Column
Neither Netanyahu fatigue nor the rise of a centrist alternative changed the basic math of Israel’s political culture. The question is whether the right’s dominance will survive the prime minister’s legal woes.
By subverting the meaning of terms like “the rule of law” and tikkun olam, the left has brought these concepts into such disdain that repairing the world is booed, while pending indictments against a prime minister are dismissed as a ploy to subvert democracy.
According to almost all polls leading up to the election, Blue and White never had a mathematical chance to form a government. The 20-mandate gap between the two major voting blocs represents an unequivocal victory for Israel’s right-wing.
The president’s words were characteristically awkward, but there’s a difference between assuming Jews love Israel and anti-Semitic efforts to brand them as disloyal.
Israel is a miraculous wonderland—political warts and all—in a region beset by barbarism. Being a country full of Benjamins will do that.
Claims that Netanyahu is about to destroy Israel’s democratic system sound much like the same fears voiced about Trump.
As long as we treat support for an anti-Semitic movement as just another legitimate point of view, Jew-hatred and delegitimization will continue to spread.
Denying your poorer compatriots economic and educational opportunities is a blessed act when it is presented as part of the war against “Zionism.”
It’s nice that this hero’s greatness is finally being recognized by all segments of Israeli society, but the notion that he has somehow become an avatar of today’s left-wingers is bunk.
People in the West are primed to believe that compromise is invariably the solution to conflict. But there are some issues where the agenda brooks no compromise because it is by definition non-negotiable, and where “compromise” is therefore a fig leaf for surrender.
As Israel’s elections approach, the political campaigns have largely been focused on security issues. However, the rise of Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut is a sign that issues relating to individual and financial freedom are gaining in popularity.
Archeological finds continue to debunk Palestinian attempts to deny Jewish history. Yet without the Jewish presence at the site, all these precious relics would be trashed.