Israeli Elections Musings #12, War Musings #84: Tough Decision: Choosing A Political Party To Vote For During A Never-Ending War

Here I was voting in Israeli Elections, 2026

As regular readers know well, I was part of a panel of a variety of Israelis who had been UNDECIDED about which political party to vote for in the Israeli Elections. The panel was organized by Jonathan Feldstein of Genesis 123 Foundation. We all come from various political opinions, very Israeli, in a country with a version of a parliamentary democracy. If you listen to the recordings of our discussions, you're bound to hear the honest tolerance between us all. Israeli elections result in a very wide variety of political parties in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. 

It's almost forty-eight 48 hours since the polling booths closed, and it may take weeks until we have a new government, a coalition with a majority of the one hundred twenty 120 Knesset Members. That's if there's a coalition.

Forming/Negotiating a government isn't a simple matter of putting puzzle pieces together, which is why I'm not going to write about the results, which still aren't in and don't give us easy clues. Instead I'll explain why I picked the little paper I did pick from the large choice you can see below. 

For decades I haven't trusted the Likud to give us the strong, secure, confident, proudly Jewish sort of government we need to survive. Menachem Begin, whom we cheered and trusted, made a very dangerous mistake from from the very beginning of his term as Prime Minister when elected in 1977. He very proudly stated that he wouldn't be replacing the avowed Leftist socialist employees in the government offices, judiciary, foreign affairs, defense, development, education, housing etc. The only office which was changed ideologically was Finance, because his longtime political/election partners in GaHaL, the Liberal Party, was unabashedly antisocialist. They replaced government monopolies, like Agrexco-- which controlled Israeli exporting, with private enterprise and capitalism. 

Getting back to the twenty-first century and Binyamin Netanyahu...  He lost my support after I heard him speak at the First International Jewish Bloggers Conference in 2008, which I describe in Impressive. At that time Netanyahu wasn't Prime Minister, but he had been a few years before, and he was campaigning, promoting himself in every way possible to return to the position. I'll never forget what he said:

"When I'm Prime Minister again, and I will be Prime Minister again... I'll do it as a CENTRIST."

I'll never forget it, and honestly, that's close to what he has been when you examine his actual policies. To me the Center isn't leading us anywhere. It's being too fearful to win a war. Sometimes a leader, and a country, must take risks. They lead to progress. A leader must be in the front, not the middle.

OK, three years after the State of Israel was attacked, and the military and political "departments" showed utter failure in its response and taking responsibility, I decided that I couldn't give my vote to any party in the coalition or high echelons of the IDF in the years leading up to October 7, 2023. I also wanted to vote for a party led by someone not afraid of defying Bibi Netanyahu. 

Yes, that didn't leave me much choice. Plus I wanted the party that mentions VICTORY as a goal. I chose Avigdor Liberman and voted for his party Yisrael Beitenu ישראל ביתנו Israel is Our Home. A bonus is that Liberman isn't a newbie to Israeli politics. This is also important. I actually feel pretty good about my choice. 

I have no idea about who will manage to negotiate a new coalition, if at all. It's not in my hands; all I could do was to vote. I'm still waiting for the Likud and its loyal voters to realize that they have failed, not only in the elections, but in showing any morality or sense of responsibility for the security mess the country's in. 

And please don't say there's peace, because it has been quiet. First of all, soldiers are still being killed, civilians, too. The enemy didn't surrender, and we didn't win. For years, decades more exactly, we've been suffering through this never-ending intermittent war. We get bombed, we bomb back, then there's quiet which Bibi claims is a victory... and then within a couple of years it starts again. October 7, 2023 was a bigger version of the attacks including kidnapping, rapes, torture and more.

I want a government that isn't afraid to fight to win. I don't think that this week's election results show this... Maybe, Gd willing, the next elections...

 

Women's Prayers on Election Day 2026

 

Gd willing the results will be good for Am Yisrael and the State of Israel

בע"ה תוצאות הבחירות יהיו טובות לעם ישראל ומדינת ישראל

Israeli Elections Musings #11, War Musings #83: What Now After BenGvir's Groveling to Bibi?

As you know, I'm terribly undecided about which party to vote for in next week's Israeli Elections. After a couple of years of war, which is only on an elections vacation break*, as far as I can see, the risk of making the wrong choice is greater than ever. And please don't forget that I made aliyah in 1970, so this is far from being my first time voting in Israel. 

