By Ted Belman
Bibi is the reason that we don’t have a rightwing government. Bibi is the reason we are looking at a left dominated government in the making. Bibi gambled on doing better in a new election.
All he had to do was resign. Instead he is forcing 45 MK’s to lose their positions of influence and go into opposition.
Its not too late to do the right thing, pardon the pun. He should tender his resignation immediately, assuming such resignation would be effective immediately. Such resignation would put an end to the Lapid-Bennett government which is expected to be presented to Rivlin for approval by late Wednesday.
This would allow Bennett (Yamina) and Saar ( New Hope) to join with Likud, Shas and UTJ in a rightwing government.
Bibi would be much better served by such a government than by the one currently being formed.
@ Bear Klein:
Thanks for your thoughts as always, Bear. I do recall Barak in the 2009 Unity Coalition and I see this supporting the same point I noted in our last exchange, but as you say, it is and was not my intent to challenge you on a point by point basis. I was just sharing some observations that carried my concerns to a higher plain where it is likely to remain til some new shoe drops. I do wish that if this report about the Bedouins is more non-news journalism some member of the parties would speak to it as it should harm nothing if there is nothing to it, but this is likely expecting too much amid negotiations. In any case, I am somewhat helped by the knowledge of your close adviser to Bennett of which I was unaware. I had always been quite interested in him and regretted that Bibi and Shaked/Bennett could never come to terms – it was a missed moment I believe for all of them and us. I always thought he would do both the right thing and the Right thing(sorry, couldn’t resist that moment of levity) in a given situation. I am disturbed by such early reports but as I have noted previously, the news is mostly not worth the paper that it is not written on as it is a bag of half-truths and damned-lies. I do hope this report is the latter. Nevertheless, we will see how these matters resolve themselves – sooner or later. Thanks again.
@ peloni1986:
You might have overlooked several things including Bibi’s coalition Ichud Barak (Labor) who ended up being Defense Minister. Talk about giving the left power!!
Anyway I have no interest in going point by point in debate. I always believe it is fine if people politely agree to disagree.
I am not a Bibi hater as I have said. I have been for quite a while a strong believer in Bennett and Shaked. Some of my friends are activists in Yamina and one is a close advisor to Bennett. Everyone I know is still giving him the benefit of the doubt for moment and some actively supporting him. Polls indicate this is not representative of the overall Yamina voter.
He is being viciously condemned by many right-wing pundits in the press and physically threatened.
Bad mouthing based on unproven reports of events is not constructive. I strongly believe he does what he believes is good for the country first.
Bennett, Shaked, and Nir Barkat are among the younger Israeli politicians that are financially set for life and do not need to cow tow or act according to possible financial peril if they end up out of office. All three of these people are accomplished in more than field and quite capable and work for the good of the country. In my view the Machiavellian who acts as the King has tried to keep Bennett and Shaked from taking the reins of power for a while now. Barkat has been waiting his turn in the Likud unlike Saar who got tired of being sidelined. Barkat is not a minister because of the Machiavellian in the Prime Minister’s seat.
@ Bear Klein:
So, yes, we are likely not to see this gov’t in a common vision as you see openings of the mouth and I am peering at the smellier end of the beast before us – meaning our current perspectives are complicated by previously divergent perspectives.
But, while we disagree, I would like to counter two points you raise in your objections to Bibi’s history, as I believe on both points, the examination speaks more poorly of Bennett and the comparison between the two leads to a more severe indictment of Bennett’s actions than Bibi.
Namely,
1. his involvement of Leftist in forming gov’t’s
2. his inclusion of the Good Dentist into the political quagmire.
1.
Bibi has formed gov’t’s with Leftists such as Kadima and Yesh Atid among others, as this was the posture of the limit that the electorate saw fit to allow his rightward reach. This accommodation was in obeisance of the will of the electorate not in defiance of it.
Today, there stands better than a full half of the Knessett from which could be drawn from to form a Right-wing majority. So Bennett’s parliamentary moves in reaching not to the Left, but to all members of the Left including Meretz dictates his needless defiance of new Rightward drift of the electorate, such as it is today. It just occurred to me that Yamina means Rightward as he reaches Left. Semantics may be powerful tools of persuasion. Sorry, I was just thinking with my fingers.
2.
On the point of Bibi’s unwise inclusion of the well beefed snake carrying Hamas’ flag for them, I have from day one called him on the folly of such a measure. Defense is the first responsibility of any gov’t and accordingly no self named enemy should be allowed so near the lever of power. But in his defense of this unwise move, I will recall that Bibi intended to include the potential of this evil minion into a Right-wing gov’t with his support from outside the gov’t.
