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February 15, 2009
Enter the Netanyahu
Enter the Netanyahu government
By Caroline B. Glick
Who won the election on Tuesday night and what do the results tell us about the composition of the next government?
Israeli voters decided two things on Tuesday. First, they decided that they want the political Right to lead the country. Second, leftist voters decided that they want to be represented by a big party so they abandoned Labor and Meretz and put their eggs in Kadima's basket.
These two decisions - one general and one sectoral -- are what brought about the anomalous situation where the party with the most Knesset seats is incapable of forming the next governing coalition. Despite Kadima leader Tzipi Livni's stunning electoral achievement, she cannot form a coalition. Binyamin Netanyahu will be Israel's next prime minister. The Likud will form the next coalition.
But what sort of governing coalition will Netanyahu form? That is today's sixty-four thousand dollar question.
During the campaign, Netanyahu said he wants to form a broad governing coalition. Until Tuesday, he planned to bring the Labor Party led by Ehud Barak into his government while leaving Kadima out in the cold. It was his hope that as the odd man out, Kadima would be destroyed as a viable political entity.
The public though had other plans. On Tuesday voters wiped out David Ben Gurion's party as a political force in the country. Labor's senior leadership reacted to their defeat by declaring that the time has come to move into the opposition. There will be no coalition with Labor.
That leaves Kadima. If Netanyahu wants a leftist party in his government, he will need to bring in Kadima. Such a coalition would be based on a tripartite partnership between Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu.
Although Netanyahu clearly prefers such a broad coalition, it is not his only option. The other option is to form a government with his rightist political camp. A coalition of Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, the National Union and the Jewish Home parties would constitute a stable governing majority that could withstand attempts by Kadima to bring down the government in the Knesset.
The question is which coalition is best for Likud? The answer to that question is debatable. But to begin to understand what should drive Netanyahu's decision, it is necessary to recognize his top priorities in office. Netanyahu has made clear that his top priorities are preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, defeating Hamas and strengthening the economy.
Netanyahu's free market economic philosophy is shared by Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu. It is not shared by Shas or Jewish Home. The National Union for its part is neutral. So to cut income taxes by twenty percent, as Netanyahu has pledged to do, a coalition with Kadima is preferable to its rightist alternative. On the other hand, the fact of the matter is that Netanyahu will probably be able to push his economic policies through the Knesset with either governing coalition, particularly if he proposes them quickly.
This leaves the issue of Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza. Here the situation becomes more complicated. In a conversation Thursday morning, Likud MK Yuval Steinitz argued in favor of a coalition with Kadima by noting that as the Kadima-led government's wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and its destruction of the Iranian-financed, North Korean built nuclear installation in Syria in September 2007 show, Kadima shares Likud's willingness to use force against Israel's enemies.
At the same time, Steinitz acknowledged that Kadima used force in both Lebanon and Gaza to advance diplomatic aims that are diametrically opposed to Likud's diplomatic aims. In Lebanon, Livni was the architect of the ceasefire with Hizbullah that paved the way for Hizbullah's rearmament, reassertion of control over South Lebanon, and its effective takeover of the Lebanese government as a whole. In Gaza, the Kadima-led government is about to agree to a ceasefire that will in the end strengthen Hamas's grip on power and legitimize the terror group as a political force.
~ snipet ~
The existential threats Israel faces today from Iran and its proxies are exacerbated by the fact that the West's position on Israel is swiftly converging with the Arab world's position on Israel. Throughout Western Europe, elite opinion has swung against Israel. Today not only can Israel expect no support from Europe for its moves to defend itself from its enemies. It can be all but certain that Europe will actively seek to weaken it. The only question is what means Europe chooses to adopt against Israel.
How Netanyahu answers these questions should determine the nature of his governing coalition.
For complete article please go HERE
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And there is this..........GREAT article!!!!!!
Right Man for the Job
A degree of murk attaches to the Israeli election results, to the surprise of none. It is a rule of politics in the Holy Land that if there is an easy way to do a thing and a hard way, the solution is to invent a third, more difficult way. Still, after the dust settles, the smoke clears and the fog lifts, it appears the next Prime Minister will be everyone's favorite MIT diplomate and well-met diplomat, Benjamin Netanyahu. And anyone who has kept up with his Hebrew lessons knows what Benjamin means: "Man of the right."
The freshly minted American administration is none too happy being left at the altar. They had hoped to "remake" Israel along with remaking the United States. Any movie buff can tell you the remakes are rarely as good as the original.
The tactic being employed by the administration and its surrogates is fascinating, though founded in falsity. They are planting stories everywhere about how prickly Netanyahu is, so curmudgeonly that even a nice even-keeled guy like Bill Clinton was subjected to a rough ride.
This sort of setup is a classic pincer strategy elevated by leftists to an art form. If there is disagreement between Obama and Netanyahu, as there will inevitably be, Netanyahu is tarred (you should excuse the expression) as the bad guy. In a word much beloved of negotiators, he will be labeled intransigent. Reuters in a Feb. 9 piece has already dusted off a real nasty word: "truculence." If Netanyahu sells out his principles and betrays his voters, that will be heralded as a sign of statesmanship. It's a thing of beauty, this Machiavellian strategy, even if it is pernicious, obnoxious, fulsome and abhorrent.
