Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Menu There is no diplomatic solutionIsrael should declare three nos;
no to nuclear Iran, no to two-state solution, no to bi-national state
no to nuclear Iran, no to two-state solution, no to bi-national state
@Peloni I agree with you Israel needs to be independent and not under thumb of USA.
That we agree on and not Bennett, that is clear and obvious and not really worthy discussing any further in my view!
@Rafi
If you read what I wrote, you will find I did not state this, and in fact referenced a basis on good judgement and ethical practices, both of which I see lacking in Bennett despite him amassing a tidy fortune.
What is more, the sanctioning of Israel’s leadership has already been asserted as being within the authority of the US State Dept. This is a fact. Blinken chose not to sanction Ben Gvir at this time, but it was a choice that he did not do so, while remaining a clear threat to Israel’s political class. Israel must seek the means of divesting itself from the overlordship of the US as much as possible and this will hopefully come in the near future, and assaults such as the sanctioning of innocent Israeli’s politicians or not, is just one aspect of the case which has been recently made to demonstrate this need.
@Peloni so you want your politicians poor and completely under the thumb of wealthy people to obtain office and susceptible to corruption.
I do not know if you are aware but Israel has around 12 or 14 very wealthy families who by reputation control many politicians. Sort of like the Haredi Politicians are controlled by their Rabbis.
Israel is better off with people like Barkat and Bennett who have proven they are smart and can manage businesses! Being rich is much more of a positive than a negative in-spite of your possible but very quirky theory about the disadvantage of a wealthy politician. I will take a proven winner in life and business anytime over the poor politician beholden to his benefactors.
@Rafi
In all honesty, I would have preferred if you saw an error in what I wrote you would explain it.
Personally, I see no merit in handing power to those who have wealth simply because they are wealthy. In fact, the wealthy political class such as Barkat & Bennett are reliant upon the sanctions regime in the US to not sanction their wealth or their affiliates, making them potentially more susceptible than those who have no wealth to compare to their own. Additionally, it should not be believed that this threat of sanctioning ministers by the US is mere fantasy, as even today the US is repeatedly speaking about sanctioning Ben Gvir based on policy demands. The US is completely untrustworthy, and Bennett’s wealth will leave him even more susceptible to US pressure than someone less wealthy. To be clear, I wouldn’t oppose him based on the basis of his wealth either, but I would base my opinion of the man on his good judgement and ethical standards, but I think I have made my thoughts clear enough on these already, such as they are.
Regarding Bennett’s return to serve in the Reserves, he is not alone on this, even while it is praiseworthy and important to note. Also, his role as an international spokesman is important role to play, and to be honest, I hope that rather than him running for election, he will continue in this pursuing this role as it suits him while not needing us to rely upon either his good judgement or his ethical practices. Again, just my own views of course.
Bennett rocks in-spite of inaccurate and over the top denunciations by some. Which he can handle and actually must if he is going to get back into politics.
He is one of the few self made multi-millionaire politicians in Israel, who made their money prior to politics. He does not need politics to be rich and this allows him to make brave decisions because he needs no-one’s favors.
Enough about Bennett now. I hope he runs in the next election, it will provide Israel with the choice of a new younger leader who thinks out of the box!!
Bennett, when the war started reported to the Reserves at age 50 something. He previously served in Sayret Makal (highest Israeli special forces) as an officer in combat in the 2006 Lebanon.
The country asked him to act as an international spokesman on behalf of Israel in lieu of going back to combat this war. He has been doing a good job with his temperament, language skills and quick thinking to not let Israel be thrown under the bus by many of these Israeli critiques in the international media.
@Rafi
With all due respect, the Bennett betrayal went well beyond the budget, and even in the end, he undercut Shaked’s efforts to change out Bibi for Bennett and thereby avoid his ally Lapid becoming PM. Notably, while Shaked was out of the country, Bennett precipitously called for new elections, leaving Lapid in control to the ruin of the country. There was no basis for doing this, none at all.
One point you make I would take to heart, and that his that hindsight is pretty accurate, and hindsight demonstrates at best that Bennett demonstrated poor judgement despite his strong words of national interest during the election and the many years before making the presumed sacrifice of his career to save the budget in defiance of his campaign promises. Hence, now we are but three years since Bennett exercised the, again presumed, poor judgement in forming his govt of spare parts, and once again, Bennett is telling us all that we might like to hear. So are we to believe he would not exercise the poor judgement which harmed the country so badly?
