Hamas/Gaza War Musings #27: Ultimate War Aim VICTORY!

 Recently this sign has been seen on the roads. I agree with it.

SAY NO TO A DEAL OF MEANING SURRENDER!
WE MUST BE VICTORIOUS!!

It's not easy to get these slogans into comprehensible English, but I've tried to get the message across. 

I've been too depressed about Israel's policies to blog about the war recently. That's because Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has not been governing/fighting to win. This isn't new. He has failed as Prime Minister and not for the reasons the antigovernment Leftists keep shouting. Their opposition to him is what keeps me going... they remind me that things could be even worse. Yes, if they were in charge.

Follow the money...

The money bags funding these "anyone but Bibi," anti-Bibi, anti-judicial reform etc demonstrations are a gazillion times worse than Bibi. He's horrendously weak, trying to be "centrist" as he unabashedly stated/bragged at the First International Jewish Bloggers Conference as I blogged when I heard it.

The same money sources are funding the anti-Israel American flag-burning demonstrations in the USA. World stability is in danger. The USA is a major problem. Not that long ago, anyone burning an American flag would be arrested; now they're ignored by the police. Schools are teaching that Israel must be destroyed. Jews are in danger. Anyone who sees the holes, the inequality, the inconsistencies and dangers in their ideology has a problem...

Just like in Israel, when they lose elections they take to the streets. Do you remember the NOT MY PRESIDENT demonstrations? 

Netanyahu has been Prime Minister more years than any other person, and at that position he's a good example of the "Peter's Principle, A person rises to his level of incompetence." His true talents, expertise is oratory, not defense, meaning he's make a good Foreign Minister. He was also a great Finance Minister, another talent.

Under Netanyahu's "leadership" sic, we've quit about a dozen wars without winning them. He and his cohorts called them "operations" and decided that lowering the intensity of the attacks, plus using defensive Iron Domes, equaled "winning." 

I kept seeing those other attacks as "target practice" expecting, as did happen, that our dangerous enemies would get better and better aim, more effective in hitting us. 

Bibi's so terrified of a war that instead of fighting our enemies he plays "games," surrendering our land by pulling people out of their homes. Yes, that's what he has done. 

I must write my review of Netanyahu's speech in the US Congress. It follows the same structure as his speech at the bloggers convention in 2008. Listen carefully until the end, and tell me what you've heard.  Yes, I must write up my review...

Gd willing a miracle, true leadership which is the only way we can destroy our enemies.

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #19: Disgusting Condemnation by Biden and Schumer Expected, Because...Simple Math

Most Israelis are furious about the outrageously chutzpadik words of  US Senator Chuck Schumer, his unabashed interference in internal Israeli politics, which has been given full backing by US President Biden. Prime Minister Netanyahu, among others, are ranting that "we're not a banana republic" and other complaints.

But to be perfectly honest, Bibi's constant consultations with Biden, Blinken and other American officials during this dangerous war for our very survival made us looks weak and dependent. As a long-time Israeli, I felt embarrassed, and I'm not the only one. And worse than embarrassed, I felt endangered and then not surprised, as simple as 1+1=2, when the elected head of a country keeps taking advice from another country, he doesn't look like a strong, competent, sovereign leader, so why should he expect to be treated with respect?

Considering that the USA has never fought a war on its own territory for its very survival against terrorists who rape, decapitate etc, I don't see what expertise they have. And the minute Biden started talking about his plans for establishing "Palestine" sic in Israel after the war, Bibi should have cut off all contact. But that topic is for another war musing.

The truth is that the Democrats don't like Bibi and they never have. The Clintons loved Peres, and Obama couldn't even fake a smile when Bibi was in the same room. Biden has a ready smile, but it's fake. He knows the saying:

"You can get catch more flies with honey than vinegar.."

It makes Biden more dangerous, because people don't expect a knife in the back. And now Bibi got stabbed. 

Biden isn't the first American President to be involved with interfering in Israeli elections. Barack Obama's administration financially supported the "anyone but Bibi" crowd nine years ago. Follow the money... I have no doubt that American money has been supporting all of the anti- Bibi/Likud demonstrations which have plagued Israel for years. They've also been supporting the anti-Judicial Reform movement, even though the present Israeli judicial system goes against every fair proper justice principle American law demands. 

The only American President who has treated Israel with proper respect was Donald Trump, who couldn't/can't understand why American Jews continue to support the Democrats who have always treated Israel so poorly.

