already secured a promise from Yair Lapid that when they join the coalition there will be no movement to increase gay and lesbian rights in Israel. Now, reports arise to say that the Labor Party--a Leftist member of the coalition--will seek to promote one of its primary political agenda items: gay and lesbian rights.  

How is that going to work out? Well, right now, the Arabs in the coalition have received a promise that they will get more than 50 billion shekel for Arab-specific issues. That's a lot of money. 50 billion. Will they take that money and be silent about gay rights--or not? If not, the deal will be dead.

Certainly, Netanyahu is not finished fighting for his political career. He could prevail. Or, he could fail. The jury is still out. 

Stay tuned. This drama has not ended.