A short history of Israel’s recent election circus:
- Lieberman quits Netanyahu’s coalition.
- Bibi deems his 61/120 coalition too shaky and goes to the polls.
- The electorate gives his coalition only 59/120.
- After this ‘great victory,’ Bibi tried again and gets 56/120.
- Bibi cemented the rightwing block into agreeing to stay together. Thus, he prevented a secular unity coalition without the religious.
- The Left plus Lieberman found Bibi unwilling to join a unity coalition, Bibi hoping again to win more decisively at the next polling.
- The Left plus Lieberman did the only thing they could do still: use their 64/120 majority by relying on the Arab parties within the 64.
- Bibi cried foul to win votes but he actually caused this.
- Suddenly, US President Trump plays the The-West-Bank-is-Israel card to help Bibi. This should make the Arab parties bolt support for any minority coalition. They didn’t take the bait, though.
- (This works great in his bid for the 2020 US elections because it riles up all anti-Israel sentiment in the Democratic Party and Americans will never elect an openly anti-Israel president.)
Gantz would create a Leftwing minority coalition against all odds. A third election would be prevented and Bibi would be out. His all-or-nothing gamble then gave him the last. As we say in modern Hebrew (borrowing words by the Sages): You grab too much, and you’ll end up with nothing.
If, last minute, Bibi would still go for a compromise unity government, we can only thank Lieberman for creating it and not Bibi or Gantz.
Actuality in the coming hours might depart from the above or confirm it.
To govern Israel with the Arab Parties’ Support?
White people who say that thinking about racism doesn’t make them uncomfortable are lying. There’s no escape. But, better uncomfortable than oppressive.
There always are Arab anti-Zionist Parties in the Knesset but they, by ‘virtue’ of their anti-Zionism, could never be part of any government coalition. The Jewish majority could not decently invite them to take responsibility for Zionism and neither could they compromise their hateful stand.
However, things are changing. Israeli Gentile-Arabs are getting tired of the aggressive anti-Zionist rhetoric of these Knesset members. When will they finally be constructive and start working for the interests of Arab Israelis? (For sure, they have on the sidelines, but in the spotlights, these parties have only criticized, accused and spoken words of hatred.)
There have been Gentile-Arab Israelis inside of the political parties that are predominantly Jewish. Especially inside the Likud, most notably Druze, Bedouin and Christian Arabs. Some also inside the ultra-left-wing parties, but that was often very hard because of the racism. That is one of the things that in Israel are the opposite of the rest of the world. The racism sits at the left. This is because right-wingers would not think of being less than courteous to minorities inside their own party. These are obviously friends. But left-wingers often have the arrogance that they are right and therefore so holy that they don’t need to check their behavior. And unchecked behavior is the playground of the devil.
A new system of government, the non-electorate democracy
The Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon had it already for some time. Elections are held but they don’t have any influence on what happens in their States. And now Israel has joined the pack. We’re even told that we may be invited to vote a third time in a row without it ever resulting in a government after our choice.
The arrangement does have a caretaker government but that doesn’t reflect what voters voted for. The vote is not more than an expensive opinion poll whose results then get ignored. It still works. You feel that you have a say, even if no one listens. You feel you have influence though you know you don’t beyond election night. One learns from neighbors. Even when it’s a darkness unto the nations.
This method is also more flexible than the authorities listening to the outcome of elections. How so? Elections can’t be every day. But instead, we have demonstrations. If the media pick up on them, the government might oblige. No need to wait for elections. And not only the ministers may obey the populus’ voice. Courts often do too. Vox populi at its best.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
