Let's Pretend: Today's Elections at The Time of the Maccabees

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Democracy, elections such as we take for granted didn't take place in ancient times, but human nature and idealism, etc have always existed and haven't changed. There are just different labels, laws and customs. So, I'm going to tell you what I think our ancient heroes, led by Judah the Maccabee would have done if faced with the sort of Knesset Elections we are being faced with this Jewish Year of 5775, (2015 on the goyish calendar.)

A little background on Judah Maccabee:

Judah Maccabee was a fearless leader, a brilliant battlefield tactician and a man capable of inspiring thousands to take up arms in the battle for the preservation of Judaism. It was Judah Maccabee who conceived of ways for the Jewish forces to out-maneuver the larger, better equipped and seasoned Greek army. When at last the Jews captured Jerusalem, rededicated the Temple and witnessed the miracle of the oil, it was with Judah Maccabee as the leader of the Hasmonean family and at the head of the Jewish army of liberation. (Torah.org Who Was Judah Maccabee Anyway? by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf)

This was a time in Jewish History when we weren't totally independent or sovereign in our Land. Our Holy Temple was in ruins and the Greeks ruled us, not only administratively, but they also forbade the practice of Judaism.

The festival of Hanukka celebrates the military victory of the Judeans over the Hellenist Syrians in the second century BCE, as recorded in the Al Hanissim thanksgiving prayer added to our Amida prayers and Grace after Meals for the eight days of the holiday; the festival also celebrates the ideological victory of Judaism over Greek Hellenism, as symbolized in the kindling of the Menorah, the Holy Temple candelabrum signifying “the illumination which is Torah.” Hence we were engaged in a two-pronged struggle; a national war of independence against the heirs of the military conqueror Alexander the Great, and a spiritual Kulturkampf against the wisdom of ancient Greece, which that same Alexander wished to dominate the entire civilized world at that time.
Moreover, as is clear from the historical writings of Josephus Flavius and the Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees, the enemies who were vanquished were not only the gentile Syrians but also the Jewish secular assimilationists, especially the ruling priestly aristocracy who had become bitten by the “bug” of Hellenistic culture and who wished to transform Judea into a Greek city-state (See Victor Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews). (Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Riskin)

Their actual aim was the destruction of us as a people united by our Jewish religion.

Our war, the fight of the Maccabees against the Greeks, had to be a battle on two fronts, and there was no compromise. Taking a "Centrist" view would not give us a victory. I have no doubt that Judah the Maccabee would oppose the Likud of Binyamin Netanyahu and also the NRP aka Jewish Home of Naftali Bennett. Moderation under any name was not in his ideological or political lexicon. Judah the Maccabee would also oppose the Chareidi parties, because they only take on religious battles and in principle ignore national and defense issues.

I have no doubt that today's Judah Maccabee would be an active member and supporter of Otzma Yehudit (formerly Otzma LiYisrael,) led by Michael Ben-Ari.

The lesson of the Chanukah story is that compromise with our enemies is dangerous.When someone wants to destroy you body and soul you have to fight on both of those fronts. There is no negotiations. The only political group that understands this is Ben-Ari's Otzma Yehudit!

The Moshe Feiglin Problem

Too often my blog posts about Israeli politics get comments claiming that Moshe Feiglin is the solution to our problems, and then the commenters are upset when I don't agree with them. Since, again, we are preparing for Knesset Elections here in Israel, this seems to be a good time to explain my position.

First of all, yes, I agree with many of Feiglin's stated positions/ideology/platform. But as a long-time political pundit, blogger, writer and having been on the fringes, and even closer, to the Israeli political scene and system, most specifically the Right, the Likud and its forerunners, Herut and Gahal and Techiya, I do have a perspective much broader, deeper and larger than most people. And yes, I'm old and made aliyah in 1970. Over the decades, close to half a century, I've met and known a large number of Likud and other Israeli Right politicians.

I'm also rather pragmatic in my way of thinking and have a tendency to remember what others would prefer I'd forget.

From experience I'm rather cynical when it comes to politics, and I take for granted that not only are campaign promises made to be broken but one of the biggest dangers is projected our values and thought processes on politicians, especially those in the Likud.

• No Israeli political party has done more to destroy Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel than the Likud.
• No Israeli political party has destroyed more Jewish businesses than the Likud.
• No Israeli political party has disappointed and shocked its voters/supporters than the Likud.
• No Israeli political party has a party bureaucracy stronger and impervious to change and influence than the Likud.

When Moshe Feiglin first announced his entry to the Likud leadership race, he did it in the most obnoxious, rude and guaranteed to fail way possible. He insulted the veteran party members telling them that he and only he was the real Likud, and he would take over. Considering the ingrained long-time party establishment well-embedded in the Likud Central Committee, its judicial etc., Feiglin's boasts could never be taken seriously. There isn't a way for him to take over the party. Not even Arik Sharon and Ehud Olmert, who is a brilliant and experienced political manipulator raised in a Revisionist home, managed to take over the Likud. Two elections ago, Bibi had no problem getting the Likud "court" to approve overriding the primary results to guarantee his candidates over those Feiglin supported. Notice that I wrote "Feiglin supported." I didn't write "Feiglin supporters," because very few of those whom Feiglin told his people to vote for actually identified with and supported Feiglin.   

Feiglin will not take over the Likud. He will never be elected party leader. 