It's time for the State of Israel to cut its dependence on the United States. Every "gift" we get has strings attached which are really a noose. We get "shop in America only" shopping coupons. Other countries get actual money to spend wherever. These shopping coupons have weakened Israeli military industries. We could be exporting weapons all over the world. Instead we're begging the USA for more bombs. 

Enough is enough! Let's finally be a fully independent country. That's the only way we'll be safe and win this war. We don't need America! 

In 1967 we had no allies, and we won in six days. I remember it well. That's because Gd helped. Yes, simple math...

Israeli Democracy? Justice? Are You Confused?

Let's start with the easy stuff.

What's Democracy?

I decided to "printscreen" what professor google says about democracy,
so you can trust that I didn't edit/distort the meaning

There's nothing about Right/Left or Conservative/Liberal. It's in the numbers.

Democracy is broadly understood to mean ‘rule by the people’. In practice, it is often defined as people choosing their leaders in free and fair elections. 

Our World in Data

Democracy means that the country's leadership isn't decided in the street.

There are elections.

A democratic government is not chosen by who makes the loudest, most annoying and dangerous demonstrations. Nor does it give priority to people shouting in the street over legal elections.

Now, back to what has been going on in Israel. In the past half a decade plus, we've had multiple elections that ended without a new ruling coalition, and we haven't had a coalition/government that lasted its full term. 

Political parties which had dominated and ruled during the first few decades of the country no longer receive enough votes to be in the Knesset or if they are in, they are anorexic shadows of what they once were. This has been difficult for their supporters to accept. They and their parents, and in some cases grandparents, never liked the Netanyahu family, and they like the Revisionist founders of Herut/Likud even less. This is what is behind the irrational hatred of Binyamin Netanyahu. Remember that the demonstrations had actually begun during Netanyahu's previous terms as Prime Minister. 

We can't ignore the trials against Netanyahu. Even though years and much too much money have been invested in trying to convict him, the chances are nil. That's because they're trumped up charges, to put it mildly. Please ignore the unintended pun. If Bibi was really guilty of corruption, then it wouldn't have been hard to convict him, since the judges don't like him. 

To sum it up, the "anyone but Bibi" movement, along with the anti-Judicial Reform has nothing to do with his competence or honesty. It's the fading Left's attempt to override democratic elections and rule by street mobs with the help of the Leftist Supreme Court Judges.

Yes, the truth is that the opposition are those who are antidemocracy!

The Street vs Democracy-- FOLLOW THE MONEY

 

screenshot from Channel 14 News
Last night's antigovernment demonstration

It seems like the whole world has heard that the legally, democratically elected Israeli Government has passed a very necessary law to reform the judiciary, which has set itself up as the alternative government vetoing laws. The judiciary is very political. One law for the Left and another for the Right.

To be perfectly honest and accurate the demonstrations predate the present government's bill for judicial reform. 

For those trying to understand the basic issue here in Israel. Very simple. Judges have put themselves above the parliament and rule according to their opinions and ideologies, rather than laws. They have declared themselves above the law with rights to veto according to their personal feelings aka reasonableness. They can perpetuate their politics by choosing their successors. Basically this has disenfranchised the voters and made a farce out of elections. Yes, the judges and their supporters are the antidemocracy group.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy. We vote for political parties. After most elections, the leader of the party that has received the most votes manages to negotiate a coalition with other parties which has more than half of the 120 Members of Knesset. The Likud has gotten the most votes/seats in most recent elections including the November, 2022 elections, in which he and a few other political parties campaigned as a block promising to form a stable coalition. That's what happened, so therefore according to Israeli law and democracy Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is the legal Prime Minister of the State of Israel. 

For the past few years, definitely predating those recent elections, there has been a well-funded movement to push Bibi out of his number one position in Likud and out the office of Prime Minister. It's called "ANYONE BUT BIBI." For years when he had previously been PM, including the COVID lockdown, there had been weekly demonstrations near the official prime minister's residence calling for Bibi's ouster. This was hell for the neighbors, since the courts/judges insisted that in their superior wisdom, the demonstrators' rights trumped theirs. And when during the COVID lockdown schools, synagogues and many places of work had been forced to be closed, the judges decided that demonstrations must continue...

