Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #10, Paraphrasing Truman: The Buck Stops... Where?

I've been relatively polite about Bibi. 

Remember what Harry Truman said: 

"The buck stops here." 

It's clear that Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu, the man who broke all records as longest serving Israeli Prime Minister is very responsible for every failure. And he brought into his war cabinet others responsible, who made the decisions, policies the State of Israel is suffering from. 

Naïve people voted for him, Likud, thinking Bibi's on the patriotic Right, but he's not.

Photo of Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu I took many years ago at the 1st International Bloggers Conference

I'll say one more thing. Even though I don't vote Likud, for reasons I won't get into now though you can search my blog if you're curious, I'm a member of the party and vote in its primaries. Gd willing there will be elections for a new #1, replacement for Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu after we win this war. There are quite a number a talented potential Prime Ministers waiting in the wings. I hope that only one runs against Netanyahu, or even better that he officially retire.

In the meantime I pray that Gd will give our prime minister the wisdom and moral strength to lead us to victory. That is the most important thing right now!

Drenched and Sick, Why Did I Vote in The Likud Primaries?

When I walked out of the house mid-morning to vote in the Likud Primaries, I thought that there was a break in the blessedly raining weather. To be safe, I wore a heavy winter coat and took an umbrella. Also the voting station wasn't far from the house, less than a ten minute walk...

Yes, you guessed it. It began to rain, but not too heavily. So I got to the voting station and voted.

Unlike at other elections and primaries, none of the local activists were there schmoozing. In all honesty I had been counting on their being at the voting station. If someone had been there, I could have gotten a ride home. I needed a ride home, even though the walk up wasn't that far. The rain had gotten stronger.

By the time I got home, I was soaked, feeling sick and totally miserable.As you can see from the picture, my coat and skirt were both soaking wet. Water even snuck in through the top of my waterproof boots. Yes, it was raining that hard. I had to change pretty much everything; that's how wet I had gotten.

Now, I still don't know who won, Bibi Netanyahu or the "challenger," Gidon Saar. I wasn't happy about Sa'ar's forcing these primaries before getting soaked in the rain. And now I'm even angrier.

If Sa'ar loses, not only has he added fuel to Blue & White's campaign against Likud, but he wasted money and made me sick.

Politics!

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

Sa'ar versus Netanyahu Bad For Likud

I never really thought much of Gidon Saar, the wannabe running against Bibi in the Likud Primaries. I've voted in many Likud Primaries in the past, and this one is bad news.

That's because it's obvious that Blue and White will be marking down all the nasty stuff said against each of Likud's candidates in order to use the dirt against the winner. So whoever wins will lose.

Saar should have declared that although in the future he thinks he'll be Likud leader, but for the good of the country and the party, he's supporting Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu so Likud will win the national Knesset Elections.

Could Saar be a pawn of whoever is bankrolling Blue and White?

Voting in The Likud Primaries, A Day in My Life...

Tuesday night, after a very full day, which included Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, a reunion lunch with college friends, a dentist appointment, lunch at a son's home after some quality time with his baby, I finally made it to Binyanei Hauma to vote in the Likud Primaries.

Now, I must admit that I've probably never voted for the Likud in Knesset Elections, but I am a member of the party. That does sound strange, but if you understand the Israeli political system and history, there's a logical reason or two. This post isn't the place for an explanation, but if you're curious, please ask.

In theory I could have voted in Shiloh, where we had a polling station. Davka, in Shiloh voting would have been rather simple. That is if I had been home when it was open. I had carefully checked and calculated my day's plans and logistics and realized that I just didn't have time between the poll's opening and the bus to Jerusalem. Besides that, I sleep in Jerusalem Tuesday nights in order to get to Matan early Wednesday for my chevruta, group learning. 

By the time I was on my way to the #15 bus to Binyanei Hauma, I was exhausted and wondering how long it would all take. So far, none of my traveling had gone as simply as I had expected/planned.

After dovening at the Tel, I had waited at the bus stop to Jerusalem, and the efo bus app showed no sign of the expected bus. Finally, I got tremp after tremp to Jerusalem with enough time to drop off my bag, so I wouldn't have to schlep it around all day.

