Israeli Left Mocks ‘Bibi’s Bet on Romney’

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"As my colleague Alan Cowell reports, President Obama’s re-election could prove to be awkward for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, since the conservative Israeli leader “was widely perceived in Israel and the United States as having supported the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.”

Remarks by Mr. Netanyahu, in which he seemed to chastise Mr. Obama for not taking action to defend Israel from the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb, were used in a television ad that ran in Florida during the final weeks of the campaign. That ad was produced by a Republican political operative who has worked for the Israeli prime minister. (During the secretly recorded address Mr. Romney gave to wealthy donors in Florida this year, he boasted that consultants working for his election “work for Bibi Netanyahu in his races.”)

Several observers detected more than a little awkwardness in video of Mr. Netanyahu with the American ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, on Wednesday, in which he seemed to force a smile as he said, “I want to congratulate President Obama on his re-election.”

A former Israeli prime minister who could challenge Mr. Netanyahu in coming elections, Ehud Olmert, criticized what he called his rival’s failed attempt to interfere in the United States’ election as “a significant breach of the basic rules governing ties between nations.”

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/israeli-left-mocks-bibis-bet-on-romney/

[leveymg]

1. Bibi and Ehud are both damaged goods. They can't do better than that?

[Ken Burch]

3. Barak's new "party" may not win any seats at all

I'm guessing that, just to stay in the Knesset, Barak will end up begging Bibi to let him have a place on the Likud list. They pretty much agree on everything at this point, anyway.

He won't get to be defense minister anymore, though.

[azurnoir]

2. we won't be seeing the effect of President Obama's re-election on Israeli polls (if any)

for another week or so, should be interesting though

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Do you think there'll be any effect?

I'm not sure that what happens in the US affects how people in other countries vote in their own elections. Back during the Bush era there was talk here from political commentators on how a Labor PM would get on with Bush (the guess was not too well but they'd fake being nice), but people didn't vote based on who got on with or didn't get on with the US President. Generally the relationship between the countries remains pretty steady even if the respective leaders don't like each other, which seems to be the case with Obama and Nutty.

[bemildred]

5. FWIW:

Nobody really knows what happens here, this is new ground. I can draw half-a-dozen historical analogies, but it's still new, and Obama is definitely something new.

The important things at the moment are:

1.) The "Southern Strategy" is dead, i.e. guns, race, religion, and money is no longer enough. As some guy here said, LBJ is smiling down. I'm glad Jimmy C. is alive to see it too. He was the first to use the inclusive-populist-reformist rhetoric and WIN like this, in a long time, the first to get the obstructive treatment Obama got, and lose, he broke the ground. This is the fruits of a long struggle. The right went balls-out with the whole thing, "guns, race, religion, and money" and the MIghty Wurlitzer backing their play, and they lost everything there was to lose. This is what they used to do to the reform movements here to get them to go back to sleep, raise hopes, spend lots of time and money, and then lose bad. Ghosts have been exorcised, demons banished, and the rights threats are seen to be empty. I am sure there are large parts of the Republican Party that are anxious to get control back.

2.) Democrats are now clearly the majority party. I doubt we will give up our two party system soon, but I expect the roles will be adjusted somehow, and other political sacred cows will be on the table too.

3.) There is no more room on the right, if you want to distinguish yourself politically here, and win, you have to go left, and this is already happening at the local level, being a flaming populist redistributionist etc. etc. is now a paying proposition here again politically.

4.) I am very happy, I've been waiting for "the turning" a long time.

5.) It is a great blessing to have dumb enemies. It is a great curse to have dumb leaders.

[oberliner]

6. Popular video

Been posted, what, a half dozen times on DU?

Sure it's making the rounds at a lot of "other" sites too.