There was quiet during the year that Naftali Bennett's government stood, which continued when it fell and Yair Lapid was interim Prime Minister. Since Netanyahu returned to office not only have the demonstrations returned bigger and better equipped than before, but their spokespeople/leaders have become louder and more outrageous. Led by two former disgraced Prime Ministers, Ehud Olmert* and Ehud Barak** we now hear unabashed calls for rebellion and refusal to serve in the IDF. This is treason, no less. They are basically calling on the Israeli public to destroy the country. But the courts are in their favor and find nothing wrong.

These antigovernment demonstrations are very expensive to run. Who's funding them? It's no secret that money is coming from abroad, and some of that money has been traced to the American Government. Administrations led by Democrat Party Presidents do not like working with Netanyahu. Obama couldn't find his famous smile when posing with Bibi.

It's clear that there's something very dirty going on. These demonstrations, riots etc. have nothing to do with wanting democracy for the State of Israel. The leaders are bamboozling their followers with slogans. The street isn't democracy. Let's find out who's really behind this.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

*Olmert had spent time in jail convicted on corruption charges. 

**Barak is known to have been a good friend of disgraced Jeffrey Epstein, besides other problematic relationships

Rule of The Streets/Mobs/Demonstrations Anti-Democratic and Very Problematic

I was born and grew up in the United States and came to age in the 1960s when anyone how cared about an issue demonstrated in the streets, sidewalks or wherever we could, generally with police permits. I chose Jewish causes, Israel and freeing Soviet Jewry. I even met my husband at a SSSJ Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry demonstration. Most of my peers in public high school demonstrated for Civil Rights for black Americans. While some states technically had the same laws for all citizens, other states treated Negros, as they were called then, as second class citizens, not even allowing them to practice all their rights. 

One thing our demonstrations had in common were that we cared about issues. The idea that one could dare protest/complain about the results of elections, like the recent Not My President protests in the USA, or try to replace an elected official by shouting in the streets was unimaginable. I had been taught that such a thing would be illegal, immoral and anti-democratic going against the principles of due process or electoral system. When a mob aka demonstration demands that only their political opinion is correct certainly is not democratic.

When you live in a democracy, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Sometimes you're happy with the results, and sometimes you're not. You may even be very upset and think your fellow citizens are WRONG or insane, but that's life. You may even think the law should have prevented someone from holding office, but you're not the law. Even if you and your friends are all convinced that someone shouldn't be in office, street demonstrations aren't the way to change leadership. There are laws, electoral process.

I'm no fan of Bibi Netanyahu, and I don't think that I've ever voted Likud, but those demonstrators out every night near the Prime Minister's residence don't represent me. In a very biblical Korach* way, they're just saying "no" to Bibi as Prime Minister, and their leadership is not revealing whom they want as PM. 

That's because saying "NOT BIBI" can get a bigger mob than touting Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid or some other name they haven't had the guts to pull out of their hat. A big reason is because the polls are very clear. Bibi Netanyahu is still number one when people are asked:

Whom do you prefer as Prime Minister of Israel? 

Number two in the polls is Naftali Bennett, and the fiscal funders (follow the money) of these demonstrations dread Bennett even more than they dislike Bibi. I heard one of the leaders on TV complaining about that. The ultimate aim of the protests is to put one of "their people" in as Prime Minister, and they see it a failure that davka Naftali Bennett of Yemina is rising in the polls. 

For years the anit-Bibi leadership has been looking for a figurehead from the Left to galvanize the Israeli public and succeed him as Prime Minister. It hasn't happened for two reasons:

• There just isn't anyone from the Left capable of leading a Center-Left party and attracting enough votes to knock Likud out of the running.
• Getting lots of Knesset Members voted in does not guarantee its party leader becoming Prime Minister. Tsippi Livni as head of Kadima preceded Gantz as a losing winner. 

Crafting/negotiating a coalition is a skill, apparently more complicated and difficult than getting votes. That's why we needed three elections in such a short time. The present coalition is the most chaotic and dis-united ever. The only reason the two main parties haven't divorced is that their leaderships are terrified of new elections. That's the one thing they agree on.

Back to those demonstrations. 

• Only elections can change the government,
• Only internal Likud primaries can change the leadership in Likud.
• The street isn't where prime ministers are chosen in a democracy.

A few thousand people chanting in the streets or even tens of thousands chanting in the streets can't and shouldn't have the power to change a government. And it's immoral to even think they can do so. They should follow legal process and the electoral system. Politics is a profession demanding many skills. If they want to change the leadership, they must use the electoral system not loud speakers. 

