Posted on 03/18/2015 7:28:17 AM PDT by Star Traveler
Netanyahu defied all predictions and crushed all rivals en route to a spectacular victory. But how will he use his power?
Most Israelis went to sleep late on Tuesday night concluding from the TV exit polls and the subsequent party leaders speeches that Benjamin Netanyahu had narrowly won the elections, and would almost certainly head the next government. They woke up on Wednesday morning to discover that the supposedly ultra-sophisticated surveys had failed, and that Netanyahu, far from squeaking back into office, had defeated Isaac Herzogs Zionist Union by a margin of some six seats (with almost all votes counted), dramatically elevating Likuds share of the 120-seat Knesset (from 18 in the outgoing parliament to 30 this time), and thus recording what by Israeli standards constitutes a crushing victory.
King Bibi had not merely managed to hold onto his crown. He had cemented his rule.
Unloved by the Obama administration, relentlessly criticized by ostensibly friendly European governments, attacked day after day by substantial sections of the Hebrew media (though not the Sheldon Adelson-owned free daily Israel Hayom), and opposed in these elections not only by the Israeli left but also by the centrist Yesh Atid (whose leader Yair Lapid vowed to do everything in my power to oust him), Netanyahu did not just scrape back into office. He swept his critics aside and he trounced his rivals.
Now he faces a whole other challenge.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
The fact that Israel has any liberals whatsoever is one of the most confusing things that exist in our world.
How can they possibly allow such disease to exist on a country bordered by the scum of the earth?
” thus recording what by Israeli standards constitutes a crushing victory.”
I love it.
:-)
One has to keep in mind that Israel was formed by Liberals in 1948 and has been governed by Liberal governments for more time than conservative ones, and that Israel has Liberal social and society values. Except for its defense of the nation (from being exterminated by enemies) I would say it’s Liberal.
I’m surprised that liberals exist anywhere despite knowing the truth. I hope in the future the term “liberalism” will be known as a mental disorder.
Apparently Obama only knows how to throw elections in side the USA.
“BiBi King”
He knows how to create CHAOS in the Midfle East ... LOL ...
This is not just about Netanyahu.
It is about Freedom, Tyranny and how a nation
circumvented the criminal, undocumented
cryptoMoslem pRes_ _ent and Nobel Prize winner,
now King Caliph Obama of the White Mosque.
“But how will he use his power?”
That is sort of a nonsensical question as he has been the Prime Minister off and on for many years and his use of power is well established. - Ignorant writers!!!!
Israel moved out of the socialist orbit with the election of Menahem Begin as Prime Minister in 1977. Despite the best efforts of the leftist media to present this election as one based on economic issues, the Israeli public recognized that its security as against Iran is the premier issue, and that Israel needs a strong leader who can do what is right for that nation despite the pressure coming from Obama (though not the whole US government), the EU and the UN.
As a second issue, once Netanyahu committed that there will be no Palestinian state as long as he is prime minister, many Israeli voters who would have voted for another right-wing party felt comfortable voting for Netanyahu’s party, the Likud.
Still, the “start-up nation” ethos has lad to significant economic disparity in Israel, as low salaries are met by periodic purchases of high-tech companies for tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars, resulting in capital gains for the more entrepreneurial cohort.
While this would be acceptable in other situations, it is exacerbated in Israel because the government has been reluctant to approve the building of new housing in Judea, Samaria and elsewhere, which would create additional supply and thereby lower the market price, making day-to-day life more affordable.
One would hope that, now that the idea of a Palestinian state is dead as long as Netanyahu is Prime Minister, there will be more home construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria, improving the lives of all concerned.
With Obama’s campaign people working things in Israel leading up to the election, I wonder if the pre-election polls were intentionally skewed to predict a loss for Netanyahu.
Ben Gurion was a moderate socialist and passionate Zionist.
I don’t see Ben Gurionism being revived in today’s Israel Labor Party.
There’s been a major shift of policy, though, from Netanyahu, which he affirmed just before the elections.
Before that shift, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would go anywhere at any time to negotiate the final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority and form the Palestinian State. He said he was prepared to do that immediately!
NOW ... Netanyahu says that if he is re-elected Prime Minister again that he will make sure that there is NEVER a Palestinian State on his watch.
With the dramatic change of policy on a matter that is AT THE FOREFRONT of politics for Netanyahu and the nation, there has to be a difference in governing from before. All previous examples of “governing” are now “out the window” with this change in policy.
So they are more left than ever ... :-) ...
See Post #5 ...
-PJ
No, I don’t think they were. Both Netanyahu and his party Likud were really worried. It looked like Likud was getting ready to throw him out of the leadership position if he lost. I even heard that Netanyahu told some in the party that he would resign if he got below a certain threshold of seats (I think it was “18”).
What Netanyahu did was to “pull out all stops” and radically changed his campaigning at the very end ... and he finally did pull votes from the Nationalists (in general) over to the Likud. Netanyahu went “all out” at the end.
It’s not a nonsensical question, at all.
Bibi came out strongly against the Palestinians ever getting a state right before the elections.
It will be interesting to see his rhetoric, post-elections.
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