Big Question-- Which Party Should I Vote For?

 Simply put:

The politicians I want to see in the Knesset and even better in the next government aren't running on the same party list.

At this point, I don't know for which party I'll vote vote.

There are still two and a half months until the next Israeli Elections. That should give me time to decide Gd willing.

Am I the only one in such a quandary?

Guide To The Perplexed, Israeli Political System Simplified

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett 

After over half a century in Israel, I have a pretty good idea how the political system works. I don't think it's like many others. I'm going to try to simplify it here, aiming to say how it's run in positive rather than negative sentences/points. I will try to use easy to understand terminology.

• The Israeli Political System is a parliamentary democracy.
• The Israeli Political System has only proportional representation.
• Israeli citizens vote for political parties*.
• The 120 Knesset seats are proportionately divided among the political parties that received a legally set percentage of the votes and more.
• After votes are fully counted, the political parties negotiate a coalition government, because no single party has ever gotten a majority of the Knesset seats.
• The Prime Minister is chosen/voted in by the majority of Knesset Members who generally are in the political parties that have joined the coalition. 
• Coalition negotiations decide which participating political parties get which ministries, committee chairmanships and other important positions.
• When a government falls and new elections are called, the sitting government continues until after a new coalition is voted in.**

*Each political party has a numbered list of candidates who become MKs according to election results.

**That interim government cannot be voted out. Netanyahu had spent the last few years as interim Prime Minister, perfectly safe from losing his position as long as no new coalition run by another party could be formed.

Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett

I hope that this explanation is clear. If you have any questions, please write in the comments. 

This isn't the place/post to complain that YOU think it's a dumb system. The purpose of this post is just to explain the existing  Israeli Political System.

National Unity Government Like Biblical Ketoret, Or Do You Want More Elections?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Nobody's quite sure who really coined these words of wisdom, but I wish that sixty-one 61 plus Knesset Members would take the words to heart and and hammer out a workable coalition agreement for the good of the State of Israel, so we don't have to uselessly vote again.

None of us are perfect, nor are our politicians. Instead of demonstrating to oust Bibi, there should be demonstrations near all the MKs' homes urging them to put away their egos and platforms. We want a viable government coalition, warts and all. 

Ketoret, a specially blended incense, was used in Temple and prior to that Mishkan, Tabernacle for prayer. 

The ketoret consisted of a special blend of herbs and balms whose precise ingredients and manner of preparation were commanded by G‑d to Moses.

Some of the herbs and balms were sweet, others bitter, and all were needed to properly make the Ketoret. 

Right now Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, whose positions concerning many issues clash, but they both believe that the State of Israel needs a national unity government. One thing for sure, both have supporters/voters/MKs not all happy with the views of the "other." Think of the bitter herb that must be included in the Ketoret.

If the MKs whom Bennett and Lapid bring into this coalition from their political parties and others come with the right attitude, the State of Israel will have a good working government, like the Ketoret needed for prayer in Biblical times. Gd willing...

...because it's truly insanity to expect election results very different from what we've had the previous four times.

Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, Hologram of Tabernacle worship

The Israeli Public Must Choose Between Compromising Ideals & Infinite Elections Ad Nauseum

I think even the most experienced and capable of political pundits here in Israel are getting dizzy from all these useless elections. Not too many years ago, the minimum vote percentage a party needed to get Knesset seats was raised just to prevent a situation like we have now. But it seems like a political party of four plus seats is as stubborn and unrealistic, if not more, as single MK parties.

No matter how you play with the numbers/MKs, the only way a working/viable/realistic coalition can be formed is for party leaders and MKs to go against their sworn ideals/platform. Some MKs will need to leave their parties and join this unity coalition. 

For me to say this isn't easy. I'm an idealist, a purist, but I'm also a pragmatist. 

As a pragmatist I'm sure that over sixty elected Members of Knesset can find some basic workable positions in terms of economics, security, development policies that can be the basis of a lasting, at least for four/five years government coalition. It shouldn't be top heavy expensive with Ministers, like that monstrous ineffective farcical Bibi-Gantz agreement. Committee chairmanships should be the "diamonds on the crown." The public will like that much better. It's in the committees where the real work is done.

Gd willing, that's what we'll soon see. Let them leave their egos behind. The State of Israel needs unity not infinite elections.

Hours to Go Before We Vote...

In just thirty-six 36 hours citizens of the State of Israel will go to the polling stations to vote for a new Knesset and Gd willing a viable new coalition government. 