Now, if Moshe Feiglin had really wanted to change the State of Israel, to have a greater influence over domestic and foreign policy bringing it more to the Right, he would have joined with people like Arieh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari. Feiglin is just the person to take them from the Right wing fringes into a power base. Their basic policies are the same. What Eldad and Ben-Ari have been missing all this time is the excellent organizational and fundraising skills of Feiglin. 

Yes, I do see Feiglin as having intelligence and talents, but I totally disagree with "plan." And to be perfectly honest. I really wonder if he, himself, takes his plan all that seriously. Maybe he just aims to fund-raise to campaign...

Knesset Run Scramble- Musical Chairs

I remember some wild "Musical Chairs" games growing up when kids were pushed off their chairs, not much fun. That's good preparation for the Israeli Knesset Elections. There are one hundred and twenty 120 seats for which a few hundred ambitious political wannabes compete.

The fight for the seats isn't always fun.



It can get pretty nasty.



Now the news is starting to fill with "change your partners, do se do" moves among sitting Knesset Members and those who have been impatiently waiting in the wings.

Report: Lapid, Liberman and Kahlon May Cooperate
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman and former Minister Moshe Kahlon are considering cooperating with one another in the next elections, Channel 10 News revealed on Wednesday.
According to the report, the three have been discussing ways to cooperate over the past several weeks. This cooperation could come into play after the election with the three parties agreeing to recommend one candidate to serve as Prime Minister, but the three could also work together during the election itself and present a joint front on some issues. (Arutz 7)

That would confirm the long-time rumors about Lieberman's ideological direction and Kahlon's true ideology. They're both more opportunist-ambitious than Right. And Lapid, although firmly to the Left understands Israeli politics well enough to know that he needs the help of the Right, since that's what the Israeli public prefers.

Will Ariel and Yishai Form a New Party?

Arutz Sheva learned on Wednesday that Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) and MK Eli Yishai (Shas) met this week and discussed the possibility of establishing a joint party.Political sources said that the plan is that Ariel and Yishai will split off from their parties with the members of their camp, that is Yishai with six Shas MKs who support him, and Ariel with three MKs from the Tekuma faction in the Jewish Home, and possibly MKs Motti Yogev and Yoni Chetboun as well. (Artuz 7)

Anything is possible when it comes to Uri Ariel, who has a rather fickle political history. And it's no secret that Eli Yishai has been firmly sidelined since the official return to political life of Aryeh Deri.

Miriam Alster/Flash 90

Last night on the bus home, a friend longingly spoke of a return to Knesset of Michael Ben-Ari, of Otzma L'Yisrael. On its own Otzma L'Yisrael doesn't have a chance to get in the Knesset, but if Yishai and Ariel put together a firmly reliably idealistically Right party, I personally would want to see Ben-Ari and his political partner Arieh Eldad in realistic places on it.

I think they'd have a chance to be elected. The Israeli public is sick and tired of Center mush. We want the Right leadership!

With Every Ceasefire, Bibi Loses Support

There's an excellent advertising campaign by the Golan Telecom company:

"Stop being a Sucker"
Maspik lihiyot friyer"

They offer a much better deal, in terms of price and service than most every other cellphone service, and more and more people, including me and my husband have joined up and left the big veteran companies like Pelephone, Cellcom and Orange.

I look at the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as those old cellphone service companies. Just like they once seemed so important and crucial to getting the job done, now it looks like we Israelis have been suckered.

Early in this war the Israeli public was pretty much 100% behind Bibi. That's when it looked like he was going to send in the troops and destroy the Hamas Arab terror infrastructure in Gaza. I still get all choked up when I quote the mother of a wounded IDF soldier who when asked what message to send to her other son who was fighting in Gaza.

Finish the job!
Sayyem et a missima

!סיים את המסימה!

At that time, polls gave Netanyahu 82%; now he is down to 39%.  Hat tip IMRA:

Panels Poll: Netanyahu rating today 38% Good, down from 82% on 23 July
Dr. Aaron Lerner 25 August 2014
Internet based polling of Panels Politics for Israel Television Channel 2 carried out today and broadcast on the evening news.
How would you term the performance of PM Netanyahu in the last week?
Good 38%
Bad 50%
Don't know/refuse reply 12%
Percent good by polling date:
21 August 55%
5 August 63%
23 July 82%
How do you rate the Government's handling of the residents of the South?
Good 24%
Bad 68%
Should the schools open?
Entire country 18%
Not in South 63%
Not to open anywhere 15% 

G-d willing, next elections the Israeli voting public will vote using the knowledge it has picked up these last few weeks. Instead of voting Likud, headed by Binyamin Netanyahu who has campaigned as a Centrist or NRP aka Jewish Home, headed by Naftali Bennett whose campaign promise was that he would be a member of Bibi's cabinet, Israelis should vote for the unabashedly Jewish Right, like Otzma l'Yisrael, Power to Israel which in the last elections was headed by Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari.

We've been suckers long enough.

• It's time to have a government that cares more for the Jewish State of Israel than anything else! 
• It's time to have a government that doesn't take orders from foreign leaders!
• And it's time to have a government that isn't afraid to fight our enemies!

For Common Sense on the Middle East and Israel, Read Caroline, Ruthie and Arlene

Unfortunately Israel is ruled by men and women like Tsipi Livni, who dress like Hilary Clinton, old-fashioned feminists who try to think like men.  It's all these men and faux men who have gotten us into dangerous situations. 

