Election Thoughts Part 1

I have promised to write a bit about the elections here in Israel. It is a very complicated subject and not so easy to come to logical and effective conclusions. I have decided to break up the election discussion into at least two separate blogs. Part 1 as more of an overview, and Part 2 some specifics. In addition I will add updated and pertinent information as we move closer to Tuesday.

But to begin with, it needs to be said that we have been longing for elections - the whole of Israel - for a very long time. Since the Ariel Sharon fiasco and how he betrayed the electorate that voted in his party, to the continuum of what he did that is the current cadre of irresponsible "leaders", we are longing to rid ourselves of this seemingly never ending farce. These are not leaders, but corrupt heads of parties, and the trio of Olmert, Livni and Barak - the "three stooges" as they are called here - are held in disdain by the entire country for their lack of moral fiber and leadership, for their willingness to always put personal ambition ahead of the needs of the nation, for their folly in going to war with no intent to finish it or win, risking and losing the lives of our precious young men and women in uniform, for leaving the residents of the south alone to face the barrage of daily rockets for years on end....and on and on.

But, Israeli politics, alas how to explain it....even more, how to understand it. It's not democratic as in America, it's not parliamentarian as in Britain. Parties are elected, not people, and whomever is the head of the party which receives the most seats (not direct votes but seats determined by number of votes) is the prime minister. Each party has a list of candidates, and if a party receives 10 seats, e.g., theoretically the first 10 people on that party's list get a Knesset seat. Theoretically.

The problem of course is that people are "moved around and manipulated" for various reasons, some totally "legal", but the result is that the Prime Minister really does have control over the Knesset seats, and of course, his cabinet. And because he has the authority to remove anyone not agreeing with him, well...you can fill in the blanks. No one in the government is responsible to an electorate, only to the party. And to remain in the government a Knesset member must really shift with the party agenda, even if it ends up being diametrically opposed to what it stood for when elected by the people as was the case with Ariel Sharon.

Pretty bleak sounding, eh? It is.

If you are reading this blog you are probably already aware of the political landscape for this election, or know at least some of the major players. Kadima, Olmert's party being now headed by Livni, and Labor, headed by Barak are still led by two of the "three stooges", and not doing very well in the polls of course. Bibi Netanyahu, leader of Likud is either loved or hated, but is expected to win this election. However, some dramatic action on the playing field makes me wonder about that popular assessment.

First is that Avigdor Leiberman of Yisrael Beiteinu, is rising rapidly in the polls, and may upset the Likud lead because many more right wing Israelis are supporting the Russian Leiberman, even though there is much controversty surrounding him.

Parties like the Haredi Shas and the Bayit Yehudi, (Jewish Home), NRP (National Religious Party) and others remain stable as to their positioning from previous elections. Shas of course, is a larger party and garners many seats - 16-17 excpected in this election. Their biggest issues are monies for education and child support and because of their large number of seats will be courted by any party who gets in the top slot.

There are various small parties and the up and coming one for the national camp is the revitalized Ichud Leumi (National Union). Ichud Leumi is made up of both secular and religious Zionists, is the combination of four Zionist parties, and made up of some very fine people in my opinion. It, like Yisrael Beiteinu, threatens the wide lead that Likud enjoys at present because many of the people migrating to Ichud Leumi would have voted for Likud.

I want to say that I think the leaders of Ichud Leumi are men of high moral character, men who are known for their overwhelming support of Israel and loyalty to it's founding principles. Men like Arieh Eldad, and Uri Ariel are tireless workers and supporters of Eretz Yisrael and well known and trusted in the national camp. Newer names to many, like Uri Bank, an American oleh of many years and the well known (but not in the political arena before now) Yaakov (Ketzelah) Katz, founder of Beit El and Arutz Sheva and the man who has assumed the IL leadership, are all outstanding men.

You would think, that I, as a national camp person, would be thrilled to finally have someone or a party for whom to vote, and in some ways I am, but I am not entirely convinced that voting for Ichud Leumi is the way to go. Most of my compatriots are thrilled, excepting those who are part of the Feiglin camp (who is in Likud) and they will probably, though not assuredly, remain loyal to him. Without elaborating on that subject, I need to say however, that I am definitely NOT a Feiglin supporter, in any way shape or form.

So what's the problem? To be very frank, I think there are several problems which I will address in Part 2...thoughtfully.