We vote for the pieces... meaning we choose a political party, and depending on what percentage of the total votes it gets*, those on its list will become MKs Knesset Members. It can be as little as zero or as many as a few dozen. 

Then, after we vote and the votes are counted, the wheeling and dealing start in earnest. Usually the political party that ends up with the most votes MKs can manage to craft a coalition, but there have been exceptions. 

One of the big difficulties is that not all political parties even have a chance of being part of a coalition. The Arab parties have almost no chance of being included. The main reason is that it goes against their basic party platform. And the second is that some political parties won't sit in a coalition with an Arab party, since they promote the destruction of the State of Israel. Arab MKs can be in the coalition as members of regular Israeli political parties.

Another political party which has a small chance of being included is Avigdor Yvette Lieberman's party Yisrael Beiteinu. He has a hard core of voters who give him, according to the latest polls, seven seats. He's more a spoiler than a kingmaker. His leaving the coalition a couple of years ago was the cause of the spate of recent elections. I don't trust Lieberman. He's neither right nor left, just an anarchist.

Even though there are four people running for the position of Prime Minister, in actuality we  can't vote for any of them. We vote for a party list and hope and pray that our choice party will be part of the ruling coalition.

Who's going to win? That's a good question. So far, ever since Yvette Lieberman broke up the last "normal" government, the citizens of the State of Israel have lost every election. 

I don't take polls seriously, since they're just polls. But if you want to see what the polls are showing then check out Jeremy's blog.

My educated guess and gut feeling are that the actual count won't be completed until next week. There will be many more "double envelope votes" than usual. All of those soldier, hospital, jail, special COVID corona and quarantine polling stations will allow people to vote with a double envelop. Each outer envelope will have the person's ID number which has to be checked against the master list of those who voted in their official location. This is a very time-consuming process. If the ID number doesn't show up, then the ballot envelope is collected to be counted. And then all kosher votes are added and calculated, and then we'll know who the next one hundred and twenty 120 Knesset Members will be.

I don't think that the party leaders will have much of a Passover Vacation. But since all I can do is vote once and then pray... I'll enjoy the holiday.

PS In case you're wondering, I'm voting Yamina ב that's Naftali Bennett's party. Here's the reason why.

*Actually the calculation is a bit more complicated, since not all parties get enough votes to have representation. 

Will The March 2021 Elections Be Better Than The March 2020 Elections?

March 2020 Elections

Will The March 2021 Elections Be Better Than The March 2020 Elections?

That Is The Question...

After a year of COVID corona, the world seems a bit shaky. 

Today in Matan listening to a Bible class, taught by Dr. Yael Ziegler, about Noach and family hesitatingly leaving the ark, we could easily relate. Even though most adults are fully vaccinated against COVID corona, we haven't yet resumed our previous level of socializing. Most of us are still pretty solitary, unless zooming, whatsapping or writing or phoning. Our tables are still pretty empty of guests, and we haven't had a Shabbat meal at neighbors for over a year.

It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks, we'll be voting in Knesset Elections. Will we be required to remove our masks so the "officials" can match our faces to our Identity Cards?

And even more important:

Will sixty plus 60+ of the resulting one hundred and twenty 120 Members of Knesset be able to come to some viable coalition agreement?

We the citizens of the State of Israel want a viable government with strong leadership to steer our precious country to security, sovereignty and good health.

I will vote for a political party that has positions, a platform and plans, not for a party that just says "NOT BIBI."  To be honest, I do feel that it's time for Bibi Netanyahu to retire. He's a few months younger than I am and I have no idea where he gets his energy. But energy or not, it's not good for a country to have the same political leader for over a decade. 

I'd like to see Bibi retire with dignity and pass the baton on to the next generation. But I'm not voting for a political party which makes "replacing Bibi" the key issue to their campaign.

For the past decade plus, I've been a member of a small group of women studying the Bible. Right now we're studying Chronicles, which is about the Jewish Kings, the descendants of King David. Some are good, some are bad and some are very, very evil. It's not enough just to put on crown on someone's' head and call him "king." And just because someone wants to be prime minister and has financial backers to cover the expenses of a political party's campaign, doesn't mean he, or she, will do a good job as prime minister or even politician.

Politics is a very complex profession, and here in Israel, because a prime minister must control a coalition it's especially complicated. It can be described as playing a dozen difficult chess games simultaneously. Maybe two dozen would be more accurate. 

