When the chief political correspondent of Ha'aretz says that the Israeli elections have produced a "big mess," you know there's trouble. And that's how Akiva Eldar put it during an interview conducted shortly after exit polls indicated that Tzipi Livni and her centrist Kadima party won 28 Knesset seats to the 26 won by Likud, led by hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu. (Likud ended up winning 27 seats.) You can hear the interview here.
Eldar said he was "confused" by the results, which place tipping-point power in the hands of ultra-hardliner Avigdor Lieberman's radical right/rabid nationalist party, Yisrael Belteinu, which won 15 seats. (Labor finished fourth with 13 seats.) But Eldar did note that these results had a slightly positive element, given that Netanyahu and Likud had been predicted to place first: "The good news is that Tzipi Livni [who supports negotiating toward a two-state solution]...ended up with a couple of more Knesset seats than Netanyahu. That's a big surprise." But it seems unlikely she will be able to form a government. One possible--probable?--outcome is a government dominated by Netanyahu, who will owe plenty to Lieberman and his fanatics. "The next government," Eldar noted, "will have to include the...radical right party [and] that will paralyze it." Translation: there will be no peace process.
But Eldar saw another small--make that, very small--bit of good news in that.
An Israeli government that abandons negotiations would probably run into trouble with the Obama administration. And, Eldar added, he is "not sure how long this government will be able to survive if they will try to avoid consultation with the administration in Washington....Governments in Israel...can survive wars with the Arabs....but the Israeli public does not tolerate confrontation with the United States."
That would seem to place President Barack Obama in a position of great influence. How he responds to a just-say-no Israeli government will have much to do with the future prospects of that government. And in the Israeli parliamentary system, governments can come and go quickly. So another big challenge has been plopped on Obama's plate. But if Eldar is right, Obama does have a significant say in who's in charge in Israel. To keep his promise of an active effort to resolve the Mideast conflict, it now appears Obama will have to use that power.
UPDATE: At Wednesday's daily White House briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked for Obama's reaction to the Israeli elections. "Obviously," he said, "we congratulate the Israelis on another successful election." He added that the president "looks forward to working with whoever makes up that next Israeli government in the search for a lasting and durable peace."
This was first posted at MotherJones.com. You can follow my postings and media appearances via Twitter by clicking here.
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Comments
""you know there's trouble.""
ha. real trouble is blockading and starving an entire region (gaza) of people for several months before unleashing a campaign of indiscriminate slaughter against them.
real trouble is the western world pretending that the aggressors are merely "defending themselves".
""Obama Will Have To Exert Political Muscle in Israel""
ha. black bush will continue to kiss the evil israeli ass just like all the bushes before him.
Posted by: as_if!
| February 11, 2009 12:53 PM
israel holds the world record for the number of homes it has demolished:
60,000+
israel holds the world record for the number of towns & villages it has ethnically cleasned:
500+
israel has killed more innocent civilians per capita than any other country:
50,000+
NOT SO COOL FACTS ABOUT ISRAEL
http://tinyurl.com/bk4e8r
Posted by: as_if!
| February 11, 2009 2:16 PM
Letter to the New York Times December 4, 1948 signed by Albert Einstein and other prominent Jews
http://tinyurl.com/azw3wl
"".......The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party, and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a �Leader State� is the goal.
In the light of the foregoing considerations, it is imperative that the truth about Mr. Begin and his movement be made known in this country. It is all the more tragic that the top leadership of American Zionism has refused to campaign against Begin�s efforts, or even to expose to its own constituents the dangers to Israel from support to Begin.
The undersigned therefore take this means of publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and his party; and of urging all concerned not to support this latest manifestation of fascism. ""
Posted by: as_if!
| February 11, 2009 2:41 PM
"One million Arabs are not worth a single Jewish fingernail."
--Rabbi Ya'acov Perin in his eulogy at the funeral of mass murderer Dr. Baruch Goldstein.
"I am a zionist!"
--VP Joe Biden
Posted by: as_if!
| February 11, 2009 2:43 PM
Fox News Producer Arrested For Child Pornography
A Fox News Channel producer has been arrested and arraigned on child pornography charges in a federal courthouse in Washington.
Aaron Bruns appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington. According to charging documents, investigators say Bruns had been sharing pornography on a social networking Web site.
http://tinyurl.com/bpdc7g
what a shock.
Posted by: as_if!
| February 11, 2009 2:49 PM
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