Netanyahu government / No sense of democracy in action

[IndianaGreen]

Last update - 03:29 01/04/2009

Netanyahu government / No sense of democracy in action

By Aluf Benn

The guest seats in the Knesset plenum are taken by relatives of the outgoing and incoming prime ministers, families of captive and missing soldiers and a few Jewish-American millionaires - including Ron Lauder, Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, Morton Zuckerman and a representative of Rupert Murdoch - here to celebrate with Netanyahu on his return to power. No one bothered to provide the latter with English translations of the speeches. The atmosphere is far from festive, the plenum half-empty. There's no sense of history in the making, democracy in action, but rather of a long and weary journey coming to an end.

<snip>

But the heckles are just the warmup act to Livni's first speech as leader of the opposition. The former foreign minister who exhausted listeners with long foreign policy sermons turned out Tuesday to be a true lioness. She lit into Netanyahu with a scathing attack, chastising him for betraying the economic principles that he himself preached by bloating the government with "ministers of nothing and deputy ministers of naught." She refers to coalition agreements "cooked up in dark corners even before the election," hinting at political cooperation between Netanyahu and Shas, which denied her the premiership after Olmert stepped down.

Livni attacked Shas as a sectarian party encouraging unemployment and corruption, and criticized the handing of law enforcement portfolios to a party whose chairman is under criminal investigation (Avigdor Lieberman).

But the real insults were saved for Ehud Barak, "the man who built his political wealth through fundraising for nonprofits and his personal wealth through his political connections." In a neat piece of timing, Barak happens to leave the hall just before this part in her speech, returning just as it ends, even shaking her hand with no apparent after she left the podium.

Livni is trying to position herself as a fighting opposition, stalwart of principle and law against the opportunists. She wants to ride the crest of public discontent with Netanyahu's bloated government, to challenge its legitimacy and shorten its days. The new role suits her, and she has the energy and motivation for a fight. But if she maintains such verbal volleys, she will have few political friends and partners, even if Netanyahu comes tumbling down.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1075351.html

[Jefferson23]

1. I feel an urge to set my DVR in case there are any skirmishes that get physical.

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days Of Our Yahu's

[aquart]

2. So?

It's a parliamentary government. The left pulled out so the right went further right. What's the big deal? It IS functioning democracy. It just isn't your dreamy ideal of sweetness and light.

I'd say "Grow up" but your agenda has nothing to do with democracy for Israel.

[LeftishBrit]

4. The left pulled out?

Kadima isn't the left; the smaller left-wing parties have never been part of the coalition; and the last I heard, the Labour Party *had* agreed to be part of the coalition. Or am I wrong on the latter?

[Mosby]

10. your correct

5 Labor MKs were given portfolios, including Barak as defense minister

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Think back to what Bush did to US democracy...it's not too long ago..

Can't recall you popping up with any posts looking very much like a defence of the new very RW govt, and hell, the US didn't even have a fascist like Lieberman in any posts....

But thank you for the stirring defence of Nutty's govt. It was amusing what lengths people will go to in order to 'defend' Israel at all costs...

[oberliner]

6. Think back to the Hamas victory in the Palestinian legislative elections

Although most posters here agreed that Hamas was not the sort of organization that progressives would embrace, many argued that they ought to be given a chance to govern and many lamented the way that the international community shunned their government.

Personally, I am very saddened to see this RW governing coalition elected in Israel. In addition to holding right-wing views, they appear to be a rather dysfunctional group.

Perhaps the voices calling for a two-state solution will be too powerful to ignore, even for this group. They've got the leader of the opposition in Israel, who actually won the most seats, the President of Israel, and countless human rights group within Israel unequivocally expressing their support for a Palestinian state. Perhaps even more significant will be the calls from leaders outside Israel, most notably President Obama, who share that goal and can bring their influence to bear on the situation.

From everything I know about Netanyahu, I cannot imagine him possibly arguing for any significant withdrawal of settlements in the West Bank so this may all be wishful thinking of the most naive kind.

I do, however, want to give this crew a chance to surprise me. If they ignore the voices of peace and reconciliation (as expected) then I hope their tenure is short-lived and that they are quickly replaced by a coalition that will move immediately towards a real and lasting two-state solution.

[Violet_Crumble]

7. But the OP wasn't arguing that Nutty and his crew shouldn't govern...

And the poster I was replying to was responding with a fair level of vitriol to an article that wasn't doing anything but being critical of the new government. Personally I feel very similarly about the election of Hamas as I do about the election of the new Israeli govt. Give them a chance, hope they don't last long, and don't be surprised when they don't come through with anything much that indicates any real interest in peace...

I think what it's very safe to say is that right now Fatah is the only ones out of themselves, Hamas and the new Israeli govt that do support a genuine two-state solution and that situation unfortunately might last a few more years...

[oberliner]

8. Agree on all points nt

[LeftishBrit]

11. All good points

When it comes to a genuine interest in peace, I don't have much faith in either Hamas or Likud.

Hoping for real changes on both sides!

[geek tragedy]

9. Leave Bibi aloooooooone! n/t

[Sezu]

12. Funny how some posters on a forum called DEMOCRATIC

Underground seem to have no concept what a democracy really is.

[LeftishBrit]

13. To clarify...

the article wasn't saying that Israel isn't a democracy. The sentence, from which the title was taken, was "There's no sense of history in the making, democracy in action, but rather of a long and weary journey coming to an end."

It's a jaded view of this particular government and parliament, where there is of course a very uneasy coalition.

I do think that Israeli democracy might work better if the system were less based on pure PR - just as I think that British democracy might work better if the system were less at the other extreme, based on pure 'first past the post'.

[LeftishBrit]

3. I hope this government does not last long

Obviously, Livni is gambling her career on the likelihood that it won't. I don't know how she'd be as PM, but almost anyone has to be better than Netanyahu. (Well, not Lieberman.)