I think it's important to vote for a party headed by a potential prime minister, unless you want Bibi and Likud to continue. As I have already said, it's time for Bibi Netanyahu to retire.

That's why I'm giving my vote to Yemina ב. Of all the wannabes, I prefer Naftali Bennett. 

Bennett had a successful career before he went into politics. He has been working his way up, did a good job when Bibi have him responsibilities and has an excellent team working with him.

Elections Again? This isn't Some Sort of Joke; Is It?

I don't know why it has taken me so long to blog about the upcoming elections here in Israel. Usually I'm right on the ball, blogging about the politics even before the decision has been made. This time, eh...

Are we all burnt out between elections and COVID corona?

The twenty first century isn't all it was cracked up to be. It's becoming more of a dystopian horror movie, and we're in it whether we like it or not.

The score card is now under "construction" or something like that. MKs and wannabes are scurrying around trying to find the best chance to "live their dream" or extend their minute of fame.

There will be a deadline in another month or so, and by then deals will be made and dozens more polls will be publicized. Political parties may come and go, disappearing without even experiencing a single election on its own, sort of like a miscarriage. 

Veteran parties will join other historic relics in the political cemetery of has-beens. And Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu will attempt to keep on lengthening his record-breaking reign as Israel's longest standing/sitting/ruling Prime Minister.

While most Israelis are trying to stay alive and healthy and financially solvent, it seems that elections are the last thing we need again. But unfortunately, we haven't had a "proper" government for years, ever since Yvette (Avigdor) Lieberman broke up the coalition, if I remember correctly. 

Please BLAME IT ON YVETTE, NOT BIBI. Look, I don't vote Likud, but this whole mess is the fault of Yvette (Avigdor) Lieberman. And the main reason no party leader can put together a viable coalition is that Lieberman's Bayit Yehudi party doesn't join anyone. He's proving himself to be an anarchist, not a believer/follower in the democratic legal system of government.

Gd willing these elections will result in a better mix/choice of MKs who want the best for the State of Israel and not just an ego trip. A coalition must work together for the good of the country, Knesset Members not just the ministers.

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?

What Do You Think? 4th Elections or Will Bibi Gather 61+ Or Will Bibi and Gantz Make a Deal*?

*When I wrote the post below just an hour or so ago, I didn't even think there was a chance that Bibi would trust Gantz. Honestly, I wouldn't trust him. But it looks like they actually will sign some sort of agreement for an emergency/unity government.

Rather crazy here in Israel. You'd think Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu had enough to do trying to make the safest possible policies for the citizens and residents of the State of Israel during "corona crisis." Whether Bibi wants to or not, he's still just an "interim" Prime Minister, since he hasn't officially formed a coalition.

Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party have fallen apart. Ditto for the party Labor's Peretz had formed with Orly Levi. Naftali Bennett and what remains of the NRP seem to change with each election. But Bibi and the Likud have been pretty stable, though Gidon Saar did try to usurp the top spot. You may think that usurp isn't the correct word, but the timing was totally bad, and I lost any respect I had for Saar. I feel that his challenge was bad for the Likud at a time when loyalty was needed.

So, what do you think? Will we have to go to elections yet again, or will Bibi manage to gather enough stray MKs to present a government coalition of 61+?

Please write your vote in the comments, thanks.

Coalition or Round 4? What do You Think?

Like the vast majority of Israelis, I voted on Monday in the third Knesset elections in less than a year. And at least the party I chose to vote for had enough votes, so mine wasn't wasted.

Unfortunately, even though this time Bibi's Likud got a few more seats than Gantz's Blue & White, his potential coalition partners are still a few seats too small for a government of sixty-one or more Knesset Members. Gd willing there will be some MKs from a "Center" party willing to work together with Bibi.

One big improvement this time round was that there's much less election litter scattered before and after voting. Here in Shiloh I saw stuff from Yemina, Otzma and United Torah Judaism.

But the dirt coming out of Gantz's mouth hasn't ceased. The main message/aim of his election campaign has been trying to keep Bibi Netanyahu out of office. It's very much a one issue party. Gantz has never shown that he's capable of handling all the responsibilities of a Prime Minister.

I have no "inside information." I wouldn't try to predict what's going to be. Never had I thought that we'd have three elections in one year.

Let's just hope and pray that Netanyahu and his team manage to craft/negotiate a strong, long-lasting coalition to successfully manage the needs of the State of Israel.