Photo by Rachel Brynien, Used With Permission
For the first time, tonight's demonstration was set up with chairs for social distancing. Previous demonstrations were crowded, as one can see in newspaper reports and TV news. 

For more of my Korach posts click here.

Is Insane Israeli Political Situation Due to Foreign Interference?

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be continuing another few months as "interim," AKA "lame duck" Prime Minister. We're going to have a third round of Knesset elections in less than a year, and unless something very dramatic happens, the situation -stalemate- will continue ad nauseum. I suggest reading Arlene Kushner's article about it.

IMHO there are two guilty parties in this unprecedented situation, Avigdor Yvette Lieberman and the backers/instigators of Benny Gantz's Blue and White political party.

Lieberman has repeatedly destabilized Israeli Governments, and my guess is that there's foreign money behind Gantz and cronies. I'm not sure what's behind Lieberman. Could he have been planted here decades ago from the USSR? Or is he just "having fun" playing politics.

About Blue and White, don't forget that during Obama's US Presidency, there was blatant American interference in Israeli politics to unseat Likud's Bibi Netanyahu, V15. They haven't given up, and now they're targeting both Bibi and Donald Trump. I don't have the capabilities to prove it, but I have no doubt.

Bibi's Not Perfect, But He's Not Corrupt

What the Left, International Left to be exact, couldn't achieve in legal elections, they are doing by inventing crimes. My complaints about Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu are that he hasn't used his legal official position as PM to fully annex all the Land we liberated in the 1967 Six Days War, and he tries to please the world rather than act as a proud Jew. Bibi's attempts to be Centrist weaken the State of Israel. I want him to be a David not a Saul*. But these trumped up charges against Bibi are a coup, just like he claims.

I have no doubt that the funding, backing mentoring for Gantz's Blue and White Party can be traced to the same international Leftist conspirators who brought Obama to the US Presidency and funded the "anyone but Bibi" groups, V15 etc ad nausuem. Now, that's really illegal, but the judicial here and almost everywhere are terribly politically Left leaning.

This anti-Netanyahu coup is not only dangerous for the State of Israel, but it's dangerous for the world. There's no objective "truth and justice. " They've colored everything, spent the last century effectively taking over universities and media all over the world.

Someday it will just be chapter in World History, but it's hard to live through it knowing what we know.

Gd is The True Judge and can override everything. Shabbat is soon, and we certainly need a rest from the mundane world. Thank Gd for creating Shabbat.

שבת שלום ומבורך

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have A Peaceful and Blessed Sabbath

*King Saul was from the Tribe of Benjamin, and his weakness as a leader caused Gd to choose David to be King and establish a dynasty.

"Blue & White," Follow The Money

As is the norm for professional, full-time soldiers in Israel, Benny Gantz, Gabi Ashkenazi and Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon retired rather young. Of the three, only Bogie went searching for another strenuous career. Bogie has been in politics, first teasing Likud supporters by posturing as on the Right and strong on security. But it didn't take long for him to disappoint his Right/Likud supporters.

One shouldn't ignore the simple fact that Gantz, Ashkenazi and Bogie made their ways up the power ladder in the IDF when the "rungs" were sawed off for anyone even marginally on the Right of Israel's political spectrum or wore a kippah full-time. Truth be told, the IDF of their time was much more secular and Leftist than today.

Many people were surprised at the sudden appearance of the three with Yair Lapid, as they heralded a new "Centrist" party, which they cleverly called "Blue & White," the colors of the Israeli flag. Lapid the more dedicated and successful politician surprisingly gave up the top spot to Gantz. Political pundits, "anyone but Bibi" supporters and quite a few others on all sides of Israeli politics have commented that the four don't look like a comfortable mix. But in politics there are agendas and backers. I'm interested in the backers. Follow The Money

Who crafted/assembled this "knock out Bibi" party? Who's funding this "knock out Bibi" party? 

Shades of V15, the not very subtle American interference in the 2015 Israeli Knesset Elections. Four years ago it seemed pretty clear that the Obama administration and Obama's backers were interfering in Israeli politics to get their nemesis Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu out of office. This year, with Donald Trump as American President, the "anyone but Bibi" forces aren't connected to POTUS. They've regrouped, and I suspect that they're funding Blue and White. Of course, I can't prove anything.

