It's time to breathe a sigh of relief and perhaps even celebrate. Undoubtedly there will be plenty of time and opportunities for cynicism later.
From the editorial:
Winners. (1) Bibi Netanyahu, who can be PM now for four full years, meaning he could have the joy of outlasting President Obama's term. (2) Likud, which won more sets in the Knesset than they had in either of Bibi's two wins during Obama's tenure in office. (3) Israel's right-leaning voters, who came to realize that if they wanted Bibi to win & have first shot at forming a government they had to pull the lever for his party.
Losers. (1) Zionist Union, though Herzog made a decent showing as a first-time Labor Party leader. (2) President Obama, whose open, clumsy efforts to intervene in Israel's election, and whose contemptuous treatment of Bibi backfired big-time; Obama will face an Israeli leader with a first-ever mandate: to stand up to, rather than genuflect to, an American administration. (3) pollsters, whose reputation will take a well-deserved hit after blowing this one. (4) Iran, who thought they'd face a weaker Israeli government, whether headed by Likud or the Zionist Union; (5) Palestinians, who now face victorious Bibi after Bibi explicitly rejected any "peace" deal with them in the current climate.
Bottom Line. Israel's electorate has delivered a decisive verdict. Our strongest Mideast ally has been buttressed, and President Obama's crusade to weaken Israel versus the Palestinians & Iran has been undercut.
Thanks for this, bd476. Good summary.
Thank you. This is a good editorial and I had not seen it before.
Perhaps (I know this is wishful thinking) Obama’s hubristic approach to Israel finally will cause him to split with the more “mainstream” Democrats in Congress. He already has made himself an enemy of Menendez of New Jersey, and it is possible that other Democrats who are not members of the Congressional Black Caucus will decide that their relationships with Jewish donors will trump their loyalty to a lame-duck President.
And yes, I know that many American Jews are on the left and hostile to many of Israel’s policies. But this administration has moved to a level of hostility to Israel that has been unseen since its creation — even in 1956 when Eisenhower made Israel surrender its successes (with the UK and France) in the Sinai, the relationship of the President to Israel was not as it is today. There is a line beyond which many of the Jewish donors will feel that the President is not on their side, and I suspect that we will cross that soon, if we haven’t already done so.
Once again, great post. I agree with your take on this.
It is very good news in a period when there is little to be had here.
Also, at a time when folks thought Israel might be going under has we seem to have (Temporarily?), we find that it wasn’t going under at all.
That’s a great object lesson for us. We sometimes forget that even in California the electorate voted against same sex marriages.
This nation isn’t done by a long shot. And in time, people will repudiate this Islamic Leftist’s ideology.
Excellent
“undercut”
And, masterfully as well.