Even in Biblical times, the women had to instruct our leaders on what to do.  Think about how the Matriarch Sarah was the one to tell Abraham that his first son Ishmael had to be banished, because not only wasn't he suited to inherit leadership, but he was a dangerously bad example for their son Isaac. And G-d confirmed that Sarah was correct.  Even when Tamar seduced her father-in-law Judah, which on the surface seems immoral, it ended up being the right thing to do.  Later on the five daughters of Tzlofchad had to instruct Moses about Land inheritance when there isn't a son, and again, G-d confirmed that they were correct. And during the dangerous anarchist time of Judges, again, women, Ruth, Naomi and Chana had to take charge to save the Jewish People.



Arlene Kushner

Caroline Glick

Ruthie Blum

So, you shouldn't be surprised when I say that common sense and the Right direction for the State of Israel and the world can be found in the writings of Caroline Glick, Ruthie Blum and Arlene Kushner.  To this very distinguished list I ought to add Ellen of Jewish Israel.  Sadly I must say that I have no respect for the judgment and policies of our Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his coalition.  To be accepted in the coalition, an MK must sell his soul.  That's the bottom line.  That's the meaning of coalition discipline.  That's why before the recent Israeli elections I kept on writing that I wouldn't vote for the NRP aka Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home.  I was very upset that some seemingly good people like Orit Strook agreed to join them.  I had no illusions about Naftali Bennett's being a politician more than an idealist.  The "idealism party," the one run by Arieh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari, didn't get enough votes to pass the "threshold."  If people like Strook had gone with them, instead of the NRP, we'd have a Right opposition, instead of absolutely none.

And if I have no respect for the Israeli politicians and government leaders, I have even less for the American ones.  It's no secret that United States President Barack Hussein Obama is little more than a wooden dummy who reads his teleprompter screen or repeats what he hears through the tiny high tech earphone he now sports.

Here's a taste of recent articles by Caroline Glick, Arlene Kushner and Ruthie Blum:

Obama's power and its limitations
by Caroline Glick

US President Barack Obama's rapidly changing positions on Syria have produced many odd spectacles.

One of odder ones was the sight of hundreds of lobbyists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee fanning out on Capitol Hill to lobby members of the House and Senate to support Obama's plan to launch what Secretary of State John Kerry called "unbelievably small" air strikes against empty regime controlled buildings in Syria.

AIPAC officials claimed they were doing this because the air strikes would help Israel.

But this claim was easily undone. Obama and Kerry insisted nothing the US would do would have any impact on the outcome of the Syrian civil war. This was supposed to be the strikes' selling point. But by launching worthless strikes, Obama was poised to wreck America's deterrent posture, transforming the world's superpower into an international joke.

In harming America's deterrent capabilities by speaking loudly and carrying an "unbelievably small" stick, Kerry and Obama also harmed Israel's deterrent posture...

 

September 24, 2013: Seeing It Clear

by Arlene Kushner

...To gain a more complete picture of what the PA leadership is like, consider the following.  It is far worse than their refusing to condemn those Palestinian Arabs who committed the terrorist attacks of the last few days (more on this below):
Abbas Zaki, a member of the Fatah Central Committee (Fatah, remember, being the political mainstay of the Palestinian Authority), has charged that what the sniper in Hevron did is the fault of the Israeli government:
"The soldier was not on a picnic in Hebron."
Darn right he wasn't. Sgt. Kobi was stationed in Hevron, along with other members of the IDF, to protect the thousands of Jews who came for Sukkot.
And of course, the Palestinian Arabs who were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails not far from where Kobi was standing were doing so for peaceful reasons...

 

Offensive, minus the charm

Ruthie Blum                                                                                                                            

Ahead of his participation in the U.N. General Assembly this week, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani has launched what many have been calling a "charm offensive." Though this term is inherently cynical, the reporters and pundits using it to describe Rouhani's recent overtures to the United States -- by way, among other things, of an op-ed in the Washington Post and interview with NBC News -- are not.

This is in keeping with the overall attitude toward the new leader of the Islamic Republic. Indeed, all Rouhani had to do to persuade the West that he is a "moderate" was to refer to himself as such. His predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had been far less accommodating to the Middle East peace fantasists. His public vitriol, nuclear grandstanding and genocidal threats made it difficult for them to dismiss the danger posed by the mullah-led regime in Tehran. This was in spite of great attempts to give him the benefit of the doubt, not to mention access to a podium at Columbia University...

 

Read on, my friends, read on...

Say: NO To Negotiations and Two State "Solution"

An unofficial hint for when you want to access an article, especially an opinion piece, from the New York Times and don't have a paid subscription.  Since they limit the amount of articles you can access for free each month, the best thing is to do a simple google search for the title and author. There's a good chance that you can find the complete text on a free site or even one of their partner newspapers. And if you can't find it, then enter through the google list, because you can view more articles via google than directly.

Enough of the Oslo Accords.  It tied a noose around the neck, the safety and sovereignty of the State of Israel.  I agree with what MK Danny Danon wrote in his New York Times op-ed about annulling the Oslo Accords, though I don't think it's possible. 

Despite attempts to rewrite recent history by fringe elements, the failure of the Oslo framework cannot be attributed to a lack of will and persistence by Israel. What didn’t we try? We attempted direct negotiations, third-party mediators, public conferences and back-channel talks. We staged withdrawals and unilateral disengagements, established joint Israeli-Palestinian military patrols in Gaza and deployed American-trained security forces in the West Bank. None of this worked.
The P.L.O., and later the Palestinian Authority, never truly accepted that Israel, as the national state and homeland of the Jewish people, was here to stay. No amount of impressive ceremonies, cosmetic changes to the P.L.O. charter and Palestinian doublespeak to Western media outlets about their commitment to peace was able to change this grim fact.
To understand the mind-boggling scope of Oslo’s failure, it is best to look at the statistics. According to the organization B’Tselem, during the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, six years before Mr. Rabin’s attempt to recast the archterrorist Yasir Arafat as a peacemaker, 160 Israelis were murdered in Palestinian terror attacks. In the mid- to late-1990s, as successive Israeli governments negotiated with the Palestinians, and Mr. Arafat and his cronies repeatedly swore they were doing their utmost to end terrorism, 240 Israelis were brutally killed as suicide bombs and other heinous terrorist acts targeting unarmed civilians were unleashed in every corner of our nation.