Politics is complicated and not all that simple, nor clean. Gd willing, we'll survive.

 "Blue & White?"

Israeli Elections 2019, 5779, Redo, Caution & Clarification

Israeli politics is a team sport, like football. If you can't or won't work with others, you won't succeed. 

1. In Israel we don't vote for the Prime Minister.
2. In Israel we vote for lists of potential Members of Knesset.
3. In Israel political parties and Knesset Members must join together, compromise, work together to form coalitions. 
4. Israel is governed by COALITION GOVERNMENTS headed by a Prime Minister.

Obviously this isn't easy. Being the Prime Minister of the State of Israel isn't a simple matter of just making decisions and giving orders. Actually the army isn't good training for national politics. 

It's not enough for an Israeli political party to get the most votes to make them the ruling party. When Zippy Livni headed Kedima, it got more votes than Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu's Likud, but she couldn't gather/negotiate a ruling coalition. Bibi could and formed the government as its Prime Minister. 

And a few months ago in the first Israeli Elections 2019, 5779, Likud scraped by with the most votes, but not enough MKs were willing to join a coalition with them. 

If the polls are right, Israeli Elections 2019, 5779, #2 will have the same basic results as #1. This can go on forever, because the political parties on the Left, Center-Left, including Avigdor Lieberman's,  have centered their platform on "Anyone but Bibi" as a coalition condition. Considering that polls consistently show Netanyahu as most popular for the position, we have a problem.

Who is more suited to serve as Prime Minister?
42% Netanyahu, 28% Gantz, 15% Don’t know, 4% Shaked, 3% Lieberman, 3% Peretz, 3% Barak, 2% Lapid

see Jeremy's Knesset Insider

To be truly successful in Israeli politics, one must be willing to work together and compromise. Gd willing, enough of those elected to the Knesset will put their egos aside and do what's best for the State of Israel.

Israeli TV News Campaigning Against Bibi

If you watch Israeli television news, you'd think that Israel was the worst country in the world. There seems to be street protests and riots all over all the time.

According to the news:

• You'd think that Israel was the most racist country in the world.
• The Israeli Government hires cruel, sadistic childminders.
• Price of real estate can be controlled by the government.
• Everything can be remedied by the government if the correct people are elected to the Knesset.
• OBVIOUSLY IT'S BIBI'S FAULT!

I am using pictures of the so-called anti-racist protests to illustrate this post, because it's very clear that white agent provocateurs have been leading the movement/riots. They began with the death of an Israeli of the Jewish Ethiopian community by an off-duty policeman. The media has been ignoring the fact that all the evidence shows is that the policeman and his family had been in danger, and the death was totally accidental. The orchestrated violence, anti-police and anti-government acts did not come initially from the community. They are being led by white Leftists. Follow the money.

Although early childhood care, daycare centers have their problems, the solution is far from simple. Who's going to enforce better workers? Those loud, nasty-mouthed demonstrators? Around the country there's a terrible shortage of people willing to work as caregivers. It's hard work, and the pay is low. Even if there are cameras all over, how could that help? Who's going to look at the films? Men hoping to see breastfeeding mothers? And no matter how carefully the "authorities" are in supervising official daycare centers, there will still be people who prefer sending to the unofficial ones.

And lastly, for now, about the high price in housing. The principle is Supply and Demand, which exists all over the world. Some of the repeated news items I caught on television told of hard to believe housing rip-offs in Tel Aviv. In one case, what must be a humongous apartment was divided into fifteen 15 rooms, which people rented individually for an outrageous sum. To make it even less believable, they share the one kitchen. I can't really imagine anyone living like that; maybe this is office space. Besides that, nobody forces anyone to shell out large sums for small spaces, unless the people have the money and don't care about the space. That's what Supply and Demand is all about.

Every day and night, newscasts concentrate on how terrible it is to live here in Israel. Considering that we're having elections again in a few weeks, and it's no secret that the media hates Bibi, I'm convinced that they're working hard to galvanize the votes for anyone but Bibi.

Knesset Elections 2019 Redo, Left Split by Ehud Barak

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Ehud Barak is throwing his hat into the ring yet again. It's a generation since he had served the country, horrendously poorly, and many Israelis don't remember. Of course I remember. As you know, I haven't supported the Likud since before it, led by then Prime Minister Menachem Begin, gave the Sinai to Egypt and had Jewish communities destroyed and uprooted Israeli citizens.

