Posted on 04/29/2012 6:07:05 PM PDT by Former Fetus
Governments in Israel rarely manage to stay in power for a full four years, so the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is just one year shy of serving a complete term is unusual. He may not go to the distance, at least not this time.
The Israeli media on Sunday was abuzz with rumors that an early general election could take place within months. Israelis were scheduled to go to the polls in October 2013.
Among the situations that could result in early elections is growing opposition to the Tal Law, the legal framework that allows ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to avoid military service.
Netanyahu visited some of the anti-Tal Law demonstrators on Sunday and reportedly promised to adopt their position. Some Israeli lawmakers said he better do so soon. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman even threatened to pull his Israel Beiteinu party out of the coalition if the Tal Law were not overturned in short order.
There has also been reported escalating tension between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Independence Party) over how to handle "unauthorized" Jewish communities and presences in Judea and Samaria, though both men deny there is a problem.
During a meeting with ministers from his own Likud Party on Sunday, Netanyahu said he will not be blackmailed by coalition partners, and confirmed that he is considering calling for early elections.
Army Radio speculated that the election would take place at the start of September, while Israel Radio put the date between October and December.
Whenever the next election occurs, polls show that Netanyahu and the Likud are likely to walk away firm victors, and that may have even more to do with advancing the election date than the coalition problems.
A poll published by the Hebrew daily Israel Hayom showed Netanyahu's Likud winning 31 out of the Knesset's 120 seats if elections were held today. The Likud currently has 27 seats. More importantly, the poll showed the opposition-leading Kadima Party dropping from its current 28 seats down to just 13. The left-wing Labor and the right-wing Israel Beiteinu parties would both win 17 and 14 seats, respectively.
The net result, if the current polls are accurate, would be that the right-center bloc in the Knesset, headed by Netanyahu, would be stronger than it is today, and would not rely on the Labor Party to form a stable governing coalition.
That's great news! Go, Bibi, go!
There has also been reported escalating tension between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Independence Party) over how to handle "unauthorized" Jewish communities and presences in Judea and Samaria
Getting rid of Barak and therefore supporting the "settlers" would be the best thing Bibi could do, IMO.
Governments in Israel rarely manage to stay in power for a full four years... an early general election could take place within months. Israelis were scheduled to go to the polls in October 2013.I think this has been rumored before, late last year?
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the press he does not feel threatened by the announcement released by his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beitenu party. In keeping in line with his party’s platform Lieberman announced that if the government does not move ahead with legislation to pass a law that compels all citizens to serve in the IDF or an alternative accepted national service, his party will begin activities towards advancing general elections, signaling he will pull out of the coalition.
Lieberman’s election success was based on a number of major points, including a promise to loyalists that his party will continue pushing for compulsory military service for all citizens, including chareidim and Arabs.
Lieberman told Channel 2 News that his party must remain loyal to voters and as a result, the party’s loyalty to the coalition has ended – explaining that to date, he has done everything to keep the coalition afloat but in ten days, he will be presenting his party’s alternative to the Tal Law and if it does not pass in Knesset, then it will be time for elections. He explains that his party will not permit any sector of society to have a free ride, and this demands military or national service from all citizens, without exception.
The foreign minister stated that ideally, elections would be in 2013 at the end of the government’s four-year term but he is unwilling to betray voters on the matter of compulsory national service for all and if that means early elections, so be it.
The prime minister stated he will not be “blackmailed” by coalition partners and is willing to go to early elections if there is no alternative.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
What is y’alls opinion on the Tal Law? I kind of understand Lieberman’s opposition to some people having a “free ride”, but at the same time there should be some respect for those who make a point of living by the Law. Don’t ultra-orthodox Jews spend most of their time in the yeshiva, studying? It seems to me that they are making their contribution to keeping Israel a free, Jewish State.
Israel is pretty tough for an American to understand.
The purpose of universal service is socialization, a kind of enforced national culture, not military necessity. Modern militaries are high tech and don’t need cannon fodder.
The State of Israel has been mostly a socialist enterprise, tolerating religion only as forced to politically.
The religious have simply extracted a certain price for cooperating with the socialist enterprise. The establishment might now believe they can govern without bribing the religious for support.
And a less socialist Israel under Netanyahu might simply want less welfare of all kinds.
I would have no objection at all to universal service.
Have you read Early Israeli elections? What it would mean for US, Iran ? It suggests that Iran is the real reason for the early elections.
What good would early elections do? Netanyahu would still have to form a coalition government, and Kadima, Yisrael Beytenu... would not weigh significantly more. I don't understand Israeli politics!
Think of the US Congress without the Presidency. John Boehner would be Prime Minister, with Deputy PM Eric Cantor, while members like Kevin McCarthy, Jeb Hensarling and Tom Price having much more national prominence heading up departments like State, Defense, and Homeland Security.
A lesser leader might try to unseat Boehner. Boehner could call new elections, hoping to strengthen his position against challengers. He might not even want a net gain in Republican seats, he would just want to make his personal position more secure.
Or his elections could backfire and turn power over to Nancy Pelosi.
Israeli Arabs and Palis serving in non-military services, as Bibi describes it. Yes. Liked Heinlein’s Starship Trooper as philosophy of citizenship. Nobody would implement it, but service, not necessarily military, should be a requirement of citizenship that comes with the rights, at least in our tiny triangle of a country.
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