After lots of thought, and experience in sorting through Israeli truth, history and legends, I had finally admitted that not a single political party fulfills my minimal requirements, which are demanding a complete, absolute total victory, meaning defeating our enemies so they surrender and cannot have been part of Israel's military and government establishment during the decade leading to October 7, 2023.  I came up with a desperate and disparate "short list" of two political parties I had been debating between. Neither had ever gotten my vote or support before. Start the drum roll... they are Avigdor Liberman's, Yisrael Beitenu, Israel's Our Home, and Itamar BenGvir's, Otzma Yehudit, Jewish Strength. 

Then Liberman came out with a doozy... saying he'd give Jordan responsibility for Arabs in Judea & Samaria aka PA... It's easy to guess that I quickly eliminated him from my short list. Not that the Jordanians could control them at all or would dare want to try. 

So I was left with BenGvir... that is until he began groveling to Bibi when various sources said that weak woke Netanyahu had promised various foreign leaders that BenGvir would be personal non grata in his new coalition. 

Once I realized that the choice was between someone so weak that he was terrified of losing Bibi's favor, Itamar BenGvir, versus someone whom Bibi fears,  Avigdor Liberman who broke with him in 2018, destroying a large, stable coalition. 

Obviously, there are still six days to go before elections, and I have absolutely now idea of what surprises await us. I can only take into account what I know now. Most probably, more to come. It's never dull in Israel, and the political situation is volatile. 

In case you're wondering why I'm not seriously thinking about any of the newer political parties, I think that we don't have time for people to learn their way around the power bureaucracy. 

What do you think? I'm interested in your opinions; don't be shy. That's why there are comments allowed here.

*It's clear to me that we're still at war, even though the government keeps pretending that we're back to peace mode, as if we've had true peace the past decade plus under Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's rule. Every year or two, our enemies have attacked, and not just a border skirmish, not just the terrorism that most of the country tries to pretend is in "isolated" areas. Tel Aviv suburbs, close to the airport have been bombed on a regular basis, and the enemies who do it don't warn our innocent civilians like Bibi loves to brag about. Sometimes they target the south and sometimes the north. Bibi bombs a bit in response until they stop, and then he claims that "they won't try that again; we stopped them." The October 7th war has "ended" in the same sort of way. I hope you're prepared for the next round of attacks, because they will come. And I'm not even starting about Bibi's pathetic dependence on US President Donald Trump's approval. 

Israeli Elections Musings #10 & War Musings #82: Crucial Questions About Bibi's Government's Responsibility for October 7th Disaster

 

I hope that you've been listening to the discussions of the UNDECIDEDS, which I both blog and participate in. We've had five discussions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 organized by Jonathan Feldstein of Genesis 123 Foundation.  Participating has been a very special experience for me. As different as we're considered politically, it's amazing and encouraging how much we all have in common politically when it comes to the upcoming Israeli Elections. If I'm not mistaken, there's something we all agree on, whether Right, Left, Center. We really don't want to see the same people who've been running the Israeli Government and IDF continue. We want Binyamin Netanyahu and his coalition to take responsibility. There must be an investigation. Arnie Draiman, one of the panelists put it very well. He shared with us these questions which he had sent to a friend going to a Likud meeting. I have his permission to share them with you.

* Why has Likud actively blocked an independent State Commission of Inquiry into October 7, and why did the government attempt to remove the requirement for a "full, thorough, and independent investigation" from its proposed alternative panel?

* How do you respond to the specific allegations made by Prime Minister Netanyahu's former military secretary regarding the falsification of October 7 transcripts to shield political leaders from blame?

* Why has Benjamin Netanyahu still refused to publicly accept personal responsibility for the intelligence and operational failures of October 7, while nearly every top military and security chief resigned on his watch?

* Why didn't a single cabinet minister or Likud lawmaker resign or force a leadership change inside the party immediately following the worst tragedy in Israel's modern history?

* Why is Likud actively attacking democratic "gatekeepers" and challenging the neutrality of the Central Elections Committee ahead of the vote?

* How can you claim to champion democratic choices when Netanyahu changed the party rules to bypass internal primaries and give himself direct control over reserved list spots?

* Given that the "conceptzia" (the strategic concept of containing Hamas through economic incentives) completely collapsed on October 7 under your 15-year watch, why should voters trust your long-term security vision?

* With Israel currently locked in multi-front conflicts, zero long-term diplomatic strategy for the day after in Gaza, and growing diplomatic friction, why do you characterize the opposition's call for reconstruction and regional alliances as an absolute "free fall"?

* How can Likud justify continuing to pass coalition funding and political exemptions for Haredi draft-dodgers while the regular IDF and reservists face unprecedented, exhausting deployment burdens across multiple fronts?

