By Martin Sherman
This week, Israeli politics plumbed appalling new lows with reports that, Blue& White, which, as the major rival to PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, emerged as the second largest party in last week’s Knesset elections, was actively planning to violate its solemn pledges to the voters, made only days previously.
In a breathtaking display of unprincipled cynicism, Blue &Whites leadership, which comprises three former commanders of the IDF, appears poised to renege on its explicit campaign pledges. Thus, despite repeated—and seemingly resolute—vows that they would not seek to establish a coalition dependent on the anti-Zionist Joint List, a motley amalgam of Communists, Islamists and radical Arab nationalists, Blue & White is doing precisely that!
Worse, beyond making a covenant with a party that not only undisguisedly supports Israel’s most vehement enemies but openly denies its status as a Jewish state, the Blue & White leadership has castigated party members who insist on honoring its election pledges–even demanding their resignation for their display of public integrity . This is particularly the case with Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser, two prominent Right-of-Center
members of Blue & White.
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Ironically, during the election campaign, both Hendel and Hauser played a crucial role in presenting Blue & White’s professed views to the public and particularly in establishing its Right-of-Center credentials, designed to distance itself from Israel’s floundering Left.
There seems no rational explanation for this manifestly irrational behavior other than that Netanyahu’s rivals’ seemingly pathological ad hominem hatred for him has totally unhinged them from any reasonable and responsible political action. This is clearly a scandalous and unacceptable breach of public trust. It must be met with correspondingly appropriate public outrage. All fair-minded men and women, both inside and outside Israel’s political system, must express their righteous anger at this intolerable deception and duplicity and make sure it will not succeed. For the future of the entire Zionist enterprise may literally hang in the balance.
Martin Sherman is the founder & executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic
@ Sebastien Zorn:
Thank you Sebastien. It seems glaringly obvious that the 2 parties have widely differing ideologies,, and B&W’s seems only to be “Get rid of Netanyahu” at #1, and the rest will be a jumble from the 3 other Hydra Heads, of their poorly cobbled together “Party”,-with Anti-Israel Joint List WANTS making big dent.. How long can it last..? Not very long, but long enough to make a good attempt at destroying Israel. And we will also have the forsworn Lieberman in the mix. Such damage, both internal and International, can be done easily, ineptness is spotted immediately by enemies under whose magnifying glass we are, 24 hrs a day, , and the eventual repair will be an uphill battle, especially through the political Court System.
Naturally I am only exercising my half empty-glass imagination….and likely most will never happen……but some will…no doubt about that. We can only pray that those 3-4-5 MKs will put Israel above petty party politics and bolt to LIKUD., at least their votes..
I have not seen any announcement yet as to how the 340,000 double envelope votes from the IDF, diplomats, and isolated, were apportioned.
Let us hope that somehow the right can find 3 MKs to join them in forming a right-wing block government.
Well said, Edgar!
Well said Martin!!
@ adamdalgliesh:
Yes he has, and just think of the damage that Gantz as PM would do. As I’ve written elsewhere, better not to make a coalition with B&W because when Gantz becomes PM he can destroy everything that had been buitl up painstakingly by LIKUD over the past at least 10 years, and perhaps going back much further-
Why has no one dwelt on this possibility??
Excellent column. Dr. Sherman has hit the nail on the head.