Binyamin Netanyahu: a parable of modern populism

[Anonymous]

Exactly



Netanyahu appears on track for victory despite tied result



Major parties neck and neck but incumbent has path to form majority government with right-wing allies



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/10/israel-election-netanyahu-appears-on-track-for-victory-despite-tied-result">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... ied-result">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/10/israel-election-netanyahu-appears-on-track-for-victory-despite-tied-result

Israelis know what they are getting.

[Wazzzup]

Its official Netanyahu wins



Israel's Netanyahu wins re-election with parliamentary majority: tally

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-isra ... SKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K

[Anonymous]

Its official Netanyahu wins



Israel's Netanyahu wins re-election with parliamentary majority: tally

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-isra ... SKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K

Despite what the left thinks of him,Netanyahu represents stability. The markets love that.

[Anonymous]

Its official Netanyahu wins



Israel's Netanyahu wins re-election with parliamentary majority: tally

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-isra ... SKCN1RL00K">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-election/israels-netanyahu-secures-election-victory-israeli-tv-channels-idUSKCN1RL00K

 ac_drinks

[Gaon]

After months of heated campaigning, Israeli voters decided to change very little. With most of the votes counted the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has won a fifth term in office in an election on April 9th. His Likud party tied with Blue and White, a centre-left party led by Benny Gantz, a former army chief. Both had about 27% of the vote. But the right-wing and religious bloc, of which Likud is a part, won a combined 53%.



That will give it a majority, probably with 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament), the same number it holds now. With several parties perched close to the 3.25% threshold to enter the Knesset, the results are still fluid. (Two have demanded a recount.) But Mr Gantz does not appear to have a viable coalition, nor a way to stop Mr Netanyahu from forming one.



fter months of heated campaigning, Israeli voters decided to change very little. With most of the votes counted the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has won a fifth term in office in an election on April 9th. His Likud party tied with Blue and White, a centre-left party led by Benny Gantz, a former army chief. Both had about 27% of the vote. But the right-wing and religious bloc, of which Likud is a part, won a combined 53%.



That will give it a majority, probably with 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament), the same number it holds now. With several parties perched close to the 3.25% threshold to enter the Knesset, the results are still fluid. (Two have demanded a recount.) But Mr Gantz does not appear to have a viable coalition, nor a way to stop Mr Netanyahu from forming one.



 Turnout was 68%, about four points lower than in 2015. Parties that cater to Arab citizens received just 328,000 votes, a 26% drop.



In another sign of Likud's rough nationalist tilt, one of the new Knesset members celebrating her election was May Golan, an activist who led the campaign to deport African refugees from Israel. In the past Ms Golan failed to enter the Knesset as a candidate of the racist Jewish Power party. Now she will sit with the ruling party.

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/11/binyamin-netanyahu-has-won-a-fifth-term?cid1=cust/dailypicks/n/bl/n/20190410n/owned/n/n/dailypicks/n/n/NA/226092/n">https://www.economist.com/middle-east-a ... A/226092/n">https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/11/binyamin-netanyahu-has-won-a-fifth-term?cid1=cust/dailypicks/n/bl/n/20190410n/owned/n/n/dailypicks/n/n/NA/226092/n



Congratulations Bibi.

[cc]

lookin good

[Anonymous]

After months of heated campaigning, Israeli voters decided to change very little. With most of the votes counted the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has won a fifth term in office in an election on April 9th. His Likud party tied with Blue and White, a centre-left party led by Benny Gantz, a former army chief. Both had about 27% of the vote. But the right-wing and religious bloc, of which Likud is a part, won a combined 53%.



That will give it a majority, probably with 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament), the same number it holds now. With several parties perched close to the 3.25% threshold to enter the Knesset, the results are still fluid. (Two have demanded a recount.) But Mr Gantz does not appear to have a viable coalition, nor a way to stop Mr Netanyahu from forming one.



fter months of heated campaigning, Israeli voters decided to change very little. With most of the votes counted the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has won a fifth term in office in an election on April 9th. His Likud party tied with Blue and White, a centre-left party led by Benny Gantz, a former army chief. Both had about 27% of the vote. But the right-wing and religious bloc, of which Likud is a part, won a combined 53%.



That will give it a majority, probably with 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament), the same number it holds now. With several parties perched close to the 3.25% threshold to enter the Knesset, the results are still fluid. (Two have demanded a recount.) But Mr Gantz does not appear to have a viable coalition, nor a way to stop Mr Netanyahu from forming one.



 Turnout was 68%, about four points lower than in 2015. Parties that cater to Arab citizens received just 328,000 votes, a 26% drop.



In another sign of Likud's rough nationalist tilt, one of the new Knesset members celebrating her election was May Golan, an activist who led the campaign to deport African refugees from Israel. In the past Ms Golan failed to enter the Knesset as a candidate of the racist Jewish Power party. Now she will sit with the ruling party.

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/11/binyamin-netanyahu-has-won-a-fifth-term?cid1=cust/dailypicks/n/bl/n/20190410n/owned/n/n/dailypicks/n/n/NA/226092/n">https://www.economist.com/middle-east-a ... A/226092/n">https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/11/binyamin-netanyahu-has-won-a-fifth-term?cid1=cust/dailypicks/n/bl/n/20190410n/owned/n/n/dailypicks/n/n/NA/226092/n



Congratulations Bibi.