Personally, I consider the top echelons of the IDF and Defense Ministry the decade before and including 2023 as responsible as the government coalition. Arnie's excellent questions are to the Likud, because that was the event they had been written for. I also consider it necessary to investigate how Israel's trust and dependence on the the United States weakens us and requires trusting them, rather than trusting our soldiers and citizens on the ground who had observed and reported suspicious, dangerous actions by the enemy... deja vu 1973 when our security observers suspected pre war/attack actions by Egypt and Syria, but they were overrode by American assurances. The USA admitted that they had lied to Israel when Bruce Brill's memoir, Deceit of An Ally passed American censorship.

Food for thought... What do you think?

Israeli Elections Musings #9 The Undecideds' 5th and Final Pre-Elections Discussion

 

Last night night the Undecided Panel, a group of Anglo Israelis holding a variety of political opinions, had its fifth and final pre-elections discussion. Some of us have a feeling that we'll only decide at the last possible second when unenthusiastically choosing one of those pieces of paper indicating which political party is getting our vote. One thing we all agree on is that we will vote and pray, in one way or another, that our vote won't be wasted. 

Jonathan Feldstein, of the Genesis 123 Foundation, has done an amazing job organizing/producing these panel discussions. We are all from different backgrounds and political opinions, besides being native English speakers. And we're also different ages; I'm the old lady and have memories of events the others have only heard or learned about. But I find our discussions wonderful and tolerant. 

Instead of having you read what I think, I suggest that you listen to the discussion. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments. I'll get your specific question to the other participants if necessary. I'd really love to hear your opinions and reactions. Many of my friends also consider themselves undecideds... What about you?

Gaza War Musings #81 Worried, Is Israel Ready For The Next Attack?

IMHO Israel's in more danger than ever. I've been living in Israel since 1970, and I remember much too well the two wars which caught us worse than flatfooted. It's best to describe the Israeli government and military's mindset as buried in dry concrete. Yom Kippur, Saturday, October 6, 1973, Israel was attacked on three fronts after trusting the United States' assurances that the Arab military moves Israeli security had been noticing were totally innocent. Later on, decades later, the Americans admitted that they knew very well that Israel was going to be attacked on Yom Kippur, when approving, after passing required censorship, Bruce Brill's memoir of his time in NSA,  Deceit of an Ally.

To be honest, I had suspected something like that during that war, but I didn't hear or read anyone else voice something similar. Henry Kissinger's constant "advice" to then Prime Minister Golda Meir made me think that the Americans wanted the war to end in a "draw," not an Israeli victory, so Israel could lose its independence and become an American protectorate. Around the same time that Brill began revealing his personal story, a friend called from the states, who had heard from someone who had been in the American Army in Germany during the summer of 1973. They were put in lockdown in Germany, then in September given desert gear. They were only released after the ceasefire. 

These two things confirmed to me that the United States is NOT an ally of Israel and shouldn't be trusted.

It's all much too deja vu... 

Fifty years later, almost to the day, after years, decades, of sending Israeli IDF officers to the USA for training, or more accurately brainwashing, Israel was even less prepared for October 7, 2023's surprise attack. And just think about the targets... mostly Leftist ones populated by those who believed that the Gazans were peaceful. Some didn't even have armed self-defense groups, because the generous NGOs funded by... had convinced them that they weren't moral/necessary. 

And talking about what's "moral..." Israel's longtime Prime Minister, Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu brags, vows at every possible occasion that we will continue to fight morally sic by warning the Gazans before bombing their homes. That makes no practical sense at all. First the simple reason that we're wasting our weapons on empty buildings. Secondly, even more important, terrorists are civilians. The terrorists who murdered, raped, kidnapped, incinerated, mutilated etc were Gazan civilians. That was clear in the photos publicized soon after the attacks and in the testimonies of the surviving victims. Many of these terrorist civilians were the same people who had been helped and employed by the Israeli victims. They knew them well and knew who had weapons and where they were kept. They had built and cleaned the homes. Is it moral to protect such people?

For some more important facts for you to ponder, all through the almost two decades of Netanyahu's reign, Israel has been suffering war and attacks. They usually last a few weeks, and after Israel responds things quiet down. Bibi then announces proudly that the war is over, and the country resumes regular life. This isn't peace and certainly not security. 

A year ago all living and dead hostages were returned to Israel, which the government claimed was a "victory." That's not a victory, not at all. We're still in danger. Our soldiers and civilians are still be attacked, wounded and murdered. 

Our military/terrorist enemies are from the north, east and south, while from the west and all over come support for our enemies and condemnation of our very existence. I don't see the Likud/Netanyahu government as winning the war, preventing future attacks or successfully bringing us to a true victory. I don't trust them at all. They have been failing completely. Elections are in a few days, and I'm still UNDECIDED about which political party is best to vote for.