Oslo truth

There must be ways of going around it, which would have the same effect.  That's "poetic justice" for sure, considering that the Israelis who "negotiated for us" were not acting in an official capacity. They were doing it privately and I'd say illegally.  They claimed to be representing Israel, but the truth is that they were just promoting their extreme Left agenda, and Yitzchak Rabin was too weak to prosecute them.

Peace or Terror

Bli eyin haraa, warding off the "evil eye" as the saying goes, Arab terror attacks have gone down of late.  The multiple causalities of the suicide bus bombers are out of fashion, thank G-d, of late.  Maybe it's because Israeli public transportation is very multi-cultural aka integrated with both Jews and Arabs.  That's further proof that there is no anti-Arab apartheid in Israel.  (The only apartheid is anti-Jewish.)  One of the things I've noticed in my interactions with Arabs at Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin is that the Arab families are smaller than in previous generations, and the parents care about and try to spoil their children.  No doubt the more extreme anti-Israeli/Jewish Arabs don't shop in Jewish Israeli Yafiz. 

The pragmatic versus the ideological day to day life is changing here. This is not at all due to "peace negotiations."  It's a slow process that can't be negotiated and can't be legislated.  We must let it develop; be patient.  Don't force the issue.  I wouldn't call it "peace," but quiet can come to this area only if Israel is in charge.

Israeli security forces were able to solve the Arab terrorist murder of  Sgt. Tomer Hazan, because there is no Palestinian sic State, hat tip IMRA.  Any change in the status quo that empowers the Arabs will only cause terrorism and death to both Jews and Arabs who have been working with/for Jews.

As I've said many times before, I'm a realist, a pragmatist.  I believe in looking at the facts at history.  I agree with former MK Dr. Arieh Eldad when he says that it's interesting that Israeli scientists and mathematicians are on the Right of the political spectrum, while those involved with unprovable theories are on the Left.

A Real Fairy Tale: "After the Peace Treaty They All Lived Happily Ever After"

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Yesterday on my less political blog, me-ander, I blogged about winning a Liebster Award.   Leora   had awarded me with it, and part of the ceremonial is that the winner must answer questions posed by the blogger who did the awarding.  There was one question I couldn't answer on the spot:

10 What is your favorite fairy tale?

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I guess I'm just too realistic, pragmatic to go for fairy tales.  I just can't take them seriously.  Also, even though I read fiction for pleasure, I don't write fiction, only non-fiction, op-eds, recipes, reminisces, health-related material etc.  It's too easy for my mind to poke holes in various myths and ideologies.  Even my Bible studies are text-based; I'm not a fan of midrashim or myths.  When I'm interviewed by the media I'll refuse to answer questions based on "theoretical what-ifs."

In all honesty, I don't see how there can be peace between Israel and the Arabs this generation or even the next one.  To believe there can be is to believe in fairy tales.  A signed peace treaty doesn't erase what's in people's minds and hearts.  The Arabs have been inoculated, brainwashed for generations that they have the power to destroy the Zionists and the State of Israel.  Until that mentality is erased/deleted, there will never be peace.  Israel will not be secure.  Lehavdil, to differentiate (that means that I'm not saying my examples are the same) think of G-d's decision to have the People of Israel wait forty years to enter the Promised Land, because the slave generation needed to be replaced.  No doubt it will take (and has already taken) much more than forty years for the Arabs, and a good chunk of the world to fully accept the Jewish State of Israel.

Former MK Dr. Arieh Eldad MD once gave a very interesting observation of the Israeli political scene.  I heard this on television in a show that featured various public figures being painted by Israeli artists and then interviewed.  Eldad pointed out that the Israeli Right is led by scientists and mathematicians, while the Left is lead those who specialized in the humanities.  Eldad stressed that his ideology is based on facts, while the Left is based on wishful thinking, theories.  That brings me back to my refusal to answer theoretical questions.  Like Dr. Eldad who is a doctor, for me these questions are a matter of life and death, and we must be realistic.

As long as and for at least a full generation after the Arabs stop educating their children to terrorize and destroy Israel (see the PMW-Palestine Media Watch) there is absolutely no way there can be peace.  That's a simple fact.



And if I was to give my favorite fairy tale, yes, I finally thought of one, I'd have to say The Emperor's New Clothes.

Here's the beginning and end of the story.  It's different from your usual fairy tales, because it has a very sad ending.  Read it:

Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in council," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room."
In the great city where he lived, life was always gay. Every day many strangers came to town, and among them one day came two swindlers. They let it be known they were weavers, and they said they could weave the most magnificent fabrics imaginable. Not only were their colors and patterns uncommonly fine, but clothes made of this cloth had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid.
"Those would be just the clothes for me," thought the Emperor. "If I wore them I would be able to discover which men in my empire are unfit for their posts. And I could tell the wise men from the fools. Yes, I certainly must get some of the stuff woven for me right away." He paid the two swindlers a large sum of money to start work at once....
...
So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, "Oh, how fine are the Emperor's new clothes! Don't they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!" Nobody would confess that he couldn't see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.
"But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.
"Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?" said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, "He hasn't anything on. A child says he hasn't anything on."
"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last.
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, "This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at all.

