Ben Eliezer Criticizes Lieberman

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(IsraelNN.com) Minister of National Infrastructure Binyamin Ben Eliezer related Wednesday evening to “the camp of Yitzchak Rabin” in Tel-Aviv, in light of Yisrael Beiteinu chair Avigdor Lieberman’s growing popularity in polls.

“Yitzchak Rabin, of blessed memory, represented in my eyes one and only thing – hope. Hope that reached its apex in the same evening that Yitzchak was murdered. After the canvassing that I have done today, it is clearly a simple matter that the street is open to hear us. Precisely these days is it incumbent upon us to wash the streets of Israel with hope, as the streets are soiled with hatred and extremism. Five days is a lot of time and this is the time to do this. Everyone in one’s circle must, and is able to do the work.”

Earlier Wednesday, Ben Eliezer told reporters, “I would like to recommend to keep Lieberman in his corner. I think that the damage that he is causing the State of Israel is very great. The severe incitement damages the delicate balance between the Jewish populace with the Arab-Israeli populace.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/160318

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1. Let Netanyahu win

Benjamin Netanyahu will apparently be Israel's next prime minister. There is, however, something encouraging about that fact. Netanyahu's election will free Israel from the burden of deception: If he can establish a right-wing government, the veil will be lifted and the nation's true face revealed to its citizens and the rest of the world, including Arab countries. Together with the world, we will see which direction we are facing and who we really are. The masquerade that has gone on for several years will finally come to an end.

Netanyahu's election is likely to bring the curtain down on the great fraud - the best show in town - the lie of "negotiations" and the injustice of the "peace process." Israel consistently claimed these acts proved the nation was focused on peace and the end of the occupation. All the while, it did everything it could to further entrench the occupation and distance any chance of a potential agreement.

For 16 years, we have been enamored with the peace process. We talk and talk, babble and prattle, and generally feel great about ourselves; meanwhile the settlements expand endlessly and Israel turns to the use of force at every possible opportunity, aside from a unilateral disengagement which did nothing to advance the cause of peace. With the election of a prime ministerial candidate who speaks of "economic peace," the naked truth will finally emerge. If, however, Tzipi Livni or Ehud Barak are elected, the self-delusion will simply continue. Livni herself is enamored with futile, useless and cowardly negotiations, and Barak has long abandoned the brave efforts he made in the past. The election of either will only perpetuate the vacuum. The world, including Washington, will breathe a sigh of relief that for once, Israel has elected a leadership that will pursue peace. But there is no chance of that happening.

The record of each of these candidates, and the positions they have championed until now, proves that what has been will continue to be. Livni and Barak will rush to every photo opportunity with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan. The Americans and Europeans will be pleased, but nothing will come out of it other than the sowing of a few more illusions. We will move from war to war, uprising to uprising, settlement to settlement, and the world will continue to delude itself into thinking an agreement is within reach. Hamas will grow stronger, Abbas weaker and the last chance for peace will be irretrievably lost.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061736.html

[LeftishBrit]

2. I disagree with Levy here.

He does tend to be super-pessimistic.

I'm no fan of Kadima, and would much prefer Meretz, or as someone here suggested, a Meretz-Hadash coalition. But this is not going to happen; the best possible outcome is a Kadima-led government with Meretz helping to hold the balance of power.

I don't think that Kadima and Likud are identical, though Kadima does include too many ex-Likud members. But I think that they are less rabidly ideological and also less xenophobic than Likud. They would be more likely to yield to pressure from a now more liberal American government and from the EU. There's a better chance with Kadima than Likud, especially once the election is over and they're not trying to prove that they're just as 'decisive' and 'strong leaders' (to use the common euphemisms of all politicians) as Likud.

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3. Eh, I see no reason to cheer Nuttyahoo and Lieberman

I'm not convinced they will make that big a difference either. If I was Israeli, I'd be concerned about the damage they could do, they do not look very bright to me. I am reminded again of the fable of Saiou's Horse:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=249711#250192