True "Democracy" is Neither Right, Left or Center

"Democracy" or "democratic" is actually more a mathematical concept than political ideology. Any political party that describes, or labels itself as "democratic" is and oxymoron, just throwing around popular terms.

Definition of democracy

1a: government by the people especially : rule of the majority
b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

Simply put. There is a vote, and the majority rules. Some countries have a "winner takes all" system like the United States. A candidate can lose by just a handful of votes or get a fraction of the winner's number, and he/she is totally out of the picture.

In Israel there is "proportional representation." This is actually the most democratic system of all. We have a parliament, The Knesset, of one hundred and twenty 120 members. The candidates run on party lists, which are generally ideological. It is no longer possible for a "one person party" to get in by receiving .833% of the vote. Now the minimum percentage has been raised so there won't be any tiny parties. But still there is a recognized Opposition, In the Israeli system, the losers also have a right to be heard and not only during election campaigns.

Tomorrow here in Israel there will be elections yet again. The past two elections didn't result in enough Knesset Members willing to work together in a coalition. It can be considered an electoral "still birth."

Gd willing, we'll nave a good healthy live coalition to govern the State of Israel after round three.

Elections on Monday- Who's Bringing The Häagen-Dazs?

Too many Israelis are sick and tired of voting. I wonder how low voter turnout will be on Monday. This is our third round of elections in just under a year.

Considering the popular "line"

פעם שלישית גלידהPa'am shlishit glidaThird time ice cream

I am craving Häagen-Dazs.

And politically speaking, I'm disappointed that Gantz was smart enough to refuse Bibi's offer for a debate, sans notes, computer, earphones etc. Do you now why?

Even more than I hope that the parties on the Left get fewer votes, I really pray that Lieberman loses completely. He's the cause of this mess, because he backtracked on joining a coalition with Likud. 

Politics: Sometimes You Have to Hold Your Nose...

I had a talk with a neighbor at the makolet* last night about it**. We both felt that in the world of politics/compromise/deals, Otzma is useless. Sometimes you have to hold your nose and vote either Likud or Yamina or whatever they're calling themselves this time round.

* local supermarket
**upcoming Israeli Elections

"Politics is the art of compromise." 

This is a popular version of what Otto von Bismarck had said:

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best."

In Israel, more than in some other countries, the meaning of this slogan is 1,000% accurate.

The Israeli Political System does not include direct voting for the Prime Minister, executive branch of government. Actually we don't vote for individuals at all. We vote for a list of potential Knesset Members, and the head (#1) of the list succeeds in crafting/negotiating a ruling majority, minimally sixty-one 61 out of the one hundred and twenty 120 MKs becomes Prime Minister.

This isn't a simple process. I guess we should be grateful that for the first seventy 70 years of statehood, we never needed a "redo" election. Now we're about to try a third time, and the polls again predict a standoff, unless elected MKs break ranks and follow Bismark's suggestion. Neither side has to luxury of uncompromising principles.

We must choose to vote for a political party that has a serious platform for the security and betterment of the State of Israel. Politics isn't supposed to be a personality game. That's why those who decided on our political system decided against direct elections for Prime Minister.

Gd willing, in our next Knesset Elections, the voting citizens of the State of Israel will choose wisely, even if it necessitates going against uncompromising idealism.

Third Try Israeli Elections, I Vote Häagen-Dazs

Here in Israel, we've recently had two national Knesset Elections with the same unsuccessful results. The Israeli political system requires a coalition government if no political party gets a majority of the one hundred and twenty Knesset seats.

In 2019, neither the Bibi-Likud Bloc nor the Anti-Bibi Blue and White Bloc succeeded in negotiating deals that would bring them to that magic sixty-one-plus, 61+. So we're scheduled for a third round of elections in a few weeks.

Most of the public is rather nauseated, sick of all these useless elections. There's a saying in Hebrew if you meet someone a second time within a short period. I've written about it before, Knesset Elections Ad Nauseum.

פעם שלישית גלידה
Pa'am shlishit glida
Third time ice cream

My guess is that the winning bloc will be the one whose supporters are less jaded and bored. Whichever side can galvanize its voters to show up and vote has the best chance to win, meaning get enough MKs to form a ruling coalition. Polls are showing Likud behind, which suits Bibi's favorite "gevalt-we're losing" campaign strategy.

