How the The-West-Bank-is-Israel card turned out not a trump card

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.