Israel's post-election shambles
I must be moving up in the world. I received this comment from Michael Fenenbock - normally he sends his material to Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs. Here's what Michael has to say about the Israeli elections. POST-ELECTION SHAMBLESA few comments.
Israel stands today in political shambles. Divided, in disarray and staring at gridlock.
The right wing advocates shout, "We won! Yeah for our side!". Left wing advocates shout, "We won! We stopped Bibi!".
Please. It's a shambles. And now the real circus begins.
The focus of my concern is the Israeli right. The left, presumably, has its own problems, but my concern is the Israeli right.
It's my take, but I view Israeli politicians as most adept at insider maneuvering… and posturing. In America we call it top-down politics. When it comes to election campaigns – bottom-up politics – Israeli politicians are mostly without a clue.
The election is over – no longer troubled by the need to consult the people – they return to their element. Now the real circus begins.
Spin the results. Make deals. Posture. This is "real" Israeli politics, not that business about go out to the voters.
In light of the election, what do we make of the Israeli right.
I confess I do not know what the heck defines the "Israeli right."
If Likud is partnering with Kadima, then is Likud still right? Or center? Or left? From day one Bibi and the Likud campaign rejected the right and positioned itself as far away as possible. They were ruthless in denying any and all association with the right.
How did the Moshe Feiglin experiment fare?
Call it centrist if you wish, call it smart political maneuvering if you like, call it political necessity, but for heaven's sake don't call it the Israeli right.
So, moving on. Is Lieberman the face of the Israeli right? Is there substance to Israel Beiteinu other than Lieberman? Is it anything more than just a cult of personality? I refuse to accept the idea that the fate of the Jewish people depends on the availability of pork chops in the market.
Still, Lieberman at least had a campaign message. And a compelling one. Why do Israeli Arabs receive such tender treatment while they betray the country?
Is Shas the Israeli right? Because they hang a "for sale" sign around their neck and they've never been shy about doing it.
United Torah Judaism? Jewish Home?
No, I think the closest thing to an Israeli right is NU and they deserve harsh criticism because they held the most promise and delivered the least.
The National Union folks are addicted to circular firing squad activities, personality clashes, and top-down backroom maneuvering. They ran a woeful campaign. "Look backwards in anger" should have been their slogan.
Serious political movements are forward looking. Most often elections are about the future.
And what bright light at the NU thought up the idea of an electoral list a mile and a half long with no women on it?
For the Israeli right in general the connective tissue between the people and politicians is severed. Posturing is not power. Posturing is bluffing. Being able to energize thousands of people, now that is real, not imaginary, power.
In the end, without working to achieve some semblance of "ground up" popular support, the Israeli right can do nothing but flounder like a carp out of water. Without people power the Israeli right is running on empty.
There has been a sea change in political campaigning over the last eight years or so. Defined by it's willingness to utilize 21st century technology, it's still in its infancy, but it has brought populism back and its adherents have great success. The best example of this success is President Obama's political campaign.
Remember, President Obama's election was not foreordained. It was in fact a big long shot. Mrs. Clinton had all the names, all the money, all the endorsements. She was a "done deal," the insider candidate with a top down, big name, political machine.
Obama, the outsider, had only one advantage – an unseen ocean of people connected via the internet. People power.
He restored the connective tissue between voters and their candidate, and he swept Clinton's top-down insider campaign aside like yesterday's flotsam.
In Israeli political circles lip service was paid to these new, but very old bedrock ideas, but they didn't get it. Besides, old habits die hard.
You know who I like? Ilan Cohen. He instinctively understands people power. He turned Shop Sderot into thousands of crusaders. But he isn't an insider.
Fans of democracy should know it's here to stay. People power will reinvigorate your cause, bring new faces, energy, zeal, money, and real power.
Listen my time is about up… so I'll end with this. If the "Obama style" model doesn't strike as quite right as a people power model, what about this. Lubavitch Chabad. Bottom up, fresh energized thousands of young Jews… the most decentralized "people power" force in Judaism.
I'm suggesting that the Israeli right start over with this premise in mind. A new beginning. Not just for a distant election cycle. Start now.
The truth shall make you free… "as a bird."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D196-oXw2k [YouTube link did not work. CiJ]
Michael Fenenbock
February 15, 2009
First, I agree with his assessment of Israel's right - politically it's not really Right (or if it is, they're ashamed to say so). The only party in the election that absolutely said no to a 'Palestinian' state was National Union.
I'm not aware of the genesis of Michael's harsh criticism of the National Union's campaign - perhaps because so much of the campaign took place below the radar screen. There is one point on which I think I know the answer and that's the question of women on the ticket. The day before the election National Union's leader, Yaakov Katz, went to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky - one of the most senior ultra-Orthodox Rabbis - and asked for and received his blessing.