Listen to this quote in a few recent articles, attributed to Dennis Ross: "Bill Clinton complained Netanyahu acted as if Israel were the real superpower."
The real truth, well known to both Washington and Jerusalem insiders, is that Clinton hated Netanyahu for no reason other than liberal hating conservative.
The late Ralph de Toledano (1916-2007) wrote a phenomenal essay in the Conservative Chronicle during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. He pointed out how relaxed Bill's body language was around Yasser Arafat, a murderer of Israelis and Americans, soldiers and civilians, adults and children, not to mention a corrupt, dissipated lowlife. On the other hand, when Bill stood next to Benjamin Netanyahu, a fellow Ivy Leaguer with heroic achievements, he was distinctly ill at ease.
Toledano's point was brilliant and true: Clinton's problems with Netanyahu reflect on Bill's character flaws much more than on Benjamin's.
This story is public knowledge, repeated extensively in political circles: Clinton tricked Netanyahu by suddenly offering a pardon for Jonathan Pollard as a sweetener for a deal in the Wye Plantation negotiations. When Netanyahu showed interest in the proposal, Clinton had George Tenet leak the deal in such a way that a flurry of negative publicity ensued. The upshot was that not only was Pollard not released, Netanyahu was criticized for even suggesting such a thing.
On top of all this, the Clintons went out of their way to personally interfere in the Israeli election, helping Barak defeat Netanyahu. They snubbed Netanyahu, canceling scheduled meetings, while encouraging James Carville to go off to Israel and work on the Barak campaign. This was an unprecedented act of interference in another country's political process, and displays the classic Clinton vengefulness.
Hillary Clinton is not looking forward to dealing with him for the obvious reason that she stabbed him in the back. The likelihood of him being terribly forthcoming with her is small, although he has hitherto been careful to avoid taking direct shots at her. But every bit of scorn she gets from him in private or public is thoroughly well deserved and could not happen to a nicer person, ahem.
Hopefully Netanyahu's communication skills will enable him to bypass these weasels and win the hearts of the American public. He maintains a close friendship with Rush Limbaugh, and the two often get together to trade views while smoking stogies. If he has indeed matured, perhaps he can show the American right once and for all how to beat these mean-spirited lefties at their own game.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Benjamin in Hebrew means , Man of the Right. I like that!!!
I ask God to lead BiBi on and watch over him and care for him and all of those who love Israel and it’s people. May God keep Israel free.
Here is "Bibi" Netanyahu's website
Bibi lived in the US from age 12 on, and is a graduate of MIT and also has an MBA from MIT. I’ll put him up against BHO that woos of an arugula eater any time.
Bibi warned Obama about Iran and Israel yesterday....before the election. If Bibi wins, there will be teeth clenching, and the usual cursing from the Clintons... they detest him, and smug superiority from BHO, who fears him.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Posted by Wild Thing at February 15, 2009 04:47 AM
Comments
I have always admired Netanyahu. He is a outstanding gentleman with a heart of gold and balls of solid rock. A true man. He gives Israel hope for a brighter tomorrow. He will deal with Palestine and Hamas in a better way than anyone else could.
Congratulations to Benjamin. May God bless him and his house with intelligence, compassion and truth.
Thank you God for blessing your people one more time.
Posted by: Lynn at February 15, 2009 08:03 AM
If there ever is a meeting in Wahsington with Netanyahu, Abbas and Bobo...er obama, like the Oslo accords, Clinton, Arrafat and Peres, there is no way Ram emanual will force Bibi to shake hands with the Palestinian scum.
This is what Emanual did to Shimon Peres, made him shake hands with Arrafat. Benjamin Netanyahu will hand that punk his head and emanual knows it. They are scared to death of Netanyahu...For that matter so is the entire middle-east. The second coming of Golda.
Posted by: Mark at February 15, 2009 09:20 AM
Netanyahu and MOSSAD an IAF 69th TFW all together again? Don't start your car or go into anymore ringing phone booths Madinthehead Ahmadinejad!
- THANK GOD 2009 !!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at February 15, 2009 10:35 AM
Netanyahu will definitely be a thorn in Obama's side. Obama has shown his true muslim colors in the first few weeks of his "reign". Netanyahu knows that Israel truely stands alone now so she must stand strong. Obama is going to learn that Americans don't support muslim terrorist groups.
Obama bringing Hamas "refugees" to America and supporting them is going to be a very bad thing. As the Israelis kick ass, these "refugees' are going to cause trouble in America. Hopefully we will still have our guns then.
Posted by: TomR at February 15, 2009 10:49 AM
Lynn, your so right and I love your description of him.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 15, 2009 06:16 PM
Mark, that gave me goosebumps, a big yessssss.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 15, 2009 06:19 PM
Darth, LOL I love how you put that.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 15, 2009 06:21 PM
Tom, I sure hope the final count is that he does win. It sure gets confusing to me how they vote and so many parties that have to be included.
I agree so much it will be fun to know how much Obama and the Clinton's too will hate it with BiBi in charge. heh heh
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 15, 2009 06:24 PM
Isaiah 62:1 reads "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent. For Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch."
Posted by: drstrangeloveb52isok at February 15, 2009 07:25 PM