These are not subtle differences to what Bennett now has designed. I would always oppose the inclusion of this Dentist in any form of support of any gov’t, but with him aiding a Left-wing dominated gov’t as a member of this gov’t is very different from supporting a Right-wing gov’t from the outside. In a Right-wing gov’t, I could at least look to the entire gov’t for some comfort that I would not need lend my trust to a single man or even a couple dozen men, because the entire gov’t would be of the Right. Bennett has no such comfort to allow me and forces me to “trust” him. Well, as I have stated that cash is now poorly spent and leaves me quite worried of this moment.
So, things are getting too interesting too quickly. I do appreciate your input upon my concerns, though I am not much comforted in what I see before us with a great apprehension. But one day soon, I hope we may look back to this moment and find such worries as confound me now, were actually poorly merited. I really do have such hopes. But my concerns still plague my reason.
@ peloni1986:
Respectfully disagree. To be fair it is those who define Bibi as being the right-wing and basically want King Bibi to continue by hook or crook. They are ones clutching by simply bad mouthing any politician who dares challenge the rule of the King.
Bibi runs campaigns as right-wing and governs as a centrist. He has brought leftists into his coalitions in the past and was also willing to have Raam in his coalition or supporting it from the outside.
Do not get me wrong he has done many good things for Israel including getting the Pfizer vaccine in large enough numbers so that the country has now beaten Covid-19. So I am not a Bibi hater but one believes it is best for Israel that he step aside. He has now kept the country from having a right-wing nationalistic government. The country needs a government to function and he has now failed four times in two years.
Bennett has found a compromise formula to be able to establish a government with true safeguards. (Bibi compromised many times in coalitions deals).
Shaked will now be sitting on the committee to appoint judges and the right will have veto power over judicial appointments also.
The new Unity government is likely to be created it now appears barring any last minute surprises.
Will this government last very given the divergence of parties in it? Unlikely but hopefully the Haredi will join it for their own purposes and it will become stable.
Will the Likud have a new primary for party leader? I think so. Who will win I am not sure. I hope Bibi drops out and lets a new generation of leaders take over.
Who would run Edelstein, Israel Katz, Nir Barkat, and maybe Danny Dannon.
If a new Likud leader takes the reins and the unity government falls apart the Likud will have an excellent chance of being an even larger party and forming a government. But the that is down the road a ways and things can change.
@ Bear Klein:
In fairness, I think that it is not Bibi who hangs to power by his fingernails but Bennett who is clutching at straws and tosses dust upon our vision to obscure his actions as his trusting faithful are mesmerized by the his definitions that define his Redlines.
When I said, previously Bibi was hanging on to the Prime Minister’s chair by a fingernail here is the perfect example. Bibi has offered Gantz, Bennett, and Saar to be first in rotation of PMs to try and keep a Unity government from forming. However Bibi is trying to keep Bennett and Lapid from doing the same thing claiming it is illegal for them to do that. What hypocrisy!!
@ peloni1986:
Thank you. But…you’re wasting your time. Any normal, reasonable person would have been well satisfied with your explicit, easily understood, fully detailed, laid out, points, one following on the other in sequence.. But your efforts are in vain. He will ALWAYS have issues, and as one vanishes, he dredges around to find another, like a bull terrier who just won’t let go.
{Reminding me of Crighton’s Bull terriier, you know the Crighton I mean, the 16th cent. multi-talented Scottish gentleman. Harrison Ainsworth wrote a very interesting book featuring him. I have many or most of Ainsworth’s works.}
He doesn’t accept your transparently clear elucidations, and fo sure doesn’t understand half of them. Recall, at the beginning the complaint was that only a small portion was read, and a request to cut it short.
@ Bear Klein:
Why do you believe it’s true. You basically called me a liar earlier. I don’t say the same to you, but you DO know that Israeli news outlets, moreover Leftist outlets are not prodigal with truth.
I repeat that Netantahu during last week, detailed exactly why he called the election;and it was because he had discovered that Gantz was negotiating with the Arabs behind his back. I saw the same thing several times, so I say IT’S TRUE. At least the the high probabIlity is, that it’s true. I know the report exists because I SAW IT .
You very cavalierly shrug off my valid comment that you are quoting from a reporter of a leftist rag. Ben-Dror Yemini often writes less than the truth I’m sure, just to make a story and headline. ALL reporters do it -especially those who espouse the Left.
Who cares what Bibi owns or earns unless there is an illegal conflict of interest which nobody claims he has incurred? The Dems did the same thing to Trump with his hotels. Influence peddling? Caroline Glick wrote extensively on the dangers to democracy of prosecuting anyone for getting good reviews and it’s not illegal. Bibi won a majority in the Likud and the Likud won a plurality in the vote, big ones. There is nothing remotely democratic about unseating him through parliamentary maneuver. Asking a man to commit suicide is stupid and unfair, aside from his obviously superior achievements, virtues and talents, some of which have been alluded to here.