I'm glad that the television newswriters/casters kept identifying Ehud Barak as seventy-eight 78, even though he has quite a few months until his February birthday. That makes Bibi Netanyahu look young. He'll only be turning 70 in October. Bibi's younger than US President Trump and the two Democratic frontrunners, Biden and Sanders.

In terms of basic policy, "anyone but Bibi," there isn't much difference between Barak's nameless party and the Gantz-Lapid-Bogi etc ad nauseum Blue & White. The biggest difference is that with the exception of  Lapid, none of the Blue & White leaders have much political experience, while Barak had been Prime Minister, though a failed one, from 1999 to 2001.

Are you among those who can't remember Barak's very short term as Prime Minister of the State of Israel?

To be as concise as possible... Barak's funders, yes, he had backers (and no doubt has some rich ones now, too,) paid for an American "campaign expert." This expert insisted that he needed a catchy, attractive slogan. Their polling info was that many Israelis didn't like the fact that the IDF had been fighting in Lebanon, because soldiers had been killed, etc. So Barak promised that if he was elected Prime Minister, Israel would leave Lebanon.

When the Americans left, OK pulled out of Vietnam, there was dangerous bedlam. But remember that Vietnam is thousands and thousands of miles away from the United States, so there was no direct danger to the United States of America. Israel and Lebanon share a border, and it isn't the Pacific Ocean. After Barak was elected Prime Minister, Israel had to flee Lebanon and ended up leaving valuable security information and equipment. His opponents called him "Barach," which sounds similar to Barak, but it means "fled." Israel's security plummeted, but that wasn't Barak's only problem. His coalition was shaky, because he had to include the Shas Party, which is Chareidi-Sephardi.  They were at loggerheads with Barak's Leftist followers. The Israeli political system requires a working coalition of a minimum of sixty-one 61 Knesset Members. A Prime Minister must be able to control his MKs. Barak couldn't.



Since Barak, Blue & White and Israel's Labor Party are after the same voters, you can guess. I'm curious about what's next....

Clever of Bibi to Schedule Maximum Time Before Elections

A reminder that here in Israel we don't vote for Prime Minister; we vote for a political party's Knesset list. And it's the party leader who can hammer together/negotiate a coalition who becomes Prime Minister. That's why more and more polls are stressing the "bloc total," Right versus Left. Considering that some Center parties wouldn't agree to be in a coalition with Extreme Left and/or Arab parties, that limits Leftist options. To fully understand Israeli Elections and Politics, one must have a good head for strategy and tactics, like in chess. Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is a champion at this. I'm sure he has it all calculated in his mind; none of this (except the indictment threat, maybe,) is by chance. 

Week by week, Likud is doing better in the polls. Remember that polls are just polls, but consistent trends should be examined. To keep track of the possible results of the upcoming 2019 Israeli Knesset Elections, just trends of course, I suggest checking out Jeremy's Knesset Insider periodically, once a week would be enough.

Now, why am I not surprised that the Likud is doing better in the polls?

• Most people are rather conservative by nature. Life in Israel on the whole is better than ever, so why change leadership?
• The four-headed monster party led by Gantz, Lapid, Ashkenazi and Ya'alon has no real platform, other than knocking Bibi from office. And each of their four "leaders" has holes in his CV. None of them have any real governing experience. Besides that, there aren't any women sharing the top.
• Kahalon's ploy to be considered the Jabotinsky (Revisionist) inheritor/follower, and calling himself the wimpy* Right will just backfire. Likud supporters don't abide such Identity Theft.

Historically, the Likud has always done better in actual elections than in pre-election polls. There are just a few weeks left before the 2019 Israeli Elections. That's a long time in politics, especially here in Israel.

*anyone who is on the Right of the political spectrum finds "moderate" to be rather offensive and illogical adjective. Kahalon is calling himself the "moderate right."

Why Should Kerry have Expected Bibi to Kowtow to Him?

Honestly, John Kerry should just get over it. His Democratic Party lost the 2016 Presidential Elections, and the winner, Donald Trump has a very different outlook and policy vis a vis Israel. Add to that the very simple fact that the Israeli public has voted Likud into office for most of the past forty years and totally reject American State Department policies.

JOHN KERRY VENTS FRUSTRATION OVER WORKING WITH NETANYAHU IN NEW BOOK

Another thing re: John Kerry is that he's not even popular in the United States. What recent elections has he won? Obama chose him as Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton decided to devote her energies into her failed presidential campaign. Kerry's a nobody, Hillary's a loser and Obama is history.

