The final election results are out: A perspective from California
The Jewish people will be best served by a broad secular Zionist coalition based on the following partners:
This coalition will have 67 seats out of 120 seats in the Israeli parliament (A minimum of 61 Knesset members is needed to get the approval of the Knesset.) I believe the various parties of the proposed coalition can share a common basic vision of Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic state”, as defined below:
Notice that the definition of “Jewish Sate” is non-denominational, and close to the meaning the founders of modern secular Zionism had in mind. Other democratic countries in the world enforce similar and even more stringent immigration policies (Japan comes to mind), in order to preserve their heritage and their rich and ancient culture. This culture is being continuously recreated in Israel by the amalgam of Jews coming from all parts of the world, West and East.
The meaning of “Democratic State” should always be in the mind of the coalition partners when dealing with the future of Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank) and Gaza.
Israel has had significant military achievements during the last 3 years: Iran has been deterred by Israel. Let the US deal with the strategic threats of Iran in the region and beyond. The military capabilities of Hamas have been practically destroyed: the new government should finish the job of ensuring a fully demilitarized Gaza Strip. Hezbollah was significantly degraded. The Israeli government should ensure that Hezbollah does not return to Southern Lebanon, so the Israeli citizens in the North can rebuild their lives safely.
Given the present threats posed by the anti-Israeli sentiment in the Western world, the development of a strong and multi-faceted economy will be of primordial importance: Benjamin Netanyahu has the experience and vision to direct this effort. The slate of main ministerial posts can be completed as shown in the figure that follows:
To begin the process of establishing this coalition, the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, should give an unconditional pardon to Benjamin Netanyahu, ending the years-long interminable trial, and the boycott against Netanyahu and his Likud party, a boycott that has weakened the foundations of a parliamentary democracy. This will pave the way for the establishment of a broad secular-based Zionist government and will avoid falling again into a cycle of repeated inconclusive elections that Israel does not have the luxury nor the time to experiment with (nor the concomitant increase in unrest and vitriolic rhetoric that will accompany them.)
There is no need to establish any commission of enquiry to investigate
who is/are to blame for the catastrophic failures of October 7, 2023. Everyone in Israel has a well-defined opinion on this matter and, accordingly, cast already his/her vote in the latest elections. We do not need to perpetuate these divisions and draw the new government into more hatred and unending recriminations. However, a commission of enquiry to investigate the “what” led to the failures of October 7th, instead of “who” is to blame, would be appropriate: all the people involved in these failures are patriots. Decent people make also mistakes, and mistakes in judgment should not be confused with criminal intentions. Let the new government govern, and let people continue venting their strong opinions about the past sipping coffee and tea at the public shops – if they so wish (and let strong-opinionated historians write books about the subject.)
The newly formed government will also include four specially created ministries:
1) Ministry of Jewish religion affairs, which will be held by an Israeli religious Jew with highly regarded academic and administrative credentials, not ostensibly affiliated to any of the present political religious parties. Prerequisite: He/she should recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.
2) Ministry of Israeli Arab affairs, which will be held by an Arab Israeli with highly regarded academic and administrative credentials, not ostensibly affiliated to any of the present political Arab parties. Prerequisite: He/she should recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.
3) Ministry of Jewish Diaspora affairs, which will be held by an Israeli or Diasporic Jew, with highly regarded academic and administrative credentials, not ostensibly affiliated to any of the present Israeli political parties. Prerequisite: He/she should recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.
4) Ministry of Jewish refugees from the Arab countries, which will be held by a Mizrahi or Sephardi Israeli Jew, with highly regarded academic and administrative credentials, not ostensibly affiliated to any of the present Israeli political parties. The main task of this ministry is to set the record straight to the world and in all the international forums about the centuries-old dhimmi status of the Jews in the Muslim countries, akin to the status of the Black people under the “Jim Crow laws” in the Southern States of the US, and the ethnic cleansing of almost one million Jews from the Arab countries in the twentieth century, as I described in my book “The land is ours: Jews are dhimmis” (October 2026 edition.) Prerequisite: He/she should recognize Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.
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Note: The book “The land is ours: Jews are dhimmis” (October 2026 edition) is available for free download (pdf) from the ResearchGate website:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405240572_The_land_is_ours_Jews_are_dhimmis
The book is also available in paperback at Amazon at minimum cost ($0 royalties to the author.) A Spanish edition, titled “La tierra is nuestra: Los judíos son dhimmis” is available as well:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405253217_La_tierra_es_nuestra_Los_judios_son_dhimmis
