Israel General Election Thread: March 17 2015

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Could somebody please explain to me what the hell Netanyahu's appeal is? His specifically, not the Israeli right's in general. I've heard references to 'rallying around the flag' in relation to this in the past, but rallying around the flag only happens if there's a feeling of imminent crisis. Currently all of Israel's traditional enemies are actually cobelligerents against a common foe (ISIS), yet part of Netanyahu's platform seems to be refusing to even try to take advantage of this. Is he just keeping Israel, or a large enough segment of the Israeli population to keep electing him, in a state of perpetual perceived peril? (Immediate peril, not long-term peril; the latter is actually a reasonable understanding of Israel's situation.) If so, how?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Could somebody please explain to me what the hell Netanyahu's appeal is? His specifically, not the Israeli right's in general. I've heard references to 'rallying around the flag' in relation to this in the past, but rallying around the flag only happens if there's a feeling of imminent crisis. Currently all of Israel's traditional enemies are actually cobelligerents against a common foe (ISIS), yet part of Netanyahu's platform seems to be refusing to even try to take advantage of this. Is he just keeping Israel, or a large enough segment of the Israeli population to keep electing him, in a state of perpetual perceived peril? (Immediate peril, not long-term peril; the latter is actually a reasonable understanding of Israel's situation.) If so, how?

Why do you assume the general appeal of the Israeli right is not enough?

What surprises me is that Netanyahu's jaw-droppingly awful policies, inability to get along with others, and general repulsiveness don't seem to reduce the right's appeal appreciably.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I'm glad to see that the Democratic party's second attempt to swing an Israeli election has failed miserably, unlike their first attempt under Clinton which led to the election of Barak.

Oh please. The Republicans let Netanyahu use them as a backdrop for his dishonest, bellicose, alienating, almost palpably sleazy 'statesman' theatrics because they thought it would help them score points against a president who's already a lame duck. That's significantly more abject than anything the Clinton administration did.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Again, what gets to me isn't so much Netanyahu's hawkishness in general as the specific fact that a major plank of his platform is, essentially, outright refusing to try to take advantage of a situation that could, if played right, give him a fighting chance of finally putting his country at peace. How come this man has yet to be run out of the Knesset on a rail?!

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Again, what gets to me isn't so much Netanyahu's hawkishness in general as the specific fact that a major plank of his platform is, essentially, outright refusing to try to take advantage of a situation that could, if played right, give him a fighting chance of finally putting his country at peace. How come this man has yet to be run out of the Knesset on a rail?!

I think we have to question whether a plurality of Isreali people care about that.

I have to believe that a plurality of Israeli people would rather live in a democracy at peace than a hybrid regime at perpetual war. I have to.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Sure, but I think most of our reactions to MK-elect Negusa are more 'sour grapes' than 'good news'.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Again, what gets to me isn't so much Netanyahu's hawkishness in general as the specific fact that a major plank of his platform is, essentially, outright refusing to try to take advantage of a situation that could, if played right, give him a fighting chance of finally putting his country at peace. How come this man has yet to be run out of the Knesset on a rail?!

I think we have to question whether a plurality of Isreali people care about that.

I have to believe that a plurality of Israeli people would rather live in a democracy at peace than a hybrid regime at perpetual war. I have to.

You have heard the old saying that Israel wants three things: the West Bank, its status as a Jewish state, or democracy, and it can have any two of those? The saying is older than I am and hackeneyed as it is, there is a lot of truth in it. Israel has made it clear that the West Bank is one of its choices.

I'm in denial about that, because it's both immoral and flagrantly self-destructive in the long term, and I want to continue to have a more or less positive opinion of a country that's produced several of my friends and a lot of culture I love.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Again, what gets to me isn't so much Netanyahu's hawkishness in general as the specific fact that a major plank of his platform is, essentially, outright refusing to try to take advantage of a situation that could, if played right, give him a fighting chance of finally putting his country at peace. How come this man has yet to be run out of the Knesset on a rail?!

I think we have to question whether a plurality of Isreali people care about that.

I have to believe that a plurality of Israeli people would rather live in a democracy at peace than a hybrid regime at perpetual war. I have to.

You have heard the old saying that Israel wants three things: the West Bank, its status as a Jewish state, or democracy, and it can have any two of those? The saying is older than I am and hackeneyed as it is, there is a lot of truth in it. Israel has made it clear that the West Bank is one of its choices.

I'm in denial about that, because it's both immoral and flagrantly self-destructive in the long term, and I want to continue to have a more or less positive opinion of a country that's produced several of my friends and a lot of culture I love.

I am afraid, most of us will have to follow NYT's Friedman in "burying <our> illusions about the Jewish state".

I guess.

It's a shame. It really, really is. A Jewish state in the Levant is, on paper and without any elaboration, something that I think is very desirable.

But not like this.