I ended up waiting a long time for the first leg of my trip to the dentist, because one of the scheduled buses never showed. And then I was shocked to discover that the route had changed. I would have saved time even walking from Cinema City to the String/Chords Bridge to catch the second bus. That's because there was a change in the route of the #15, which I was unaware of. The area around the central bus station was so awful, and the red lights so badly timed, that at least a half hour was added to my travel time. I had to call the dentist office to say that for the very first time, I'd be late instead of early.

Amazingly, the trip to  vote went very smoothly, but then I was stumped trying to find the underground passage to cross the street and then the entrance to Binyanei Hauma. There's so much construction, and it was dark where I needed light.

I was too stressed and rushed to photograph the outside of Binyanei Hauma when trying to enter. The whole area was full of tables and loudspeakers. Papers were all over the floor, and I was constantly accosted by campaign workers handing out promotional literature. I also recognized some well-known Likud ministers and MKs, who were trying last minute personal campaigning. I ignored them. With hundreds of candidates for a few slots, competition and bedlam were rampant. We could only vote for twelve 12, no more no less.

There were mobs of men and teens blocking the way, but finally I made my way in. And when I got to the area where it was forbidden to campaign, what a contrast. There was such silence and space.

All around the room there were tables staffed by two mostly young and very polite and helpful clerks who explained what to do. I was surprised and happy that the Likud gave up on high-tech voting, which it had tried a few times in the past.

Only after I had exited the building could I take the time to photograph the carnival scene. No doubt that the cleanup has been a challenge.

If you're interested in the results, read this and this.

Likud Primaries Today, Gevalt! Haven't a Clue

Today's the Likud Primaries. Somehow even though I've never voted Likud in Knesset Elections, I must have signed up as a Likud member. That means that out of some bank account, we pay dues. That gives me the privilege, and I'm not being all that sarcastic, to influence the rankings/chances of politicians and wannabes in Israel's ruling party.

In previous primaries, I'd had a pretty good idea of whom to vote for. But this time I really haven't paid much attention. But in a few hours I'm going to have to make a choice. There are a few "no ways," and some people I do want in.

The last thing I look for are the platforms and promises they make. That's because, are you shocked, people lie and/or hire slick writing teams. 

Gd willing some wise friends will call me with reliable advice. Otherwise, maybe I should just endendino, or as we say in English:

eenie meenie miney mo

Who Really Won the 2018 American Elections

Just a short time ago I watched the press conference with US President Donald Trump. Of course the hot topic was the 2018 American Elections, specifically the results in the Senate and Congress.

Simply put, both parties won, since the Democrats now control the House (Congress,) while the Republicans control the Senate. Superficially, that makes it look pretty even. But IMHO, this was much better for the Republicans. There's a simple reason for that.

Congressmen/women serve two years, while Senators serve six years. Those senators elected are in for three times as long and can get a lot more done. Congressmen/women spend most of their time campaigning. The newly elected ones barely get to know their way around when they have to campaign again, since the 2020 elections are coming up. And the 2020 elections are also US Presidential elections. And the year before that, there are primaries.

Congress will be very busy with things other than their official jobs.

Time to pull up on a comfortable seat and watch the fun.

American Left Causing Its Own Problems

This isn't the United States I knew.

This isn't the United States where I was educated.

This isn't the United States where I was taught the basic principles of democracy. 

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

In recent years something very frightening has happened in the United States. The Left has recovered from McCarthyism, the heat of the Cold War, when they had been under attack, losing jobs, jailed. Now they are fighting basic American values, and many ordinary Americans are scared. They insist that they own morality. They don't accept that there are other opinions.

That's why Donald Trump was elected. Ordinary Americans couldn't trust the politicians, not just the Leftist Democrats. They couldn't relate to the Republican politicians either. So, in the primaries they chose the outsider, the one who said what they were thinking. They chose the man whom the establishment hated. They elected Donald Trump, the most unlikely POTUS ever.

The Left's reaction to Trump's election went against all precedent. The American Left rioted and screamed and schemed and threatened. They haven't been behaving as law-abiding, liberal democratic citizens.

I'm glad that I don't live in the United States of America. Considering what's going on in American universities, things will only get worse.


"Greatest. Video. Ever" isn't my comment. I can't clean it from the video.

And The Joke's on Hollywood 😀😉

I'm sure that most people consider the "Head of State," the 2003 American comedy, to be part of Hollywood's preparation for the USA to elect Barack Obama, the truth is that the unlikely and unexpected president and his campaign much more like that of Donald Trump.