I Vote: Sovereignty Now!

 

One of the biggest surprises in the third Conference for the Application of Sovereignty over Judea and Samaria* was (if I'm not mistaken it was) Elyokim Haetzni's statement that immediately after the 1967 Six Days War the Knesset passed a law that empowers the government to annex, declare Israeli sovereignty over all of the liberated Land, Judea, Samaria, Golan, Sinai (including Gaza) and the Jordan Valley.  The government just has to activate it.

Haetzni's revelation reminds me of Dorothy's ruby red slippers in the Wizard of Oz.  We have had the power all this time and we haven't used it.   And the most annoying thing about the conference was that there were many speakers from the government, from Likud and NRP aka Bayit Yehudi who are ministers and Knesset Members and they have never used their power or risked giving up their seats and/or Volvos (the Israeli symbol of ministerial perks and status) to officially support the Application of Israeli Sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. 

All of a sudden, three weeks before the elections, they rush to get our votes even though we all know that those votes if given will just be used to empower Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to help the Arabs to establish a Palestinian State in the heart of the Land of Israel.  The large hall in the Bayit Vegan hostel was packed with potential voters.  This venue was chosen just before the conference because registration was tremendously higher than expected.

The Application of Israeli Sovereignty to Judea and Samaria conference was organized by Women in Green's Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover.  I have no doubt that the "silent majority" of the citizens of Israel agree with their opinions/ideology.

MK Dr. Arye Eldad MD,
Otzma LeYisrael

I'm also horrified that the campaign that "it's a waste of a vote to vote for Otzma LeYisrael because they won't pass the threshold" is gaining.  It seems like almost everyone I speak to believes it to be true.  I also heard it from people at the conference.  Eldad and Ben-Ari are only politicians I feel I can trust, and I also consider it of the utmost importance that there be a Right opposition to the government. 

Otzma LeYisrael is not campaigning to be in the coalition, unlike the NRP-Bayit Yehudi which has been musing about possible cabinet portfolios even during their primaries.  They may as well join Feiglin in the Likud for all the real power they'll hold.  Once subject to coalition or party discipline, they won't have the freedom to vote according to conscience. 

Netanyahu does not poll his ministers or MK's before making decisions.  So remember that a vote for Likud or NRP-Bayit Yehudi  is a vote for Bibi, not for Feiglin, Hotovelli, Elkin, Bennett or any other politician who claims to be pro-Jewish Sovereignty and Jewish Rights in the entire Land of Israel.

Eldad's applause form the audience was overwhelming, but that won't help us if people don't vote for him.  The potential for five seats or more is clear.  Vote with your conscience and give Eldad and party a chance to keep us safe.

*click to watch the entire conference

Last Laugh Re:Israeli Election Campaign and Polls

The fanatically extreme Left Israeli media has been bombarding the public with miserable, exaggerated doomsday reports of the Israeli economy and worse.  They claim that hundreds of thousands of children are living in extreme poverty and forced to work rather than study, even at very young ages.  They make the "Oliver" story look like heaven in comparison.



And they keep on repeating all sorts of horrors about the present Likud Government led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.  The almost equally Leftist "justice" sic department is also doing its best to lower voter support of the Likud, which just a few short weeks ago had seemed to do a very clever thing by joining with Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party.  At first that new election alliance seemed to be bringing them more voters, but then the Leftist brought out the heavy guns and started firing. 

Now the courts have been threatening indictment of Liberman after more than a decade of investigations, and he has resigned. 

Photo: Reuters

Yisrael Beytenu party leader no longer foreign minister; Financial crimes unit indictment for fraud to be filed in "coming days."

The indictment that was due to be filed against Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman – shortly after his parliamentary immunity was waived and his resignation as foreign minister went into effect – was delayed at the last minute.

Polls enthusiastically shown by the media have shown a rapid lack of support for the Likud, even though the Jerusalem Post had a readers poll that predicted Liberman's resignation wouldn't make a difference.

Liberman's decision to step down over his pending indictment will: 1. Strengthen the Likud-Beytenu party in the polls. 26.89% 2. Cause Likud-Beytenu to slide in the polls. 25.21% 3. Will not change voter attitudes toward the party   47.90%
	Total votes:	238

The last laugh seems to be that the parties benefiting the most are further to the Right than the Likud, NRP aka Bayit Yehudi and Otzmah L'Yisrael, led by MKs Dr. Arye Eldad and Dr. Michael Ben-Ari.

Here is an average of the polls presented as a pie chart. The blue parties represent the right wing, gray and black are the orthodox parties, purple represents the center, red represents the left and green the Arab and joint Arab-Jewish parties.

While these polls have considerable variations on the results for the individual parties (Tzipi Livni’s party ranges from 6.5 seats in one poll to 11 on another) a few common trends can be noticed:
- Avigdon Lieberman and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Beitenu party is losing support to the hard right. Likud Bietenu is currently polling 37 seats (the two parties have 42 Knesset sears right now), and more importantly, the general trend is downward (Likud Beitenu had more than 38 seats in last week’s average, and closer to 40 a month ago). At the same time, Naftali Bennet’s National Religious Party now averages 12 seats, while the radical Otzma Le’Israel Party – which had a racist campaign ad disqualified by the central election committee last week – is coming very close to passing the minimum threshold. Combined, their average of 13 seats represent a rise of 6 seats from the number they have in the current Knesset. Netanyahu’s recent behavior and his willingness to confront the world on the issue of the settlements betray an understanding that his real challenge comes from the right.

