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| English: Israeli Ballot Divider עברית: פרגוד ההצבעה (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As the time draws closer to the Israeli Elections on
17th March 2015, the polls are showing some trends towards the nature of the
coalition government-to-be. The Israeli Electorate is more center right to
right wing and this includes support for the right wing small parties including
the religious right-wing Zionist
as well as ultra-Orthodox. This gives a definite edge over the center-left to
left wing bloc.
Israel Israel
Despite all the electoral hype, polls and spin, the
claim of the Zionist Camp forming the next coalition is remote. There are
trends but it is unrealistic to share the optimistic view of the Zionist Camp
forming the next government, despite the fact that the Zionist Camp is leading
the Likud by 4 mandates according to the latest polls.
Many Israelis do not like Netanyahu, but they will
vote for his Likud list as they feel that there is no alternative to
Netanyahu's leadership. They view the Herzog-Livni partnership as a poor
choice. Livni is not stable as she has changed loyalties three times before
putting her eggs in Herzog's basket. The "blue-blooded" Isaac"Bouji" Herzog seems to lack charisma for being prime minister. His
manner and his voice do not inspire many people. He has become more charismatic
lately due to voice-training, and coaching. Apart from that, Tzippi Livni, may
be an obstacle to the Zionist Camp getting enough mandates to be invited by the
President to form a new government coalition after the elections. Increased
support for Meretz will increase the Zionist Camp's chances of forming a new
government.
The main players that will influence the nature of
the coalition will be the small parties. Most of the small parties tend towards
the center right to extreme right and are the natural partners for a
right wing coalition under Likud leadership even if the Likud list gets 3-4
less mandates than the Zionist Camp. If the Zionist Camp continues their
momentum of increasing the par by 8-10 mandates from the Likud then their
chances would improve to become the next government.
The left-wing Meretz Party is on the borderline of
being represented in the Knesset. Polls indicate that they may get from 4 to 6
seats. If they only muster 4 seats then they may be eliminated from the
parliamentary scene. This will be a sad day for Israel
There is a possibility that the two main parties,
Likud and Zionist Camp will form a coalition together. Those who vote for the
Zionist Camp at the expense of Meretz may even get the Likud as a coalition
partner. One must remember that after the elections, the ball game changes in
coalition negotiations and unlikely bedfellows become partners in a new
government coalition despite declarations to the contrary. This happens after
every election in Israel
According to the latest polls, there is a move
towards the Zionist Camp, who is 3-4 seats ahead of the Likud. The party
coalition bloc will determine the nature of the coalition. In this, the Likud
has an advantage despite trailing behind the Zionist Camp in the polls.
Many left wing Jewish voters may even leave Meretz
and support the Joint Arab List (Ram-Tal, Balad, Hadash) Within this Joint List
is the Islamic Movement that does not represent the secular supporters, Jewish
and Arab. This will give this party a rather partisan character. This
partisanship is no less negative than the extremist right wing partisan Zionist
and ultra-Orthodox Parties. The Joint List will be the third largest party
according to the latest polls. This party claims that it will fight racism,
strive for equality between all Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel
The Joint List has refused to sign an agreement for
excess votes with Meretz because Meretz is a Zionist Party. The mantra of
anything associated with Zionism to some Joint List members is considered evil.
This is really so short-sighted and narrow minded for a party that claims to
uphold ideals of democracy and equality that is very close to Meretz ideology.
There are Zionists, who do not share the racist right-wing ideologies of the
religious Zionist Party, Bayit Hayehudi, and extreme right wing members of the
Likud including Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beteinu. Surely this illustrates a
hypocritic streak in the Joint List that labels people as evil because they are
Zionists.
I shall be voting for Meretz with
pride. A vote for sanity, a vote against Likud-Bayit Hayehudi racism, a vote
for human values and decency for all Israel Israel
needs to improve its relations with the US
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