Storyline

One candidate for the presidency dies in an accident a couple of weeks before the election. Meanwhile the alderman Mays Gilliam becomes a hero when he rescues a woman and her cat from an old house that would blow up. However his fiancee Kim does not pay his bills and dumps him, and Gilliam loses everything including his fancy car. When Senator Bill Arnot sees the news on television, he plots a scheme with the party advisors Martin Geller and Debra Lassiter to invite Mays to be the party nominee and lose the election for the other candidate, Vice-President Brian Lewis. Four years later, he would be the candidate and would have the chance of winning the election. Mays has a terrible beginning of campaign but when his older brother Mitch Gilliam meets him in Chicago, he advises Mays to be himself. Will he have the chance to be the first African American President of the USA? (Head of State)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw Trump's electoral victories, first in the primaries and then in national elections to read more like a comedy than serious politics. There was nothing funny about Obama's campaign and election. In many ways his entire rise to prominence is more like a conspiracy. Wealthy international Leftists choose tall photogenic biracial law graduate...

What do you think?

American Presidential Campaigns New Reality TV, Opra? Gevalt!

Ever since the main party presidential nominees in the United States began being selected by primaries, television has begun playing a very big part in the campaign. This is even more than the true story of how Richard Nixon lost a very close race to John F. Kennedy because of his lack of sweat shields/guards and not bothering to shave off his 5 o'clock shadow. Today's candidates have professional stylists, under various titles, just to make sure the candidate will look fresh, clean and attractive at all times of the day or night. But even Hillary's expensive wigs and makeup didn't cover her character blemishes.

It's no secret that Donald Trump's popularity with the public was a result of his reality tv shows. So the Left/Democrats have been searching for a celebrity to run in 2020. Administrative and political experience aren't necessary. They are looking for someone who has a big smile and can generate applause. Being black, female and able to learn lines is another priority, since their pet Obama was addicted to his teleprompter and other memory "aids."  National polictics is a media popularity contest, because nowadays twitter, whatsapp and facebook are where people fact check.

This is so pathetic and frightening too. Just a couple of decades ago, countries like India were mocked for electing movie stars. And even though Ronnie Reagan left movies for politics and had actual government experience, serving as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 before running for president, he was put down by the Left for his movie background.

Now the Democrats and Left are kvelling, because Oprah Winfrey made a speech that got applause and sounded like a campaign speech. Gevalt. Is a good diet and speech enough to be POTUS?

Is The U.S. Political System All That Great?

I must give credit to my good friend Bobby Brown and something he had on his facebook page last night for this post. He gave me the idea. Thanks!

Photo: AIPAC/Facebook

We veteran Israeli olim always hear how the American political system is so superior to the Israeli one. I personally don't agree with that mantra. In the Israeli political system, even the various oppositions have a voice, an official one. The American system is based on a different principle:

The winner takes it all!

Yes, even if there was less than a percentage between winner and loser in Presidential Elections, the loser has no official role. In Israel, there are many political parties and opinions in Knesset the parliament. Also, the head of the largest losing party has an official position as "Head of Opposition." But besides those differences...

In just a few months Americans will be voting for their President. Although there are a number of political parties, everyone knows that they are wasting their vote if they vote for one other than the Republicans or Democrats. Especially with the arcane, absurd and antidemocratic Electoral College, only one of the two main nominees can be elected.

This year, after a rather wild and nasty primaries season, during which ordinary Americans were able to choose, state by state, the official party nominee, it seems like a very large portion of Americans are disappointed or even disgusted with both winners.

Rather inexplicably, the Democratic Party had only two candidates, both elderly by American standards. Yes, they are both of retirement age. And both are from the Left of the party. Bernie Sanders a Radical Leftist from New England hadn't been expected to get much support, but he has galvanized the young and anti-establishment wing. And there's the winner, Hillary Clinton, who has been running for president for over ten years, planning this for decades. There was no suspense, other than wondering whom she'd choose as her Vice President.

All the action and fun fell on the once staid Republicans. There were so many wannabes, they couldn't even have a proper debate. From state to state, the campaigns for the nomination looked and sounded like a fight in a schoolyard of a bad neighborhood. Even the media joined in cursing and jostling and kicking below the belt.