Israel's Left and Center are slipping and will just drop more, because as I've written many times their supporters have few children which makes for fewer voters.  There's a pretty good chance that Otzmah L'Yisrael supporters are less likely to be polled and probably have a much larger support base.

Elections are just a few weeks away.  It still seems very easy to to predict that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will again put together the coatliton, but the question will be if he'll be able to make a deal with the Center-Left parties or will he have to depend on the Right and Religious parties to join his coalition.

Stay tuned...

Will It Really Be Feiglin In and Barak Out?

Xinhua News Agency / eyevine

While most people here in Israel who care about Israel's future and security were busy guessing about the results of the expanded to a second day Likud Primaries, Ehud Barak ברח barach fled from the political scene.  More exactly he announced his retirement from Knesset politics.  If you read his announcement carefully, you'll see that, unfortunately, it doesn't mean that we're finished with him:

Defense Minister Ehud Barak delivered the following remarks this morning (Monday, 26 December 2012):
"Good morning everyone,
The State of Israel has experienced some tough times during the past two weeks, and I am proud to be part of the team that directed Operation Pillar of Defense, both militarily and diplomatically, to its successful conclusion. Fifty three years ago, in November 1959, I enlisted to the IDF and for forty seven years, I have served the people of Israel to the best of my ability. Today I stand before you to tell you about my decision to retire from political life, instead of running in the upcoming Knesset election. I took this decision not without doubts, but ultimately with a whole heart.
I would be lying if I said that the warmth that I felt from the public, and even the positive coverage that I received from some of you [journalists] – not of course from all of you – did not please me. For someone who has not always been spoiled with this [positive media coverage], I know how to appreciate support and was glad to receive it.
Practically, I will finish in my role as defense minister with the formation of the new government in approximately three months. This is the culmination of seven and a half years in this office, two terms under three governments, one of which I was at the head. Years in which, along with others, I led the defense establishment and the IDF, through the rehabilitation after the Second Lebanon War, strengthening our 'long arm' and building our operational capabilities to cope with the Iranian threat for if and when a decision should be made, pushing through the 'Iron Dome' and the multi-layer interception system. And no less important, we secured the nature and depth of the relationship with the US in the operational, political and intelligence spheres.
I am proud that in the last year and a half, alongside important operational achievements, a real spirit of openness and clarity of opinion has returned to the IDF; quiet confidence and modesty, things that have been damaged from time to time in the past.
We restored the essential elements of the ethical code and an uncompromising acceptance of the democratic foundations of our lives here; understanding and internalizing the subordination of the military to the political.
The decision to retire stems from the fact that I want to spend more time with my family, that I have exhausted the practice of politics – something for which I never had any special desire in the first place – and that the fact that there is space to allow for new people to enter senior positions in Israeli politics. Replacing the [personnel] in positions of power is a good thing.
There are many ways to contribute to society and the country; not only politics.
As a former chief of staff and prime minister, as well as the current defense minister, and as long as my council is sought after and received, then I will present it before the prime minister and the heads of the establishment on any diplomatic or military matter, as and when I am requested to do so.
I would like to thank with all my heart the commanders of the IDF, the soldiers in the reserves and of the regular army, the personnel of the ministry of defense and the intelligence establishment, for enabling me to function successfully as minister of defense.
I am proud to stand at the head of [a network of] such wonderful people. I would like to thank the prime minister, members of the government, my devoted friends in the leadership and ranks of the Independence Party, who have all provided me with strength during long hours, every day, with many tough tasks. Thank you to everyone.
For the next three months, we will continue to tackle every challenge together, and I promise you, there will be many challenges."

One thing that he'll be doing for sure is making oodles of money on the lecture circuit.  I remember Natan Sharansky admitting that an advantage of retiring from the Knesset and cabinet was to free him from restrictions on outside income. 

Ehud Barak's defense policy is more in tune with that of Barack Obama's than of mine and others here in Israel such as Otzma L'Yisrael's, Strength of Israel Arieh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari, or Likud's Moshe Feiglin.

Yes, it does seem that Moshe Feiglin has a very realistic chance of being voted into Knesset.  I have no doubt that he and Tzipi Hotovelli will be used, very effectively, by the Bibi Netanyahu campaign machine to get Right votes.  But mind my words, that does not mean that they will have any real influence on policy. 

Please, don't be naive and trusting.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is one of the most consummate and crafty politicians alive today.  He will find a way to use them to attract votes and then isolate totally from power and influence. 

Garden orbweaver with prey

The easy way for him would be to give them an impressive sounding cabinet portfolio with more strings attached than a spider web.

Lietz, Robert 

Bucking Bronco, 1973

Hold onto your hats and expect a very bumpy ride!

Strength עוצמה לישראל Otzmah LiYisrael Strength to Israel is What We Need

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/
The Jerusalem Post

I started my blogging career with by posting an article I had emailed out from a series of pieces, which I had called "musings," my feelings and opinions about life in Israel.  The very first one was "Strength to the Weary."  Although the Hebrew word I had translated into "strength" isn't the same as the name of MK's Arye Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari's new political party, עוצמה לישראל Otzmah LiYisrael Strength to Israel, I'd say the sentiments are the same.

credit

Eldad cited a “vacuum” in the Right after Yisrael Beytenu merged with Likud and “sits on the same list as [Intelligence Agencies Minister] Dan Meridor” while Aryeh Deri is “pulling Shas to the Left to the days of Oslo.”
“There’s a need for an ideological Right that will say things that were forgotten: No obligations, no rights. The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel.”
“[Minister without Portfolio] Bennie Begin is proud of transferring money to Arab towns. Do they pay property tax? Do they pay taxes at all?”