Ketzeleh did this because National Union was making a pitch for the ultra-Orthodox vote (In Judaism, each letter has a numerical value known a Gematria. National Union's election symbol was the letter tet, whose numerical value is 9. United Torah Judaism's symbol was the letter gimmel, whose numerical value is 3. In ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem, there were hundreds of National Union brochures explaining how Gimmel + Gimmel + Gimmel = Tet), and they needed a blessing from someone of Rabbi Kanievsky's stature to make that pitch credible. It is doubtful that they would have gotten that blessing with a woman on the ticket. Neither Shas nor United Torah Judaism has any women on their tickets.
The reason it was worthwhile for National Union to make such an appeal is because the most right-wing voters in the country on Israel's security - believe it or not - are the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim or Charedim). They consistently poll higher than any other group in the country as being opposed to a 'Palestinian' state and to territorial concessions. Yes, higher than the national religious crowd.
I agree with Fenenbock on Moshe Feiglin (and I know at least one frequent commenter who will disagree). Until Netanyahu pushed Feiglin from 20 to 36 on the slate, I thought that Feiglin had a chance of taking over the Likud from within. I no longer believe that. I believe that every time he gets close, the powers that be will find a way to push him back. The Likud is not a religious party (despite the number of kipot (skullcaps) at every event) and it has no interest in becoming one. I believe that Feiglin would better serve his public by taking them and combining them with a like-minded party (National Union seems an obvious choice) to try to build something from the ground up.
I'm sure this post will get lots of reactions. Have fun guys.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:58 PM
8 Comments:
Here's Mr. "I Disagree." :)
Manhigut Yehudit is not out to make the Likud into a religious party. I suggest you read (re-read) Manhigut Yehudit's Jewish State Guidelines. Manhigut isn't interested in a sectarian party.
Try as they might, the chronies at the top of the Likud will not always succeed in being able to legally move Moshe Feiglin down the list.
What they do seem to be successful at doing is convincing an otherwise excellent population of voters to have no patience and forget about investing time and effort in changing our country dramatically.
And the left is laughing.
National Union (and its predecessors) has not done very well, to say the least, because they are very much a sectarian party.
If they were to successfully change their campaign strategy and marketing they could (or could have in the past) caused a real shift. They cater almost exclusively to the Yesh"a/J'lem crowd, who send their sons to Yeshivot Teichnoiyot and then Hesder.
Even if they insisted on staying a religious movement they could take a lot of votes away from Likud - and creating a actual right wing powerful party. The way I see it -they nearly ignore the religious communities in the southern ayarot pituach and in the center (except for givat shmuel).
They could also go after the "Shabbat morning on shul and go to the soccer game in the afternoon" crowd. A good political campaign could sway that huge portion of society their way - imagine if the shuk were a NU center of power, instead of Likud...
And that's without reaching to the Israeli public at large...
The national religious are going nowhere unless they find a way to bring in traditional and secular voters. There just not enough voters in that camp to allow them to become a mid-sized party. To build one requires trade-offs and that means compromise. If all the voters agreed with you, it wouldn't be necessary but it and Israel is not going to become a strictly Orthodox Jewish State in this generation or the next one. That's the cold water thrown on the prospect of Israel being able to usher in the imminent arrival of the Messiah.
Norman - exactly. I remember throughout the mid to late 1990s during all the big demonstrations, one thing people kept looking for was secular Israelis. And until the "national camp" is able to reach out and get people who don't believe the mashiach is around the corner - it's doomed to the sidelines...
So then this One in Washington is not The Messiah?
LB,
"If they were to successfully change their campaign strategy and marketing they could (or could have in the past) caused a real shift. They cater almost exclusively to the Yesh"a/J'lem crowd, who send their sons to Yeshivot Teichnoiyot and then Hesder."
Not in my neighborhood.
And by the way, Aryeh Eldad (number 2 on NU's list) is not religious.
Nomanf, LB, how many times will right wingers fall right into the exact same Leftist trap of "moderating" our positions in order to bring in the "centrist" votes. It never works and in the long term completely undermines the nationalist positions.
This very fallacy, which you are calling, saying the NU could bring in more voters by throwing away some principles is the exact reason why the Likud of today is to the left of the Labor of 20 years ago.
Carl - "Not in my neighborhood." I don't understand - that doesn't describe your neighborhood and yet they still vote NU? Or do you not think they could get votes in your neighborhood?
kahaneloyalist - I'm not calling for "'moderating' our positions in order to bring in the 'centrist' votes." I'm only talking about changing campaign strategy in order to get people who don't view themselves in the same social group as the "Machane HaLeumi."
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