In fact, I do not accept your estimation of Bennett’s motives, and this is most notably based on his refusal to change course after the budget dilemma was extinguished. Also, not only did the entire Right wing refuse to support Bennett’s premiership, but it fell to Bennett’s own party members to ultimately put an end to Bennett’s Leftist govt, providing Bennett with yet one last opportunity to do what was both right and Right, and support the move to make Bibi PM. Tellingly, as I have explained already, Bennett chose instead to empower the radical Left to the greatest position of power in twenty years, much to the glee of Hezbollah and the American radicals. Yet, this is the man who should lead Israel in its most desperate moment in its history?? Surely, the answer to this question should be a resounding NO…
Gee it appears everyone does not love Bennett. Even he would admit he made a bad mistake going into a government with Arabs. He did it because Bibi could not form a coalition and Israel had not a government in several years that could pass a budget.
The Budget was needed for many purposes including the IDF and Health Ministry.
So there were three choices either Bibi set aside and let another Likud Member become Prime Minister in a right wing government. Have a unity coalition with Bennett as Prime Minister and pass a budget which was greatly needed. Option three was have a fifth election or whatever the number.
So Bennett made a choice which was difficult and did not end well. I would have preferred Bibi set aside but he refused to do that.
Anyway hindsight is pretty accurate normally and criticizing politicians who take difficult decisions that are not popular is always easy. Bennett made a decision what he believed was for the good of Israel, in-spite of it not being popular. In hindsight his party was way too small for him to be Prime Minister and opposed to his decision and it was a mistake.
@Rafi
I would agree with this statement, but that only draws me further into questioning how he could have unknowingly acted with such obvious deceit and such reckless chutzpah as to have acted as I described above. He is somewhere between a scoundrel extroardinare, as Edgar describes, or he is something far more deviously controlled to have moved to support the Left and would likely do so again. In any event, I would suggest that he is not who he seems to be.
In fact, Bennett had always been perceived to be THE man of the Right, the Right wing ballast which held Bibi’s centrist tendencies in check. And yet, when the moment the Right had been awaiting for so long, to form a fully Right wing govt, it was Bennett who betrayed the Right by forming a Left wing govt. Of course, Bennett’s betrayal was not solidified by him alone, as it was he, Saar and Lieberman, who turned a Right wing landslide into the formation of one of the most radical govts Israel has ever empowered. Yet, Bennett’s position on the Right made his part in that betrayal of the Right inexplicable, even more so as he famously explained that his betrayal was an effort to take the country “ten paces to the right of Bibi”.
His actions in forming that govt led to Israel failing to respond to the 2021 May War of Riots and Rockets. It led to him allowing Gantz to rekindle the TSS while facilitating funding to Mazen and the PA. It lead to the Arab street which had rioted in the above war being rewarded with massive funds and the Bedouin being gifted lands in the Negev. It lead to Hamas leadership not being hunted down as Bibi stated would be done. It lead to the cybersecurity network which Israel had been at the forefront being limited to utilizing only one out of three cybersecurity groups at the instruction of the US. It led to the Israeli gas deal which betrayed the nation and ceded its assets to Hezbollah. All of this was just part of the work-product following Bennett’s betrayal which he prefaced to be 10 steps to the Right of Bibi…when in fact, all he did was to empower the Left, pay off the Arab street, and embolden and enable the Iranian Axis to move forward with their plans of coordinated annihilation of Israel.
In fact, when I hear Bennett’s words today, and I am reminded of the Bennett of a decade ago, a man who knew what was needed and oftentimes acted, perhaps recklessly at times, but always on the right path for the Jewish state. Yet, the Bennett of today must be understood to be the same opportunist which facilitated all of which I have cited above, and more. He is not to be trusted, even as his words might lead us to believe that he is THE man we should trust.
Bennett is the only leader in Israel who polls higher than Bibi when people consider future PM’s.
Smart accomplished man!
Bennett is a turncoat and a traitor to Israeli mores..
Bennett is right…How so. Any 4th grade kid could say the same about Iran.
He’s no genius, just an opportunistic rabbit toothed local sized politician.