Netanyahu to Form Government

[Texas]

It looks like BiBi will be the new Israeli Prime Minister. I wonder how him and Obama will get along. It will also be interesting to see if his coalition will include only Right wing factions or if Kadima will agree to join the coalition.
One thing seems certain Israel will take a harder line against Hamas and Iran.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090220/ts_nm/us_israel_election_23

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners.

Such a coalition might create a stable, middle-of-the-road government immune to the sort of pressure from fringe parties that has hamstrung previous Israeli administrations.

 

[gdnp]

Livni has stated that she does not wish to be a fig leaf on a right wing Netanyahu administration. We shall see whether this was just rhetoric, or what Likud will offer Kadima in terms of real concessions to get their support.

As to signaling a harder line on Hamas...I'm not quite sure what that would entail. Israel won't talk with them, will not allow any funding or supplies to go through Hamas, and as best I can tell has killed or imprisoned every Hamas leader they can get their hands on.

As an aside, it is curious how little interest actual politics gets in the politics thread.

 

[hgc]

As an aside, it is curious how little interest actual politics gets in the politics thread.

Didn't Politics and Current Events used to be the same forum, before some reconfiguration? Old habits die hard.

 

[Texas]

Livni has stated that she does not wish to be a fig leaf on a right wing Netanyahu administration. We shall see whether this was just rhetoric, or what Likud will offer Kadima in terms of real concessions to get their support.

As to signaling a harder line on Hamas...I'm not quite sure what that would entail. Israel won't talk with them, will not allow any funding or supplies to go through Hamas, and as best I can tell has killed or imprisoned every Hamas leader they can get their hands on.

As an aside, it is curious how little interest actual politics gets in the politics thread.

I realize this isn't US politics but it is a political story.

 

[gdnp]

I agree. And in 24 hours it has gotten 2 replies, despite having major implications to the future of the middle east. But post that Israel has committed an atrocity and you'd be on page 3 by now.

 

[BPSCG]

I wonder how him and Obama will get along.

I'm sure him will get along with Obama just fine.

 

[BPSCG]

I agree. And in 24 hours it has gotten 2 replies, despite having major implications to the future of the middle east. But post that Israel has committed an atrocity and you'd be on page 3 by now.

We need to get some of the people who are more knowledgeable about Israeli politics into this thread - people like Webfusion, Skeptic, E.J. Armstrong...

To me, it sounds like it's a fragile coalition. Netanyahu evidently had to bring in some parties with some real outlier positions - one wants to allow civil marriages (Israel only recognizes religious ones), another wants Arab Israelis to be required to take loyalty oaths, another wants to see more West Bank settlements. Dunno how he's going to make this work.

 

[gdnp]

We need to get some of the people who are more knowledgeable about Israeli politics into this thread - people like Webfusion, Skeptic, E.J. Armstrong...

You left out Birdstrike. He was an expert on everything.

ETA: but I agree. In this case, I really would value the opinions of some Israeli residents.

 

[skepticalbeliever]

I think he will do what's best for the palestenians. I like that he is against "land for peace" deals don't work. The pull out of Gaza was a mistake as would be giving them more land. Instead he should focus o improving the economic lives of the pals as he said he would.

There just seems to be no reason to withdraw from Golan as Kadima would probably do. It has been reported that Syria is making chemical weapons.

 

[Texas]

We need to get some of the people who are more knowledgeable about Israeli politics into this thread - people like Webfusion, Skeptic, E.J. Armstrong...

To me, it sounds like it's a fragile coalition. Netanyahu evidently had to bring in some parties with some real outlier positions - one wants to allow civil marriages (Israel only recognizes religious ones), another wants Arab Israelis to be required to take loyalty oaths, another wants to see more West Bank settlements. Dunno how he's going to make this work.

I think Kadima will eventually join the coalition since there have been reports that many members do not want to be in opposition.

 

[a_unique_person]

I agree. And in 24 hours it has gotten 2 replies, despite having major implications to the future of the middle east. But post that Israel has committed an atrocity and you'd be on page 3 by now.

You have mutually incompatible partners, who loathe aspects of each others policies. Who knows what will happen.

 

[a_unique_person]

I think he will do what's best for the palestenians. I like that he is against "land for peace" deals don't work. The pull out of Gaza was a mistake as would be giving them more land. Instead he should focus o improving the economic lives of the pals as he said he would.

There just seems to be no reason to withdraw from Golan as Kadima would probably do. It has been reported that Syria is making chemical weapons.