If you check recent Israeli polls you'll see that the Right-Religious bloc consistently beat out the Secular Left, and number two to Binyamin Netanyahu as prefered Prime Minister is "Don't Know" or "none of the above."

None of the Israeli political parties or Leftist politicians supported by Kerry and his backers have the true potential to garner the necessary trust to put together a successful ruling coalition. The Americans have interfered in Israeli politics/elections in the past and most probably the present, too, all unsuccessfully, except for the notoriously very short-lived Ehud Barak government.

Don't forget the outrageous and unprecedented campaign lame-duck Obama and Kerry waged in the United Nations against Israel. Why should any Israeli or diaspora Jew trust the policies and opinions of John Kerry?

Waiting to Hear That USA Won't Interfere in Foreign Elections

Yesterday I heard part of the press briefing by Sarah Sanders. In it she discussed the allegations of foreign interference in American elections, most notably the 2016 presidential elections. Of course she condemned any interference very firmly.

But I was waiting for her to say that she also condemns American interference in foreign elections. Especially during Obama's reign and even before, American officials backed Israel's Left wing parties in an attempt to get the Likud out of office.

That's how Labor led by Ehud Barak won in 1999. They unseated Likud and Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu with the help of American campaign experts. The wording of Barak's slogan about leaving Southern Lebanon was very familiar... And the damage the fleeing from Lebanon did was horrendous.

It took ten years for Netanyahu to return to power, and those ten years were among the most notorious in the History of the State of Israel. Arik Sharon's inexplicable turn Left to Disengagement, which placed Gaza in the firmly in the hands of Hamas terrorists who are at present burning Souther Israel with their incendiary balloons/kites etc, then Ehud Olmert who was tried and convicted for corruption.  Since then, the Israeli public has made it clear that although Netanyahu may not be perfect, they prefer him, head of Likud, as Prime Minister. But that didn't stop Barack Hussein Obama, during his presidency from supporting Bibi's opponents.

According to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the State Department gave $349,276 in U.S. taxpayer-funded grants to a political group in Israel to build a campaign operation, which subsequently was used to try to influence Israelis to vote against conservative Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 2015 election for prime minister.
In the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report about the State Department’s action, Chairman Bob Portman (R-Ohio) said, “It is completely unacceptable that U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to build a political campaign infrastructure that was deployed — immediately after the grant ended — against the leader [Netanyahu] of our closest ally in the Middle East.  American resources should be used to help our allies in the region, not undermine them.” 

Of course, this hand nothing to do with Donald Trump, but it still would have been nice for him to admit that Americans have done the forbidden and he promises that under his leadership it won't happen again.

If Bogie's the Alternative, I'll Stick With Bibi

Simply put, I see Bogie Ya'alon as the Right's Ehud Barak.

If you've been wondering why I haven't written about attending any of the "anti-corruption" rallies, it's because I don't see them as sincere, or as it's said in Hebrew, לשם שמיים, lisheim shamayim, for the sake of Heaven. They are clearly political tricks/cons to get Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu out of office. I agree that he's far from perfect, but I don't see anyone who can replace him, certainly not former Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon.

It's pretty obvious, that this "movement" is backed by people with a not so hidden agenda, and their agenda is to get Netanyahu out of office. If anyone has the means and connections, then please FOLLOW THE MONEY. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up coming form international Leftists, like Soros and those who financed the "anyone but Bibi" and V15 during the last Israeli elections.

The Obama administration is using taxpayer dollars to fund a radical anti-Israel group that aims to drive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office in March parliamentary elections.
And the U.S.-based group receiving the U.S. government money, OneVoice International, in turn is working with V15, an "independent grassroots movement" in Israel, according to Ha'aretz. V15's unofficial motto is said to be "anyone but Bibi," a reference that includes the prime minister's nickname.  complete article click

The International Left has plenty of money, but it didn't help them in the USA 2016 Elections. Trump won.

I don't trust Bogie any more than I'd trust Ehud Barak or Barack Hussein Obama and his backers. Years ago, I'd heard Bogie touted as the "great Right hope," and I never saw him prove it when in office. That's why I spent yesterday evening at a football game, American tackle football. I saw more honesty on the field, than I would have heard from the speakers at the demonstration.