Israeli Elections: Who Would've Thought?

Israelis went to the polls last Tuesday to elect the government that will defend their national interests for the next four years. The Likud-Beiteinu coalition (right wing) won the elections and will be invited, by Shimon Peres, to form a government.

Before exploring the nearly imperceptible, yet most interesting, details of this electoral event; I would like to ask the Western political pundits who covered these elections, where do they see a major Leftist victory? The preliminary numbers were: Right Wing: 60; Centre: 19; Left Wing: 29; Far-Left Wing: 4; Arab Wing: 8.

It is highly disingenuous to include not only the Centrist party (Yesh Atid, that makes a point to distance itself from the Left); but also the Arab Wing (whose parties do not even seek to be included in the major "Jewish" coalitions) in the Israeli Leftist Bloc . Face it, the Left lost.

Congratulations to PM Netanyahu for his bitter-sweet victory. Bitter for, due to his ill political choices, he did not win the predicted 42 seats in the Knesset; Sweet because he remains in power and will be able to finish what he started.

What kind of government should he form then? He could form a straight-up rightist government (and I do not agree with those, like Zach Pontz, who said that it is "unlikely that a coalition of purely right-leaning members would be welcomed by the international community" first, because if the international community is more than willing to welcome Hybrid Terrorist Governments in its midst then it has no moral grounds to reject a legitimate right wing Government; and second, because Austria (for example) has a far-right government and the international community is working with it just fine; so let's avoid adding one more double standard to the political arena when it comes to Israel, shall we?); or he could build a cocktail government (i.e. invite either the Centrist or the Labour party; but which one is the most suitable at this moment: Yesh Atid or Avodah? It is a tough decision; however, one thing is certain: given the present conjuncture, I would definitely leave Hatnua out of the picture).

Yesh Atid is adamant in the Haredi conscription (as a way to equalise "the service burden"). In my opinion, if the Levites, in the Torah, fought for the establishment of the tribes in the Promised Land alongside their brothers; their contemporary equivalent can certainly do the same - and then finish their Religious Studies after serving. Yair Lapid's party must negotiate with the religious parties and, reach an understanding. It is highly positive that Yesh Atid believes in a united Jerusalem - as the capital of the Jewish State - thus, rejecting its partition...[this small detail was conveniently left out by most of the western political experts].

But the most interesting detail of this year's elections was the Arab League's Palestine Division calling upon the "Arabs in Israel" to go to vote in order to "boost their numbers at the polls so that they can strengthen their representation in Israel". Their call only yielded one seat more (in comparison to the previous elections), but it could be viewed as a start.

The Palestine Division, represented by PLO, purposely used the classification "Arabs in Israel" in order to perpetuate the mantra that there is Apartheid in Israel, since the "Arab population" is allegedly deprived of their citizenship.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am obliged to expose the trap into which the Arab League fell: by calling the "Arabs in Israel" to vote to strengthen their representation in the Knesset, they actually admitted that those "Arabs" are, in absolute terms, national citizens of the State of Israel and therefore have the right to participate in the political life of the country. Who would've thought that the Arab League (and the PLO) itself would do Israel a favour and, actually, demolish the International Left's most precious argument?

I wish all the best to PM Netanyahu: may he seize the moment.  

"Where no wise direction is, a people falls; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" - Proverbs 11:14