Defying all predictions, the winner ended up being the non-politician Donald Trump. And the Republican establishment isn't happy at all. As nominee, Trump seems totally out of his element. Try to picture someone who has always had cheap plastic dishes suddenly with expensive china and treating it the same way. Expect lots of broken dishes.

It could be that all Trump needs is  a good night's sleep. Insufficient sleep can cause major impulsivity and judgment problems. I researched that for a presentation when doing my teaching license. 

But the sad truth is that the rather recent primaries system in America is the cause of this. When political powerhouses chose candidates a Donald Trump would not have had a chance. And don't forget that some of the Trump votes in the primaries could have been dirty tricks by the Democrats who felt he'd be easy to beat, since you didn't need to be registered in a party to vote in its primaries. That is very unlike the Israeli primary system in which parties that use it only allow registered members to participate.

The bottom line here is that many Americans are totally unhappy with the choice between Hillary and Trump.

abcNews

They may sit out the elections or vote for a "third party" which is the same. And so far there have been many political and public officials crossing party lines, supporting the "other side," especially Republicans for Hillary.

It is much too early to call this election. But considering that pretty much all the pundits were clear about Trump not having a chance to get the nomination, we just don't know what your "silent majority" American will do. If the elections are like the primaries, those who are disgusted with the way America is falling/failing, will be more attracted to Trump with every criticism against him. 

Bernie Sanders: Vote for Him Since He's Jewish or Davka Don't?

When I was growing up, in the middle of the previous century in New York, the accepted "rule" was to support anyone Jewish, because we could trust Jews to do the best for us. And also, when voting in the Herut (prior to Likud primaries) I'd look for any female name on the list and vote for her, just because I wanted to support women in that bastion of male power politics. I've come a long way, baby, and now I'm most suspicious of Jews in politics/office, out of Israel, and I check out female candidates/wannabes as carefully as the males before giving them my vote.

And one thing I've learned when it comes to Jews trying to make it in foreign politics is that they overcompensate their Jewish identity by being extra-anti-Israel to prove that they are loyal Americans, Brits etc.

AP Photo/John Locher

I'm relieved that Bernie Sanders seems to be well out of the running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, because Hillary has an unbeatable lead in delegates. As an Israeli, one who recognizes the historical and strategic importance of our Biblical Homeland, I was very suspicious and wary of Sanders's extreme radical ideology/politics, because his philosophical bedfellows support and identify with the Arabs here, not the Jews.

There is no doubt in my mind that Israel's capitulation and trust in America as a friend in 1973, which blinded our leaders here to the  then upcoming surprise Yom Kippur War was because Henry Kissinger, yes, a Jew, was Secretary of State for Nixon. The harrowing stories of those early days of the war show how close we were to defeat. The Nixon-Kissinger Government carefully allowed just enough additional arms to create a stalemate between Israel and Egypt, but Gd planned differently and enabled us to defeat Egypt and Syria. This caused great dispapointmt to Nixon and Kissinger who had planned on moving in as peacekeepers. The American army units were waiting in Europe since late that summer. Yes, although Israel was taken by surprise, the USA knew in advance!

And I've long since those innocent days in the early 1970's ceased to vote for "any female." I always supported Geula Cohen, may she live and be well, for her dedicated and consistent pro-Land of Israel politics, not because she was born with a womb. I davka consider voting for someone just because she is a woman is as sexist as voting against someone because of their sex. And voting for someone because he's black, asian or whatever is just as racist as voting against for the same reason.

Ture equality is looking at what's in the person, their achievements and ideology. We should never let sentiment get in the way of our voting choices!

Republicans Must Choose Between Trump and Losing

Early on in the Donald Trump campaign to be President of the United States as a Republican, newspapers and news sites were full of articles saying the "joke" would soon fade away and quit or that now his popularity will drop etc. Well, the joke's on the ol' elephant.

This elephant aka the G.O.P. has forgotten something important. A political party is only relevant if it wins, and instead of embracing, ok, with gritted teeth, the most popular of the wannabes, it has been doing everything possible to facilitate his loss. Yes, I'm rather surprised that the party establishment is so autistically incapable of reading the will and opinions of ordinary Americans. This is even worse than in the Israeli elections of a few decades ago when the Labor Party referred to those who attended Likud election rallies and adored Menachem Begin as "riff-raff." Not only did they lose that election, but they alienated potential supporters.

