Posted on 04/25/2012 1:22:08 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
Many supporters of Israel are bedeviled by a glaring contradiction in Israeli political life. How can it be that, regardless of which party wins an election, leftist policies are invariably implemented?
Since 1977 Likud has won several elections based on a platform of a Greater Israel. Nevertheless, it was under Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin that the entire Sinai was relinquished.
There are many other substantive examples of leftist policies routinely supplanting right-wing electoral successes, but two in particular stand out:
1. Likud’s Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister on February 6, 2001 by a landslide margin. His win should have handed Sharon a mandate to govern from the right, regardless of outside pressures.
However, the policies of appeasement were in full swing during Sharon’s first year in office. The hawkish general nicknamed “the Bulldozer” was nowhere to be found as the Second Intifada raged.
It was only after Arab suicide bombings became more and more brazen and the death toll became intolerable to the general public that Operation Defensive Shield was belatedly launched on March 29, 2002.
2. Similarly, Sharon, who earlier in his career had been dubbed the “settlement builder,” executed the wholesale destruction of Gush Katif and communities in the northern Shomron, uprooting thousands of Jews from their homes.
The expulsion/destruction took place despite a Likud-led referendum (held only after a massive nationalist outcry) that should have halted the push toward “disengagement.” Sharon had promised to abide by the referendum but did no such thing.
How can this be? How can the wishes of an overwhelming majority of the electorate be so disregarded? How can leftist policies be implemented regardless of the preferences of most Israelis?
Israeli political scientist Dr. Martin Sherman, founder of the Israeli Institute for Strategic Studies, has written, “Although the right wing consistently wins elections, it never really gets into power. It is a phenomenon that can only be explained by the existence of some influence extraneous to the political system that imposes policy outcomes that diverge radically from those that should be expected from regular operation of political routine.”
Few understand just how pernicious an influence Israel’s ruling elites (many of whose institutions and endeavors are funded and fueled by foreign NGOs) have on virtually every aspect of Israeli public life. Unelected functionaries in the media, arts, and academia act as cheerleaders and enablers for rulings imposed by a generally left-wing court system. In turn, pressure is exerted on the political leadership to implement the court’s dictates.
Indeed, in a very real sense Israel’s court system has supplanted its legislature, a phenomenon I addressed in a July 22, 2011 Jewish Press op-ed article (“Justice in the Holy Land: Is It Ideologically Driven?”).
Israel’s policymaking and electoral system (one piggybacking on the other) must be overhauled. It is no doubt a Herculean task. Nevertheless, instead of lamenting that nothing can be done, those who care about Israel’s future must shoulder the burden. An accurate articulation of the situation, coupled with nation-saving policy strategies, can be found at Dr. Sherman’s policy institute site (www.martinsherman.net).
If all lovers of Zion were to become involved in fighting the hold exerted by unelected leftists on Israeli civic and political life, Israeli policies would finally reflect the will of the country’s non-leftist majority.
Adina Kutnicki comments on Israel-related issues for various media outlets. She made aliyah in 2008.
Ping to the old Noachide list.
Ping to the other list as well. My apologies to those whose name is on both lists, but I just wanted a wide readership for this article. I apologize if it’s already been posted.
This happens all across the Western world as well as Israel. I’m going to guess that it relates to John O’Sullivans law about organizations and bureacracy; That the longer these org.’s are in power, the more they drift to the left. I can only surmise that it springs from a desire to not only justify remaining relevant but to attempt to “perfect” society.
Sounds like what happens here in the USA, ... with the glaring exception of President Reagan, most of the politicians voted into office turn out to be lefties in a lot of ways.
No, I believe it has more to do with the maintenance of power and position. Leftist policy not only consolidates power and position within government, but protects it as well. People don’t want to give up their careers, their position, their income and have to find something new to do for those things - thus they consolidate power and protect their empires.
It’s why Jesse and Al work so hard to keep racism alive.
NWO, Space Aliens, One Party the Party of Satan? I got nothing!
Snip: It is not banned as such in Germany but since the end of World War II, Bavaria — which holds the rights until the end of 2015 — has not permitted reprints.
From 2016, third parties will be able to release copies of the work without obtaining permission from the state “unless it is used to incite racial hatred,” Soeder said.
Since 1977 Likud has won several elections based on a platform of a Greater Israel. Nevertheless, it was under Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin that the entire Sinai was relinquished.See? They'd better vote for the leftists. /s
I don't think that's the point he's making at all. He's scratching his head over the almost universal phenomenon of conservative electees governing as liberals while no liberal electee would think of governing as a conservative.
Menachem Begin, who was labeled a "fascist" by Jewish opponents even after World War II (they circulated a petition against his coming to America) actually began the current dismemberment of Israel by giving Egypt the Sinai.
Good gravy! What would a theoretical Prime Minister `Avraham Stern done . . . given them Jerusalem???
What happens to all the "right wingers" once they get into power???
Israelis want peace. The Sinai had been seized from Egypt, and Begin traded it for a peace treaty which, while never fully implemented, has done its basic job — no war with Egypt, and normalized diplomatic relations, travel to and from — and the price was a wedge of basically useless desert. The only purpose for Israel to retain the Sinai (and it turned out to be hard bloody work when the Egyptians put their minds to taking it back) was as a buffer zone, a concept that only has significance nowadays for the handful of countries as small as Israel (those which are not islands that is).
So, yes, “left and right are the same” is the point he’s making.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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“It is a phenomenon that can only be explained by the existence of some influence extraneous to the political system that imposes policy outcomes that diverge radically from those that should be expected from regular operation of political routine.”
Ok... he makes a correct observation, but then he draws an incorrect conclusion. An outside force is pressuring Israel to make leftist policy decisions, no matter which regime is in power. However, that outside force is not simply the political elite in Israel, it’s the entire international leftist apparatus that applies pressure to Israel’s government. Leading that charge, of course, is the US government. We’ve been pressuring them to make concessions to their enemies since before I was born, and we are the most influential outside force in Israeli politics.
If we were not the ones applying this pressure, then surely our influence would act as a counterbalance against it. Since it has not, then the obvious conclusion is that we are a large part of the problem.
Yes, bureaucracies act like organisms and seek their own self-preservation and prosperity above all else. Obviously, Conservative politics which want to cut spending and shrink government are the biggest threat to any government bureaucracy, so, naturally, bureaucracies will tend to oppose Conservatism.
Now, combine that with Lord Acton’s observation about the corrupting influence of power, and the Peter Principle, and you have a truly dangerous combination: a corrupt gaggle of incompetents who amass power to themselves for the sake of preserving their positions and avoiding any accountability.
INCREDIBLE.
SIGH.
THANKS.
When has the Likud and the right wing parties ever been able to form a coalition government with a safe margin and without the need to buy religious votes from non-zionists?
How can one write a peace like this without noting Shamir’s constant rebukes of Reagan and Bush on issues? How can one write a peace like this without mentioning outside pressure?
That’s it, exactly. Likud was excluded from gov’t until Labor screwed the pooch and let the Arabs attack in 1973. Israelis responded to the attack as they have always done, and the defeat of the Arab armies was near-total, AND it resulted in the treaty with Egypt. And Meir was out. Ben-Gurion is said to have said, “never with Likud”, but it was Likud which had to do all the heavy lifting. Labor almost destroyed the Israeli state multiple times, and they’re not yet ready to stop trying.
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