Elections? Here We Go Again or Not?

Those of you who know me know that I just can't lie about things. To be honest, I think that Bibi, who's a few months my junior, should retire gracefully. I don't mind having elections, but first Bibi Netanyahu must retire and schedule primaries in the Likud.

Of course, Bibi must not compete. Whoever wins the Likud primaries will be its candidate for Prime Minister, #1 on its list. 

The other political parties, plus some new ones of course-- as this is Israel, will put together their lists hoping that their #1 will have a chance for the top job. And other parties will just hope to pass the minimum needed to get Knesset seats. 

Both before and after elections there will be wheeling and dealing as political parties try to gather enough MKs to craft a viable ruling coalition. 

That's how it's supposed to work. The problem is that it hasn't worked well for years. We've had too many elections that resulted in chaos rather than a ruling coalition. A few months ago when Netanyahu finally put together the most unwieldy coalition ever, it proved to be a total and utter disaster. He offered the world to Blue and White's Benny Gantz, who along with Gabi Ashkenazi, broke away from Yair Lapid. Almost everyone of their MKs got important positions as ministers, while veteran Likud loyalists were left with empty plates. Yemina's Naftali Bennett, who had pledged his party's loyalty to Likud's coalition  and had worked well in various positions when there was no coalition, was treated really badly. So Bennett went into the opposition.

Gantz and Netanyahu, the two Benjamins, Benny and Bibi, did not get along at all. The coalition turned out to be a non-functional nightmare.

I've also lost track of how many "Corona Tsars" there have been since Naftali Bennett's great success in keeping Israel's numbers of COVID/Corona victims amazingly low. The regulations make no sense in most cases. I can't understand how ridiculous they are. 

At this point the process to disband the government isn't yet over. Maybe Bibi will pull something out of his hat. Stay tuned for the next episode...

Fascists Take To The Streets Reject Laws

I'm glad I don't live in a large city right now. Fascist mobs are demanding government changes trying to use their power to overrule the elected government.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not like I support all government policies, and I certainly don't support any blindly. But the way to change the government is through elections, not massive demonstrations in the streets.

Thank Gd, Israel is a democracy.

• We've had better governments, and we've had worse governments. 
• We've experienced better policies, and we've experienced worse policies. 

In all honesty I think that Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's decision to make a broad disparate coalition with Benny Gantz's Blue and White ended up backfiring on him. One crucial aspect was successful in that Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi have lost a major part of their voter support.

But Bibi's attempt to hold the extremely heterogeneous coalition together was an unmitigated disaster. Blue and White got an unprecedented percentage of powerful positions, which angered pretty much everyone on all sides of the political spectrum with exception of the recipients themselves.  

Not only can't Bibi control the Blue and White MKs' voting power, he has lost control of his own Likud Party. Apparently he gambled that giving less veteran MKs cabinet posts would make them more loyal, and he took for granted that his more veteran MK ministers would play ball with him. The result wasn't as he planned.

We're now suffering another round of what I call Korach demonstrations meaning that those demonstrating/rioting don't have the same aims other than to destabilize the government. 

If the rioters get their wish and force Netanyahu out, then they'll just fight among themselves, since they have no real leader other than the secret money source coming from abroad. 

The financial backers have unsuccessfully promoted Ehud Barak and more recently replaced him with Benny Gantz. Who will be their next figurehead?

The only real advantage of the present instability here in Israel and in the states is that the horrid "Trump Deal" has been put on the back-burner.

Bibi-Gantz Coalition, Political Trick?

When will Israel have new elections?

Odd couple for sure. There's no humor in the present Israeli coalition of Bibi-Gantz, Likud and Blue and White plus the chareidim and a few others. Gantz's political career was founded on and focused on declaring Bibi Binyamin Netanyahu unfit for office and replacing him. But then, after three failed attempts to legally unseat him as Prime Minister, Gantz folded and accepted a deal with Bibi. Bibi trapped him with a newly invented title "Alternate" Prime Minister with all the expensive trappings of the office without any authority or responsibilities. When Gantz and his cronies offer opinions aka "alternative" policies they're accused of "interfering."

In the meantime, polls are showing Gantz and his remaining Blue and White Party dropping, while his former political partner, Yair Lapid, is now holding second place, aka head of opposition.

Politics is a complicated profession. Each country has its very own system, requiring wannabes to learn a complicated lexicon of skills to really succeed. There's no competition between the skills and experience of the Likud MKs with Gantz and his cronies.

Could the downward spiral of Blue and White have been the aim of Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's offer to Benny Gantz all along?

What do you think?

Likud Voters Voted Bibi But Got Benny Gantz

This is my local synagogue, locked and blocked during the corona lock-down. This is used for illustrative purposes only. BTW it may remind you that during the corona crises, Naftali Bennett has worked hard, efficiently and effectively for the health of the State of Israel.

Israel's new government, soon to sworn in, led yet again by Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu will have an outrageously large number of ministers to satisfy/tempt/pay off the politicians and parties Bibi wanted in his coalition. Chareidi party leaders were even surprised at how easy it was this time to get the assignments they wanted. In addition, Blue and White's Benny Gantz was given crucial positions which had been promised to the Right, meaning Likud or Yemina. According to reports Gantz has veto power.

Something stinks.

Yemina leaders Naftali Bennett and crew have spent the past few months working hard showing their loyalty to the bloc Bibi had been touting. But what did Yemina get from Bibi? Zilch! Nothing. The publicized offers aren't even worth mentioning, so insulting. There seems to be something "personal" in it. One can insult and malign Netanyahu as Gantz has been doing the past couple of years, and Bibi will forgive. But if someone works hard and well and is a generation younger, Bibi feels threatened so "off with his head."

Quite a few people wanted Yemina but voted Likud. What a shame. They got the other Binyamin,  Gantz instead of Netanyahu.

Good News: Blue and White Disintegrated

Many people are describing Benny Gantz joining a coalition with the Likud and the disintegration of Blue and White as:

"Gantz blinked first."

Gabi Ashkenazi at Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by Batya Medad

But I really think that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's "I'm too busy running the country in these difficult times" actions, ignoring Gantz was even more powerful than the classic "staring contest." Honestly, how long can even a political newbie/lightweight like Benny Gantz stare at a blank wall?

I also wonder if Gabi Ashkenazi had anything to do with Gantz's finally giving in. Ashkenazi is the only one of quartet to be joining Gantz in the coalition.

Gabi Ashkenazi at Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by Batya Medad

Gabi Ashkenazi at
Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football game,
when our sons played on
the same team, 12/2010,
Photo by unknown. That's me with
the pink gloves.

As you can see in the photos, there was a time when Gabi Ashkenazi and I cheered together for the same football team.  Our sons were top players together on the IFL Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions, that's American tackle football. He liked to sit right behind us, and never put on "airs." At the time Ashkenazi was head of the IDF, but he made time for cheering the team.

At this point most Israelis are sick and tired of all the political bickering and shenanigans, and we certainly don't want more elections.

The corona virus aka COVID-19 lock-down is causing us enough stress, and here in Israel, even the less Torah observant want to prepare in some way for Passover. Few people have sympathy for the MKs and party leaders who are looking for ways to gain political power during these difficult times. Even those who didn't vote for Bibi/Likud are impressed by how hard his team is working to get us through this epidemic with minimal casualties.  Other countries are in much worse shape.

It's Friday, and corona/COVID-19 or not, Shabbat will be in a few hours. May it be peaceful and healing.