Right now the small satellite parties of the Right and Left are negotiating to run to form two larger parties, one pro-Bibi and one anti-Bibi, in order not to waste votes for parties that don't pass the minimum.

Elections are scheduled for March, 2020, the Jewish Month of Adar, 5780. Adar is traditionally a month of surprises, so there's no way of predicting results or what the results will result in...

ונהפוך הוא
Vinahaphoch huAnd everything will be reversed

So, beware of pundits. Gd has something up His sleeve for sure. That's the most accurate prediction one can make.

I'm a Häagen-Dazs fan. The ice cream brand was founded by good pro-Israel Jews, Rose and Reuben Mattus, who supported Jewish Rights in all of the Land of Israel. This is diametrically opposed to Ben & Jerry's which supports Leftist causes, including endangering Israel by being pro-Palestine.

Let's have a Häagen-Dazs party! How can we go wrong with good ice cream?

Likud Primaries Tomorrow, Not Good

Generally before Likud primaries, my phone doesn't stop ringing, and the messages come in like a tsunami flooding the shores. This time, until today/tonight, nothing.

A few hours ago, I even started reading the SMSs I had been ignoring, because I wanted to check if I was really a member of the party. I couldn't find anything from Bibi or Saar. Then I got two phone calls, one a recording of Bibi and the other a Gidon Sa'ar activist who hung up when I refused to commit to supporting him.

In the February Likud Primaries, less than a year ago, I voted in Jerusalem. Tomorrow I plan on voting here in Shiloh. I hope I don't have a problem. If so, they'll have to transport me to and from Jerusalem. In this weather I have no plans, nor desire to travel.

You may be curious about my choice. Who should get my vote tomorrow?

I'm very upset with Gidon Sa'ar for trying to replace Bibi Netanyahu at this crucial time in history.

Maybe Gidon Sa'ar is a good, honest man with the capabilities to be Israel's Prime Minister as leader of the Likud Party. I seriously don't like his timing.

I think Gidon Sa'ar would have done better to support Netanyahu against the Blue & White Party, which was patched together to demolish the Likud, not just be anti-Bibi. The instigators/backers/conspirators who are behind the establishment of Blue & White have changed the face of Israeli politics and government. They've headed their party with a man who has no political Knesset experience, wasn't a Knesset Member, wasn't a Government Minister. Especially since the Prime Minister needs to form and control a coalition of MKs of various parties, the "American style" of voting for the "head executive" is a recipe for disaster.

With all of my complaints about Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu, and I do have many, I think that this is the time to support him. Sa'ar should have shown party loyalty, rather than supporting the basic Blue & White campaign platform that "Bibi has to go."

If Sa'ar had made a point of saying that he came out of his temporary "retirement" to support the party leader, he would have shown more leadership and sense of responsibility. Don't forget that in Israel we don't vote for a Prime Minister. We vote for a political party, and the party that gets the most Knesset seats gets first crack in trying to form a ruling coalition.

IMHO and a half a century carefully following Israeli politics, I think that Gidon Sa'ar made a mistake. Win or lose, he didn't do the right thing, and win or lose it will come back to haunt him.

Let's just pray for the State of Israel. Gd willing, we'll survive this electoral mess.

The Prayer for the State of Israel

Knesset Elections Ad Nauseum

I've just renamed a Facebook page/group I run "Knesset Elections Ad Nauseum." It used to be "Knesset Elections, 2019." That title worded rather efficiently even for the useless redo elections we went through later in the year, but then I had to add 2020, when Ad Nauseum seemed more suitable. Polls, which are polls not elections, keep predicting "more of the same," which makes us Israelis feel rather sick. Things are running fine, so maybe we don't need a coalition.

But the truth is, I'd like to call the upcoming elections:

"I Want Ice Cream, But Not Ben & Jerry's Elections" 

Do you know what this is based on?

I'm not sure of the source, but here in Israel, when you pass (run into) someone by chance the second time it's said:

פעם שלישית גלידה
Pa'am shlishit glida
Third time ice cream

So now, since we have elections scheduled for the third time in a year...

"you scream
I scream
we all scream for
ice cream"

But since the profits from Ben & Jerry's ice cream are used to support Extreme Leftist political causes, I'd rather starve than get theirs. I prefer Häagen-Dazs, which was established by Reuben and Rose Mattus who supported Jewish rights and communities all over. They even came to Shiloh in the early 1980s, where I met them.

Gevalt, what have I done? Now I'm craving Häagen-Dazs!