Category: Party Politics in Israel

Beware the doomsday discourse about irreparable depredations in Israel’s democratic moorings. The poison it pumps into Israel’s soul and standing is far worse than its proximate cause.
The hysterical handwringing about judicial reform – which intelligent observers know will yet be moderated and slowed by the process of negotiating this through the Knesset – only feeds the anti-Israel monster that exists out there in the world, saps Israeli and Jewish self-confidence, and worst of all – creates self-fulfilling prophesies about Israel’s economic isolation. Alas, this is time-worn left-wing trick: Threatening global ruin to scare-off Israelis from reasonable right-wing policies.
Arye Deri should resign immediately and stay home permanently. His ruinous record in politics is without peer. His brand of blithely sectorial, brusquely cynical politics has been catastrophic. Unfortunately, I expect that we will see Deri back soon as speaker of the Knesset or as alternate prime minister.
Rule emphatically but be as inclusive as possible. Keep the foxes (Deri, Ben-Gvir) out of the henhouses. Prepare for war the right way. Build in Jerusalem. Engage the Jewish world. And more.
Consider one of the lesser-known parties running for election to Knesset. They serve as an antidote to widespread cynicism about Israel’s political system.
Israelis should forget the “threshold,” and be strategic and principled, not tactical and cynical, voters. They should vote their conscience, even if that means their ballot for a niche party “goes to waste.” Fact is that their vote also might not go to waste! And anyway, Israel seems headed to another political stalemate with repeat elections likely in April 2023....
David M. Weinberg is a think tank director, columnist and lobbyist who is a sharp critic of Israel’s detractors and of post-Zionist trends in Israel. Read more »
A passionate speaker, David M. Weinberg lectures widely in Israel, the U.S. and Canada to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. He speaks on international politics and Middle East strategic affairs, Israeli diplomacy and defense strategy, intelligence matters and more. Click here to book David Weinberg as a speaker

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