Donald Trump Hits 49 Percent Support in New National PollForty-nine percent of Republican voters say they back Trump for the Republican nomination in the new CNN-ORC poll released this morning. Sen. Marco Rubio earns 16 percent support, Sen. Ted Cruz earns 15 percent, Dr. Ben Carson has 10 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 6 percent.It comes after the New York real estate mogul has won three consecutive early contests and is on the cusp of a major, must-win primary battle for Cruz in Texas Tuesday.

ABC News

As Donald Trump rises in both the polls and the primary victories, you'd think that some pragmatic Republican leaders would accept the fact and even embrace it that they have a possible winner who is willing to wear their colors.

These new Trump poll numbers should absolutely terrify Republicans

I don't know why the party machine prefer defeat to Trump. Every time they treat him like a pariah they lower their chances to work with him and guarantee a win.

Ever since the primary system began in order to choose party nominees, the ordinary American citizen has gotten more power and the party machines less. For years I've been waiting for a constitutional amendment to banish the antidemocratic Electoral College, which can so easily distort election results, because it overrides the Popular Vote.

The New American Revolution has begun!

Likud, Bayit Yehudi/NRP/Jewish Home Primaries Miscounts?

One year we had to start outside since
we didn't have a key to  the building
where the voting was to take place.

Vote counting isn't easy. I've been running our local Shiloh Mazkirut "Town Council" elections almost every year for the past thirty years or so. We certainly have fewer votes to count than in the various Knesset polling stations (which I've also been part of here in Shiloh) or the party primaries. But I can certainly sympathize with those entrusted with the actual counting. First of all, it all happens late at night, when few of us are sufficiently alert to do a good job. And few people actually know what to do. I have my systems, which generally work in our small town.

inside the Likud Primaries polling booth

In Shiloh the elections are for voluntary posts which demand a lot of time, efforts and nothing much but public complaints in exchange. The party primaries are to give people the chance to be Knesset Members, a position with an above average salary, granted for some people it's a reduction, but for others it's more money than they had previously earned, and another aspect of the job is the chance to give other people jobs on the MK staff. And that's besides the actual status and chance to try to legislate change from the inside, rather than ranting from outside the government.

I may be wrong, but I think that the numbers of possible voters in the Likud and NRP aka Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home are probably the most of any Israeli political party. That means that it is complicated and mistakes my be unintentional. Each polling station does its own count, and then the totals (and ballots) are brought to a main center where it's all calculated for grand totals. When recounts are needed. all the papers are there for a staff to do the job.

A lot has been in the news about both the Likud and Bayit Yehudi having impossible to be accurate results:

Bayit Yehudi to re-count primary votesand
Likud judge decides in favor of Hotovely

I wouldn't dare to guess whether something crooked really happened in either party's primaries. Since it's all done by "hand," the human factor means that it's easy to cheat and also easy to make an honest mistake.

If there was cheating, let it be proven and have the guilty, tried and punished.

And I also wish that political and elected government leaders be punished for saddling us with policies they campaigned not to rule by!

The Israeli Political System, So Difficult to Understand

I just visited Caroline Glick's facebook page and joined the well-wishers hoping that she'll be one of those chosen for the "discretionary" places/numbers, that Likud party leader Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu can add to the list without the expense and gamble of going through primaries.

Likud voters gave Netanyahu the right to choose the candidates who will be in the 11th and 23rd spots on the Likud candidates list.
He decided to ask the public for recommendations on his official Facebook page.
Among the names suggested were Glick, former Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fisher, Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, economist Shlomo Ma’oz, journalists Roni Daniel and Ben-Dror Yemini, television personality Avri Gilad, former Maccabi Tel Aviv star Tal Brody, former Shas MK Haim Amsalem and Shurat Hadin – Israel Law Center Executive Director Nitzana Darshan-Leitner.
“I’m very humbled that members of the public have put my name forward as their desired representative in the Knesset,” Glick said. “I don’t know if now is the right time for me and my family for a move into politics, but I do know that the people of Israel are the strongest, bravest people in the world and deserve equally valiant leaders.”

Duh? You may say. What sort of systematic democracy is that? I'm going to come clean and admit that I did vote against giving Bibi the right to add names.