Netanyahu appeals to the right to scare them about the left. In our province, the NDP government can't defend their horrendous record and is demonizing the opposition as intolerant bigots(even thought the UCP is more diverse than the dippers) and it's working.

[Gaon]

What I haven't mentioned in this thread is the rise of the religious right in Israel. My party, Yisrael Beiteinu is secular and it's voters are predominantly Russian. We would like to see social welfare benefits for ultra-orthodox who study the torah instead of work, cut or better yet, eliminated. We want them to do their compulsory military service that they are exempt from. They captured more than three times the number of seats of the once all powerful Labor Party. They don't contribute to Israeli society, they have 4-10 kids and they want to use the law to ban certain activities on the sabbath. Those nutty Zionists are part of the reason I am here. They, not Arabs, will be the end of Israel.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it's tied to the rise of religious fundamentalism or not, but I read that right wing politics is popular among young Israelis.

[cc]

Significant and even surprising is that left got a mere 5% of the total vote

[Anonymous]

Significant and even surprising is that left got a mere 5% of the total vote

 

[Gaon]

Bibi will have up to 42 days to form a government. If he fails, the president asks another politician to try.



Past coalition negotiations have dragged on. Smaller parties will demand cabinet seats, and will have their own financial and legislative demands to fulfil campaign promises made to their own voters. Netanyahu will have to balance these against his own party's priorities.

https://tmsnrt.rs/2D916Uv">

[Gaon]

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin from Likud and Oded Forer of Yisrael Beytenu, both heading their respective parties' negotiation teams, met at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan for several hours.



The sides failed to come to any agreement and said they would meet again at a later date.



The most thorny issue is expected to be legislation regulating — and limiting — exemptions to military conscription for ultra-Orthodox students, which the secularist Liberman is insisting should be passed without amendment, while ultra-Orthodox parties have said they will not join the coalition if it is advanced without changes. Both Yisrael Beytenu and the ultra-Orthodox are essential for Netanyahu if he is to assemble a governing coalition with a majority of at least 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.



Liberman has backed Netanyahu as the next premier, cementing the right-wing coalition at 65 seats. But his party holds five of those seats, just enough to bring Netanyahu to the brink of collapse if he leaves the coalition — as he did in November in a spat over what he said were disagreements with the prime minister's Gaza policy, shrinking Netanyahu's coalition at the time to just 61 seats.



Liberman on Saturday reiterated that his party would not join a coalition led by Netanyahu unless his demands are met on security, immigration, and religion and state issues, in a government likely to be dominated by the religious right.



Liberman, whose base of supporters is largely made up of secular immigrants from the former Soviet Union, campaigned on opposing "religious coercion," and supports public transportation and allowing mini-markets to remain open on Shabbat, in addition to ending the Chief Rabbinate's control over marriage and divorce, and passing the enlistment bill.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/yisrael-beytenu-likud-officials-powwow-as-coalition-talks-kick-off/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/yisrael-b ... -kick-off/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/yisrael-beytenu-likud-officials-powwow-as-coalition-talks-kick-off/

The right wing coalition could be in a little trouble. My party, Yisrael Beieinu, has demands that are unacceptable to the religious parties.

[Gaon]

Poll: Two-thirds of Israeli Jews support unity government without Haredi parties

Survey conducted by pluralism advocacy NGO indicates majority of Jewish public wants government that will change status quo on issues of religion and state



Over two-thirds of Israeli Jews want the ongoing coalition talks to end with a unity government that excludes the ultra-Orthodox parties and advances religious pluralism, according to a public opinion poll published Tuesday.



Sixty-six percent of the Jewish public prefers a government that includes the two largest parties — Likud and Blue and White (which both won 35 seats in April 9's elections) — and that leaves out the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, a poll conducted by the Hiddush organization for religious pluralism found, as opposed to 34% of Jewish Israelis who support a more narrow coalition, including the ultra-Orthodox parties and maintaining the status quo on issues of religion and state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to form a 65-strong coalition including the two ultra-Orthodox parties; Blue and White is set to lead the opposition.



The numbers favoring a unity government were highest among Blue and White voters — at an overwhelming 98%. Eighty-four percent of Yisrael Beytenu voters also expressed support for a government devoid of ultra-Orthodox parties — indicative of chairman Avigdor Liberman's ardent support for secular policies such as civil marriage and public transportation on Shabbat. Some 55% of Likud voters also support such a unity government, according to the poll.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-two-thirds-of-israelis-support-unity-government-without-haredi-parties/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-two- ... i-parties/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-two-thirds-of-israelis-support-unity-government-without-haredi-parties/



I could get behind this if the Blue and White would put aside some of their more leftist ideas on immigration and expanding the civil service.

[Anonymous]

How much trouble is Bibi in?





JERUSALEM — Two weeks after fighting and failing to win an election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced trouble on a second front on Wednesday at legal hearings to decide whether he must face trial for corruption.

Attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit has already said he intends to file criminal charges against Netanyahu in high-profile cases that have dominated Israeli headlines for years.

But at a series of pre-trial hearings Netanyahu's lawyers are arguing that prosecutors should not press charges in three graft cases.

Israel's longest-serving leader denies any wrongdoing.

But he has fought two inconclusive parliamentary elections this year under the shadow of allegations that opponents seized upon, waving "Crime Minister" banners at political rallies.

His chief opponent, former general Benny Gantz, said he would not serve in a cabinet led by a prime minister who faces indictment.

Netanyahu says he is the victim of a politically orchestrated "witch-hunt" by the media and the left to oust him from office.