this orgasm will continue until the inevitable next Hamas rocket attack which will be followed by the retaliation that has marked EVERY Israeli govt, Labour or Likud. for the first time in Israel’s history we will have an Arab party in a government coalition, a move towards inclusion of the more than two million Arab citizens of Israel. It’s curious how people who see this as a good thing – but cannot explain why – remain willfully ignorant to how the reverse never, ever happens. The fact is that the freest Arabs in the Middle East are the ones living in a Jewish state.
Exactly; how many Jewish parties are there in Arab states? There aren’t enough Jewish citizens in any of them to even form a party, even if it were allowed.
Joe ntemuse
2 years ago
This article, like many on the Israeli issue, is utter nonsense .Bibi has been the democratically elected PM since 2009.How he can simultaneously be danger to democracy is beyond me.
His friends worry that he will never retire; his enemies will do nearly everything to push him out. So they join forces in an unholy alliance to get him out. Maybe he will understand and throw his support to someone else then retire. But the unholy alliance is likely to tear apart quickly but last long enough to sideline Bibi for a period. Amazing politics at work.
The ‘democracy’ talking point has been a staple on the left on both sides of the pond for the past few years. It’s like trying to reason with a two-year old.
Paul Goodman
2 years ago
From an external view I am at a loss to see what this might achieve. I am genuinely inquisitive to learn other than removing the PM by rivals and claiming “democracy works” what is it that has driven this move in terms of internal politics?
Surly the overriding issue is international diplomacy and there is nothing good about; “although we can expect a stalemate in the peace negotiations, this government is unlikely to completely kill the idea of a two-state solution.” What is the point of a ceasefire if there are to be no negotiations? A government that parks this issue is a bad government. Lebanon is a great example of what a government of enemies can achieve.
Fraser Bailey
2 years ago
We shall see, but journalists and commentators are always wrong about these things so I expect it will be a disaster.
Warren Alexander
2 years ago
A government that is inherently unstable is good for neither the Israelis or the Palestinians.
andrew harman
2 years ago
That Bennett has come a long way since leading the UK Green Party 🙂
rolf_herman
2 years ago
Superficially yes, but it is doubtful if it is Good for Israel and the Peace?
rrostrom
2 years ago
It will be interesting to see if the United Arab List will stay in the government if there is another round of fighting in Gaza. As part of the government, they would be sharing responsibility for Israeli military actions and could be attacked as traitors to the Arab cause.
Kremlington Swan
2 years ago
I wouldn’t want to get involved in trying to understand Israeli politics, but I do think it is desirable for any electorate to be in a position to unseat a Prime Minister who has over-stayed his welcome.
Now all we need is a set of circumstances that enable us to the same thing here. Which is why I am rather more concerned about the prospect of replacing Starmer with a proper leader of the Labour Party (that’s ‘right wing’ to the skinny latté crowd), and the Labor Party as is with a Labour Party that someone with balls can vote for.
Last edited 2 years ago by Kremlington Swan
Andrew Fisher
2 years ago
It does seem that the Israeli electoral system is almost perversely designed to bring about instability. It is a good antidote to those who think a pure system of proportional representation is by definition the best electoral system. As it happens, I would favour the injection of more proportionality in the UK system, not least because of the grotesque underrepresentation of parties garnering millions of votes, notably the Lib Dems and UKIP (or at least that was the case a few years ago). However there ought to be thresholds to exclude tiny and completely unrepresentative parties holding the balance of power, as in Germany.
Whatever Netanyahu’s faults, this coalition of parties with completely incompatible world views seems destined to collapse.
Last edited 2 years ago by Andrew Fisher
Kathy Prendergast
2 years ago
People always say “it’s a great day for democracy” when their preferred candidate wins.
this orgasm will continue until the inevitable next Hamas rocket attack which will be followed by the retaliation that has marked EVERY Israeli govt, Labour or Likud.
for the first time in Israel’s history we will have an Arab party in a government coalition, a move towards inclusion of the more than two million Arab citizens of Israel. It’s curious how people who see this as a good thing – but cannot explain why – remain willfully ignorant to how the reverse never, ever happens. The fact is that the freest Arabs in the Middle East are the ones living in a Jewish state.
Exactly; how many Jewish parties are there in Arab states? There aren’t enough Jewish citizens in any of them to even form a party, even if it were allowed.
This article, like many on the Israeli issue, is utter nonsense .Bibi has been the democratically elected PM since 2009.How he can simultaneously be danger to democracy is beyond me.
You miss the point.
It was not the correct form of democracy!
Leftists always hate democracy when it works against them.
His friends worry that he will never retire; his enemies will do nearly everything to push him out. So they join forces in an unholy alliance to get him out. Maybe he will understand and throw his support to someone else then retire. But the unholy alliance is likely to tear apart quickly but last long enough to sideline Bibi for a period. Amazing politics at work.
The ‘democracy’ talking point has been a staple on the left on both sides of the pond for the past few years. It’s like trying to reason with a two-year old.
From an external view I am at a loss to see what this might achieve. I am genuinely inquisitive to learn other than removing the PM by rivals and claiming “democracy works” what is it that has driven this move in terms of internal politics?
Surly the overriding issue is international diplomacy and there is nothing good about; “although we can expect a stalemate in the peace negotiations, this government is unlikely to completely kill the idea of a two-state solution.” What is the point of a ceasefire if there are to be no negotiations? A government that parks this issue is a bad government. Lebanon is a great example of what a government of enemies can achieve.
We shall see, but journalists and commentators are always wrong about these things so I expect it will be a disaster.
A government that is inherently unstable is good for neither the Israelis or the Palestinians.
That Bennett has come a long way since leading the UK Green Party 🙂
Superficially yes, but it is doubtful if it is Good for Israel and the Peace?
It will be interesting to see if the United Arab List will stay in the government if there is another round of fighting in Gaza. As part of the government, they would be sharing responsibility for Israeli military actions and could be attacked as traitors to the Arab cause.
I wouldn’t want to get involved in trying to understand Israeli politics, but I do think it is desirable for any electorate to be in a position to unseat a Prime Minister who has over-stayed his welcome.
Now all we need is a set of circumstances that enable us to the same thing here. Which is why I am rather more concerned about the prospect of replacing Starmer with a proper leader of the Labour Party (that’s ‘right wing’ to the skinny latté crowd), and the Labor Party as is with a Labour Party that someone with balls can vote for.
It does seem that the Israeli electoral system is almost perversely designed to bring about instability. It is a good antidote to those who think a pure system of proportional representation is by definition the best electoral system. As it happens, I would favour the injection of more proportionality in the UK system, not least because of the grotesque underrepresentation of parties garnering millions of votes, notably the Lib Dems and UKIP (or at least that was the case a few years ago). However there ought to be thresholds to exclude tiny and completely unrepresentative parties holding the balance of power, as in Germany.
Whatever Netanyahu’s faults, this coalition of parties with completely incompatible world views seems destined to collapse.
People always say “it’s a great day for democracy” when their preferred candidate wins.