I commented to Caroline, that although I would really like to see her in the Knesset, I still won't vote for Likud. I want Bibi to have to bring in a large more Right wing nationalist pro-Jews in all of the Land of Israel party into his coalition. I don't want him to feel that he has the "Right label" and Right vote, while pushing the Left's policies which he has been doing for years.

Of course there's then the obvious question, which I also asked yesterday:

Is there a reliably Right party in the Israeli political spectrum?

Sadly, I can't find it. Otzma Yehudit is not promoting itself professionally nor competently. It's more like an "underground group."

As I wrote yesterday, I may vote for the newly revamped NRP-Bayit Yehudi which seems to be evolving into what Likud should have been or should/could be if it hadn't gone so far Left.

I'm not afraid of Bibi's Likud getting fewer seats than Labor, because forming a government coalition is not a simple game of Arithmetic. It's advanced Mathematics and requires political skills that Bibi has way above Herzog and the political nymphomaniac Tsipi Livni, who has switched political beds too many times for anyone to take seriously.

And if the Mutt and Jeff team really pull it off, I'd love to see Bibi in opposition to teach him a valuable lesson. I can't imagine Labor's government lasting very long.

Just two more months until elections. Let's see what happens.

Terrible Israeli Election Dilemma!

For the very, very first time in over forty-four, yes 44 years in Israel, I haven't a clue which party to vote for.

We joined Herut, the Menachem Begin/Revisionist original core of Likud just weeks after making aliyah September, 1970. Then we followed to Gahal and Likud. Then we supported Techiya, and since then, though I've kept up official Likud membership for primaries voting, I've voted for various Right parties on the Israeli political spectrum.

I'd live a strong Right party in the opposition, but I don't see one. Unfortunately, former MK's Dr. Aryeh Eldad, MD, and Michael Ben-Ari are not promoting themselves in an attractive and serious way. And it's not all the fault of the pollsters which ignore them.

Politics is a profession and demands multiple skills and techniques. These otherwise brilliant men, whose ideologies I feel comfortable with, just don't know how to mount a serious campaign for the Knesset. I really don't know what they are doing.

For year, actually for decades, I have said that I refuse to support the NRP-National Religious Party aka Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home, because I don't think that religion should be the main issue in politics. Considering that Naftali Bennett is making very serious changes in the party, bringing in not only the non-observant, but even the non-Jew, I may do the unthinkable and vote for them.

I definitely won't vote Likud. I prefer that Bibi will be in a position to beg Naftali Bennett to join his coalition. I hope that this time Bennett will hold his cards closer to his chest and not take along with him Leftist drek like the stupid Lapid trick he pulled two years ago.

And just in case you want to know which candidate, I'd vote for in NRP primaries if I had been a member, it would be Chani Luz, who for whatever reason wasn't featured in the Jerusalem Post article.

Tale of Two Arab Women, Anett Haskia versus Hanin Zoabi

I don't understand why it's taking the Israeli Judicial system so long to decide that Hanin Zoabi is a traitor. Unfortunately, the charges they are thinking about aren't strong enough.

The Northern District Attorney's Office on Tuesday told lawyers representing Arab MK Hanin Zoabi, that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is considering placing her on trial, pending a hearing, on charges of incitement to violence and insulting a public official.
Weinstein’s decision comes following the recommendation of State Attorney Shai Nitzan, and after Weinstein held consultations on the issue.

I consider Zoabi and her ilk to be traitors and they shouldn't be allowed to serve in the Knesset. It's totally hypocritical of the Israeli Judicial to have banned Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach and allow the Arabs to spout anti-Israel propaganda while getting salaries of Knesset Members. I was never a fan of Kahane or a member of his Kach or JDL, but he and his followers are loyal patriotic Jews and Israelis. Zoabi calls for a foreign Arab terror state in the Land of Israel! She supports terror against Jews!

For those who think that Zoabi is the typical Arab, it's heartwarming to listen to Anett Haskia tell her story:


Haskia is the Arab Muslim woman who educated her children as proud Israelis. They serve in the IDF, and she is running in the NRP aka Bayit Yehudi primaries. I'd like to see her debate Zoabi, if Zoabi isn't jailed first!

Israeli Election Update: PA Sanctions, Deri Threats, Likud Recounts, Never Dull

I have no doubt that the Israeli, read Likud campaign threats to the P.A. Palestinian Authority to withhold funding is related to the 2015 (5775) Knesset Elections. Two reasons:

• primary results leave few Right candidates, including sitting Knesset Members, in the cold
• two years ago, Israel did the same, and two years ago, there was also Knesset elections

Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is too good and experienced a politician to decide on anything like that by "chance."

