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| English: Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli politician (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Soon
election fever will be upon the Israeli voter and the various party lists will
be competing for votes. The party lists are being formed and one of the big
surprises has been the amalgamation of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud with Avigdor
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu to form Likud Beiteinu. There is a dearth of
commentators on this unification and the Israeli Press is saturated with
analysis and predictions so it is unnecessary to go into the positive and
negative aspects of this move for which only time will tell.
The
range of parties is quite large but there is nothing new in any of them. The
thinking voter will have a very difficult time to choose the party of his
choice.
The
right wing will grow stronger after these elections and it is almost a foregone
conclusion that Netanyahu will continue to be prime minister. When one asks
the average Israeli voter who will be the next PM of Israel, the answer is
almost unanimous - "Bibi Netanyahu, as there is nobody else". This is a good enough reason to predict the outcome of the elections.
One
can feel the beginning of election fever. The only way to decide is by
elimination. Most of us know for whom we will not vote. Even the Zionist
parties of the right and the left have put the Peace Process and the
relationship with the Arab World on the back burner. This does not seem to be
an issue at all. It is business as usual. The Qassam rockets from
Hamas-controlled Gaza, fall on the south of of Israel and results in injury and
death to innocent people. The Israeli Army retaliates and hit the terrorists
responsible and in many cases innocent people also lose their lives.
Many
Israelis have come to the conclusion that there is no partner for peace or at
least this is what seems to be the case in Hamas-controlled Gaza. The
non-recognition of Israel's right to exist among the extremist Islamist
groups must be blamed for this state of affairs.
Despite
this pessimistic view, there are Palestinians who have had enough of the
stalemate and the lack of progress towards peace. They are the silent majority
whose voice is suppressed by their corrupt leadership. Israel should be more
forthcoming in finding a solution to this conflict which is a drain on Israel's
resources. The lack of progress on a solution to the conflict also strengthens
Iran and the Likud's desire to strike at Iran's nuclear capabilities which will
also become part of Netanyahu's election campaign. This will also gain him much
support. Much of Ahmadinajad's rhetoric against Israel may just be demagogic
bluster and this is working in the right wing's favour. An Israel at peace with
its Arab neighbours, including the Palestinians, could be a strong bulwark
against Iran as nobody will gain from war. The Palestinian People will be the
most exposed to fallout from Iran's nuclear capability if there is a nuclear war with Iran.
The
other small parties on the right may be ready to join the right wing Lieberman
- Netanyahu coalition as the situation of the right wing will be more clearcut
and all embracing of the extremist right wing which is very settler oriented in
the occupied West Bank. The Kadima Party has weakened because of defections to
the Likud and to other directions. Kadima is on the verge of collapse.
The
Labor Party with Shelly Yechimovitch as leader seems to be an alternative at
first sight. However, they hope to capture the voter's support on their
socio-economic programme which on the surface seems to be more soft serve
capitalism oriented than the Likud tycoon orientation which somehow is eroding
the middle class. On certain issues such as peace and security and the
importance of these issues is not a priority.
Meretz
is weak and is not much of a factor in these elections. Zahava Gal On is a good
parliamentarian and a forceful speaker but her colleagues in the party are
conspicuous by not being active on issues where they should such as the peace process and human rights issues. The religious Zionist and non-Zionist parties are right wing as well and are
problematic
when it comes to separation of religion and state. A religious party can never
be a democratic party as they all have partisan issues which rely on their own
religious supporters.
The
Hadash or Communist Party is the only non-partisan party in theory which is a
Jewish-Arab party but it is doctrinaire and is weak on human rights as they
tend to support the Butcher of Damascus - Bashar Assad of Syria. It also
believes in the two-state solution and coexistence between Jews and Arabs.
Apart from Dov Cheinin and occasionally Mohammed Barakeh, the party leader,
most of their Knesset members have been little more than dormant. The Arab
Parties, Ra'am - Ta'al are no less partisan than the extreme right wing
parties. Their policy on the Jewish sector in Israel is not on their platform
and is unknown.
It is
unclear at this stage which party one can support in these upcoming elections
especially as the peace process seems to be on the back burner of all the
Zionist
parties from right to left. Perhaps the reason is, especially among the
Zionist left, they may not get them much support.
Our hopes are that the parties will get their act together not only on social and economic issues but also on the peace process with our Palestinian neighbours and accept the changes occurring in the Arab World and how we in Israel can come to terms with these dramatic changes so that all will benefit. After all Israel is an integral part of the Middle East.