The pullout from Gaza wasn't land for peace. It was a unilateral withdrawal purely due to resistance from the Palestinians. Pulling out like that only reinforced the supporters of violent resistance.

 

[Texas]

It looks like BiBi is reaching out to Kadima:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065925.html

Sources: Netanyahu to offer Livni 'full partnership' in gov't

By Mazal Mualem

Tags: tzipi livni, israel news

Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who is forming Israel's next government, is expected to offer his Kadima counterpart Tzipi Livni "full partnership" in a future cabinet, according to sources involved with the negotiations.

The sources said Likud is also offering that Kadima join it in drafting the framework for the government's policies.

 

[Texas]

The pullout from Gaza wasn't land for peace. It was a unilateral withdrawal purely due to resistance from the Palestinians. Pulling out like that only reinforced the supporters of violent resistance.

So Israel is damned either way. There is only one group that controls whether "resistance" continues and those are the resistors. The Palestinians would gain a lot of credibility if they renounce terrorism and accept Israels right to exist as part of a 2 state solution. Once done and if Israel violates its part of any agreement then many present supporters of Israel would re-think their support, me included.

 

[yairhol]

ETA: but I agree. In this case, I really would value the opinions of some Israeli residents.

There's not much we can say now. Even Kadima politicians are not united in regards to joining/not joining the Likud.
Bibi is offering Kadima the same number of governmental offices as the Likud + 2 out of 3 of the most important offices (treasury, security, foreign affairs).
My guess is that Kadima will not join the Likud and that there will be a minority government meaning less than 60 mandates in the government (far right parties will not be part of the government) but less than 60 available to vote against it.

 

[Beerina]

So what does that mean? Parliament actually has to vote on laws to see if they pass or not?

 

[a_unique_person]

So Israel is damned either way. There is only one group that controls whether "resistance" continues and those are the resistors. The Palestinians would gain a lot of credibility if they renounce terrorism and accept Israels right to exist as part of a 2 state solution. Once done and if Israel violates its part of any agreement then many present supporters of Israel would re-think their support, me included.

That would never stop this.

Daniella Weiss moved from Israel to the West Bank 33 years ago. She has been the mayor of a large settlement.

"I think that settlements prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel. This is the goal. And this is the reality," Weiss told 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/23/60minutes/main4749723.shtml



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/23/60minutes/main4749723.shtml

 

[gdnp]

There's not much we can say now. Even Kadima politicians are not united in regards to joining/not joining the Likud.
Bibi is offering Kadima the same number of governmental offices as the Likud + 2 out of 3 of the most important offices (treasury, security, foreign affairs).
My guess is that Kadima will not join the Likud and that there will be a minority government meaning less than 60 mandates in the government (far right parties will not be part of the government) but less than 60 available to vote against it.

So what does that mean? Parliament actually has to vote on laws to see if they pass or not?

I think it means that there are far right parties that will support the government but not formally be part of it. Correct me if I am wrong, yairhol.

 

[yairhol]

I think it means that there are far right parties that will support the government but not formally be part of it. Correct me if I am wrong, yairhol.

Of course this is just assumptions but if it goes the way I suspect then yes. Whenever there will be an attempt to overthrow the government by voting against it in the Knesset, the far right parties will vote against the overthrown thus leaving the majority of the Knesset in favor of the government and against the overthrown attempt. These parties will not be part of the government since I can't imagine Bibi allowing right wing extremists to sit in his government.
This situation will be extremely difficult for Bibi to maintain over a long period of time because these parties will use extortion to get the funding they would like for whatever causes they are fighting for. No funding, no backing up of the government in time of need.

 

[webfusion]

This will drag on for a while. Sit back in your easy chair, pop some popcorn and enjoy the media commentary. This is a regular ritual in Israel. Happens every two years or so. The last time was actually just last October.
(Yes, it must be recalled that Ms Livni was given the task of organizing a goverment coalition back in October of last year, and she failed, the result being these elections of Feb 10th).


Mr Netanyahu now has 28 days (from Friday 2-20) to present signed coalition agreements to President Peres, but could request an additional two weeks beyond that. He most likely will need every bit of the time allocated.

So, according to that schedule, by the beginning of April, all things should be clearer.

• Many observers believe Netanyahu wants to avoid a narrow coalition.
  
  Commentator Shalom Yerushalmi, writing Friday in the newspaper Maariv, said Netanyahu's previous stint as prime minister in the late 1990s featured the same sort of thin majority, which proved unsustainable.
  "Netanyahu swore that he would not make a narrow government again, and would never again be the prime minister of half the people," Yerushalmi wrote. "But today he is (likely to be) returning to the exact same situation."