Israel elections a defeat for everyone

February 11, 2009 - 9:16 AM by David

The Siamese twins of Israeli politics.

The Siamese twins of Israeli politics.

One of my favorite Elvis Costello songs begins, “Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused.” I’ve sorted adopted that credo regarding life in Israel. But after the election results, I’m back to being disgusted.

If last night’s voting tally – showing a slight victory for Kadima and Tzipi Livni over the Likud and Bibi Netanyahu, but overall a stronger showing by the Right block – proves anything, it’s that our electoral system is as irreparably fractured as the population of the country.

We’re in a situation where the party that received the most votes is going to likely end up out of the government and in the opposition – sort of like Al Gore and the Democrats in 2000. Netanyahu, instead of graciously accepting defeat and offering Livni the opportunity to form a coalition – a task she failed to do last year which resulted in these elections, and which she’s unlikely to do now – instead claimed a from the back end victory.

While smaller Right wing parties like Habayit Hayehudi and the National Union sapped votes from Likud – not to mention Israel Beiteinu and Avigdor Lieberman maintaining their strong showing of 2006 despite predictions they would do even better – Kadima undoubtedly lost a mandate or two from those well-meaning souls who gallantly but gullibly threw their support to the Green Movement-Meimad or the Green Leaf parties.

The spread of parties in the next Knesset, therefore, is going to continue to be a representation of the total schism in Israel society, where Arab parties, the Sephardic stronghold Shas, the waning Left faction Meretz, and the fringe Right Wing parties all sit together and cause a paralysis.

It’s time to raise the minimum threshold to even run for the Knesset by 1,000 percent or so, and cap the number of parties to 10 maximum, instead of this year’s unmanageable, outrageous 34. It may not be democratic, but neither is the government we’re going to get next.

What in the world made people like Ephraim Sneh or Michael Melchior think they could garner enough votes to even get one Knesset seat? Can anyone name a difference between Habayit Hayehudi and the National Union? the Green Movement and the Greens? And for that matter, Kadima and Likud?

barIf the politicians really believed their mantra that the good of the country comes first, then next week, we would see a coalition announced consisting of Kadima, Likud, and either Labor, Israel Beiteinu or Shas. But don’t think for a second that’s going to happen.

Ah, the hell with it. I’m going to bury my head in the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue with Israel’s own Bar Refaeli on the cover. At least that’s something we can take pride in.

Tags: , , , , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Politics, Pop Culture 

Comments

5 Comments on Israel elections a defeat for everyone

  1. Nicky on Wed, Feb 11th 2009 9:26 AM

    2. I completely agree… although I think I’ll give Sports Illustrated a miss.

  2. DMiddlemiss on Wed, Feb 11th 2009 8:08 PM

    3. Don’t feel bad. Here in America all we’ve heard is the mantra of “change”, and when we finally get a new leader after all the excitement and promise of new ideas all we get is… a spending bill. Cinderella’s coach has turned into a pumpkin. Change has become business as usual.

  3. LB on Wed, Feb 11th 2009 8:32 PM

    4. Since this is the umpteenth article I’ve seen about this today, maybe that is the one really good thing that will come out of this mess – a new, real electoral system (not the half-assed attempt of direct pm elections that lasted only 2.5 campaigns). The system needs a complete overhaul, and that is not news. Your ideas are a good start, but we need regional representation, and real accountability (there really is no word for that in Hebrew. True story).

    Then again, getting one’s hopes dashed is as Israeli as waiting in line at Misrad HaPnim. Now where’s that issue of Sports Illustrated again…?

  4. David-Joe on Thu, Feb 12th 2009 2:30 AM

    5. First is is nothing like the Gore defeat [thank God] because in the United States the popular vote is not relevant and it was designed that way deliberately. America is a Constitutional Republic using democratic means to govern – it is not, and Aristotle explains why and the Framers understood him, a democracy .

    Secondly, taking the views of the media these days in any free nation around the world is ridiculous, because they reflect one view: anti-capitalist, anti-life, and socialist.

    That Netanyahu becoes Prime Minister is Israel’s only chance of defeating the Arab enemy. It is NOT an accident, that the Arabs are hoping for an inexperienced and unsure Livni joined by the Party of rot – Labor.

    God help Israel should it wind up with an Obama type government.

  5. Israeli model Esti Ginzburg shot in New York | ISRAELITY on Thu, Mar 12th 2009 3:45 PM

    6. [...] Refaeli seems to be getting some positive attention headed Israel’s way, thanks to her recent appearance on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and other correlating accomplishments, as I enumerated [...]

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