While many of those Israelis who have very similar political opinions to myself are seriously thinking of supporting the NRP, by any other name, still the National Religious Party, I am not attracted to that party at all. 

One of the admitted major aims of the NRP and its wannabes is to be part of the ruling coalition.  IMHO that should not be an aim of an ideological party.  My feeling is that although most voters for the NRP consider ideology, Jewish rights and communities in all of the Land of Israel, important, the wannabes are more concerned with being ministers and part of the elite.  You'd think that they haven't noticed how tight Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ties the nooses around his cabinet to make sure they don't stray from his policies. 

Continuing on Bibi's leadership, I don't care how good some of the Likud candidates are, because they have no real power,as MK's or even as ministers.  That's what we should all have learned after observing how Netanyahu runs his government.  You may consider yourself as voting for Feiglin or Hotobelli, but all you get are Dan Meridor and Ehud Barak.

That's how I see it.

I aim to support

 עוצמה לישראל Otzmah LiYisrael Strength to Israel

"Irregularities" In Arab Israeli Polling Stations

It's so obvious that the voting in the Arab sector isn't according to law. MK Dr. Arieh Eldad made a showing in Umm el-Fahm, but he couldn't stay.

I mentioned it to somebody who told me what happened to him during the last elections, three years ago. He was assigned to an Arab Israeli city.

He kept tabs on everything, so that there was no cheating as long as he could "hold it in," but being human, he was forced to leave the room for a few minutes, and in that time, the pile of over fifty envelopes, which had been sitting on the table were suddenly gone, stuffed in the ballot box. It was obvious that they used his human weakness to mark off voters who wouldn't be showing up and taking the same number of envelopes and quickly put their "favorite" ballot inside.

When the polls closed, he immediately reported it to the proper authorities and waited to be called to testify. Even though the media claimed that there had been investigations which were found to be "baseless," he was never called by the police.

I wish I had heard the story then. Now it's too late to do anything but it jives with the stories I remember hearing from a number of sources in the past.

Bibi's Betting On Effie Eitam

Bibi doesn't want to lose Feiglin supporters/votes, so he's negotiating with Effie Eitam to join Likud.

Polls show that the people want a strong Right wing government. But Likud support in the polls went down after Bibi's anti-Feiglin shenanigans. Bibi hopes that Eitam's presence in the Likud list will sedate the Feiglin supporters in believing that "Eretz Yisrael is safe" with the Likud in power.

Granted that your average voter doesn't delve too deeply into issues, the past etc, but I think that many people have become terribly disillusioned with Effie Eitam. My one experience meeting him in person was worse than disappointing. Eitam hasn't been effective as an MK or political leader at all.

I truely hope that Merzel, Eldad and the rest of Moledet will run together and form a united Eretz Yisreal l'Am Yisrael, The Land of Israel for the Jewish People party.

I Hope! G-d Willing

The latest election news from the Jewish Land of Israel Loyalists, is that the Moledet faction of the National Union realized that the National Religious Party is the National Religious Party, aka Mafdal, aka Mizrachi, no matter what new name its leaders invent. The Jewish Home is just another alumni association for Bnai Akiva graduates.

The news is that Moledet is joining MK Dr. Arieh Eldad's Hativah Party. I hope it's true, and even more I hope that they will also join up with Baruch Merzel's Our Land of Israel Party.

High-ranking Moledet officials said there exists a significant possibility that the Moledet-HaTikvah list will join up with the Our Land of Israel party, headed by Baruch Marzel of the Jewish Front and Rabbi Dov Wolpe. Many pro-Land of Israel supporters who were disappointed by the center-tilt of the Jewish Home, are hoping for this four-way merger, to prevent fragmentation of the pro-Land of Israel vote.

That will give me a party, not only to vote for, but work for, if they're interested.

Facing Jihad, or Are Paranoids Really Pragmatists?

No, I wasn't at the "Facing Jihad" conference. Arlene Kushner gives a good summary of the highlights. My husband posted a lot of pictures. Twitter was used by some for providing live time highlights. Maybe I really ought to sign up.

Ironically, a couple of decades ago, Bibi Netanyahu, helped or mentored by the late David Bar Illan, would have hosted a conference like this. Instead it was MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MD of the Hatikvah Party. Eldad chose a name for his party with much potential for inspiration. Too bad he hasn't succeeded in inspiring the Israeli public. It's all in the packaging.

The Best News--G-d Willing

The latest news from MK Dr. Arieh Eldad is that he hopes that his Hatikvah Hope Party will join with the Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home Party.

That would be the best for all, since for many of us, Bibi's belief that Likud should campaign to the "center" would not be giving the State of Israel the government it needs. The Likud needs a strong party to the right of it, whether in the coalition or not.

Many of those Likud wannabees who were recommended by Feiglin and other Right wingers made it into the top 35. Our hope is that they will stay Right wing--pro-Land of Israel when in the Knesset. It was reassuring that people like Tal Brody didn't do well.

This Is The Type Of Campaign Arieh Eldad Should Be Running

Candidate Says 'Sick Tzfat' Needs Doctor for Mayor
(IsraelNN.com) Mayoral candidate Dr. Yitzchak Stern's campaign calls Tzfat a sick person that needs a doctor...

MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MD, worked for years as a world famous plastic surgeon who specialized in serious burn cases. No, he wasn't the "nose job," "eye lid lift" kind of doctor. He developed methods to graft healthy skin where none was growing.

Those very damaged patients, lucky enough to have had Eldad as their doctor praised his bedside manner.

Why can't Dr. Eldad use the same people skills when campaigning? Unfortunately, he's surrounded by "advisors" running a rediculous campaign.

Eldad is also a tradtional Jew who could easily be attractive to all Jews, and his Hatikvah Party is labeled secular. Earlier on I tried to get involved, but I was never called, probably because I look the Torah-loyal Jew I am.

I'm beginning to wonder if some of those people, who also reject all of the basic poltical tactics and techniques are doing it on purpose...

The Right Direction?

Double hat-tip to IMRA

My blogging about my imaginary political party is just an act of desperation. I'm just a grandmother, blogger and burnt-out EFL teacher. I blog about Zot Shelanu to give a broad and detailed "hint" to those who are wiling to devote their lives to being "politicians."

The Jerusalem Post now reports that the NRP-NU are trying to put together some sort of united Right wing traditional party. Considering that the people quoted are the same failed politicians whose careers began with the National Religious Party, I'm still afraid that it's their desperate attempt to salvage the NRP. I would be more relieved and trusting if Arieh Eldad had been quoted, too. He's the key to a broader group. The problems they've had in the past are rooted in the lack of good chemistry between them. The agreement they had made prior to the previous elections was horrible. They pushed him out, even though many voters and potential voters davka wanted Eldad and not the NRP type.

Considering the recent polls, it shows that properly packaged, a broad-based all Jew Right-wing party could do very well.

Greatest Threat Facing Israel

With regard to the greatest threat facing Israel
24% Arab countries including Iran
24% Corruption
22% Poverty
12% Terror attacks
07% Demographic issues

The KEEVOON poll also repeated a question from the poll they carried out in
2007:

Is Israel headed in the right or wrong direction?
2008 poll: Right 24% Wrong 60% Don't know 16%
2007 poll: Right 16% Wrong 74% Don't know 10%

IMHO, Zot Shelanu, or any party taking our platform, could do very well in the next Israeli elections.

Zot Shelanu-- That's Why!

A month and a half ago I wrote Still Hoping, which included a promise or two. One promise I kept here and here, but I didn't explain what happened to The Hope, HaTikvah, the "hopeful" Israeli political party which hoped to be headed by MK Dr. Arieh Eldad.

I really tried. Yes, I really tried to like and trust Hatikvah, but I could no longer lie to myself, nor to those of you who read my blogs for information you can't get any where else.

My report about their Yom HaAtzmaut-Independence Day Reception didn't tell it all. I left out the lack of professional organization, no registration of participants to get their names, numbers and what they volunteer to do. I didn't mention the horrendously boring program, the history lecture by the university professor, nor the fact that the organizers made no efforts to meet and greet the attendees unless I was intentionally snubbed.

To put it very simply, there are tested and proven techniques for establishing successful ideological and political movements. None of them were used, and without them, the movement hasn't a chance.

But I gave them another chance, so desperate for a political party with an ideology I could support. The same person who had invited me to the reception then invited me to a parlour meeting. The host was a name I had read many times in "letters to the editor." I was encouraged. So I went there to meet the founder/organizer of Hatikvah.

I didn't let the paltry number of participants bother me, nor the fact that I was younger than all by a couple of decades. I was impressed that those very elderly people managed to walk up all the flights of stairs. Then the speaker began... to lecture us. He started off bragging about how many generations his family has lived in Israel. I couldn't get the significance of it unless he's anti-immigrant. I tried to cut off some personal tangents by the other participants about their experiences in the pre-state undergrounds, very politely wondering what that had to do with the subject at hand.

I even stayed after the speaker said that Hatikvah was established because their study showed that the only group of Israelis who didn't have a party to support was the secular right. I disagreed and tried to explain that for people like me, religious-right who in principle don't vote for religious parties, there isn't a reliably right wing party. He looked at me blankly, unable to comprehend my point.

But half-way (or less) through the very detailed university lecture about the history of the State of Israel I begged the speaker to get to the main topic. He insisted that we wouldn't understand anything until we heard his entire speech.

That was too much and I left.

There is no political party, nor leader I trust to get us, the State of Israel, out of this dangerous mess we're in. So since I love politics and won't be teaching this year, I've decided to create a "pretend" party, the one I'd want to vote for.

Zot Shelanu!

It's Ours!

We Have A Choice; We Have Hope--HATIKVAH!

I took the picture of that flag, but now as I see it on my computer screen, it looks unreal, like some painting. It was one of the flags flying at the Yom Ha'Atzma'ut Independence Day Reception of the Hatikvah Party.

Hatikvah, The Hope, named after Israel's National Anthem, is the political party forming around MK Dr. Arieh Eldad, MD. Dr. Eldad is strongly pro-Land of Israel. I trust him. In his pre-political life, he was a world-renown plastic surgeon specializing in skin transplants for burn victims. He was also head of the IDF (Israeli Army) Medical Corps. Now he's aiming to heal the Jewish Nation.

Today's crowd was an amazing cross-section of Israelis, young, old, religious, traditional, secular, immigrants, native-born, academic and blue color. We all have one thing in common. We love our Land and Country and want it to be strong and Jewish.