***

As soon as there was talk of Arye Deri's possible resignation, there were predictions that it was just to pressure the Yosef clan and veteran Shas supporters for more support. These "resignations" aren't immediate, which gives time for drama for a showman like Deri.

Nothing is dull when Aryeh Deri is involved.

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And the Likud Primaries are riddled with numerical improbabilities: 

According to Channel 2, in Beit Jann, MK Tzachi Hanegbi received 250 votes — but only 197 Likud members had voted overall. Similarly, in Jerusalem, MK Yuli Edelstein received nearly a thousand votes more than the number of voters at the station.
Hanegbi dropped down three spots, from 9th to 12th, after the reevaluation.

Read more: Likud primary recount still leaves Hotovely in the cold | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-primary-recount-leaves-hotovely-in-same-place/#ixzz3NvWQq7Dv  Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook

Even though MK Tzippi Hotobelli initiated the recount, she is still out of the "safe seats" predicted by the polls. Many of the more "nationalist" or Right members of Likud have been disappointed in her politics of late. That's why she got fewer votes. And also she had gotten in on the "coattails" of the Moshe Feiglin supporters. He did much worse, because his supporters are very much disenchanted with the Likud in general. They either left the Likud or didn't vote in the primaries.

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With over two months left before Knesset Elections, there's lots more to come. Stay tuned...

It's Bibi's Likud, Not Feiglin's

OK, about the results of the Likud Primaries. I was right about one thing. Feiglin hadn't a chance. His supporters kept trying to convince me that he was increasing his power in the Likud, but the truth is as shown in election results, that he's just a postscript in Israeli politics.

Naftali Bennett's success in changing the NRP and remaking it proves that Feiglin was barking up the wrong tree, trying to remake the wrong party. If you know anything about sewing or fabrics, it would be like trying to make a formal tuxedo out of chiffon. Chiffon just doesn't hold its shape, and the Likud isn't going to be the ideological party that Feiglin claimed it could be. And to be honest I think that Bennett may be  opening up his NRP aka Bayit Yehudi, Jewish Home too much. I'm not quite sure what it stands for. It reminds me, lehavdil--to differentiate-- how Tzachi Hanegbi campaigned for Kadima, calling it a "Supermarket," where you can find all sorts of opinions.

It's late at night, and I just came home from work and must work again tomorrow, so...

Jewish Press

I think that Bibi Netanyahu must be pretty pleased with the results of the primaries. He's the undisputed leader and many of his more reliable followers got high placements. That's the good news for him. The bad news for him is that the pro-Feiglin voters will look for another party, either NRP or further Right or Chareidi. He and his team must find replacement voters. It's going to get harder and harder to present themselves as Right, because after so many years of Center-Left policies, even many die-hard Likudniks (and the Feiglin supporters) realize they've been had!

I've Voted in The Likud Primaries

Yes, I voted in the Likud Primaries! Please don't ask me whom I voted for, because I was so confused and nervous with the exact counting, that I don't really remember.

We were given three envelopes to fill.

And we had a form to check and color-coded pieces of paper for the two smaller envelopes, as you can see. The blue envelope got a blue paper with either Bibi Netanyahu, Danny Danon or Abstain. The form to check, needed exactly 12 checks, one on the bottom and eleven taking up the bulk of the paper. The little white papers which went into the plain white envelope were for a "referendum" of sorts. We were voting to give or not give the head of the party the right to veto results and play around with the order of candidates or bring in outsiders who didn't run. The choices were "for," "against" or "abstain."  

A couple of elections ago, Bibi did override the results and even got the Likud's "judicial" to permit it. I hope that enough voters tell him to lay off, so he, or any future leader, won't dare to do such an immoral and undemocratic act. So, if you're curious, I didn't vote for Bibi, nor did I abstain. And of course, I voted נגד Negged, Against.

To confuse matters, even though we were given three envelopes, there were only two boxes. That meant that the people manning the polling stations actually had to keep explaining over and over what to do, how to dispose of the third envelope and still have it counted.

Saving the best for last, I'll show you the carnival-like atmosphere on the sidewalk leading to the polling station here in Shiloh.