Tag Archives: Gantz

Wednesday night and Thursday are Tisha B’Av – the day that marks many catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people, most significantly the destruction of our Temples. It is a time of mourning. Tisha B’Av calls for contemplation, and this year is particularly difficult.  Not only for us, as a …

It would be hard to find two more contrasting leadership styles than those of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister/Prime Minister in waiting, Benny Gantz. One highly visible almost 24/7 and the other, unseen and publicly at least, almost silent. And at the same time, two people whose political fortunes, …

It’s official. Israel’s 35th government was sworn in on Sunday after a full 500 days of angst that included three elections and the problems of an interim government. The Knesset approved the new government by a vote of 73 to 46. People are celebrating the fact that a fourth election …

The “mess” I am referring to is the electoral situation, and, quite frankly, I do not see the possibility of unscrambling it and making reasonable sense of the situation. This comes as an interim report, setting out the relevant parameters; final resolution is expected by the end of this week. …

Otto von Bismarck, (1815-1898) the German statesman, credited with the unification of Germany (1871,) and who served as its first Chancellor until 1890, famously defined “politics” as “the art of the possible” This is certainly true in the dizzyingly volatile kaleidoscope realities of Israeli politics. Indeed, only few days ago, …

When people discussed the need for Israel to finally form some sort of unity government after three election attempts in order to deal with real matters of government, almost no-one imagined that as Bill Gates had predicted already in 2015 – the next danger facing mankind would not be something …

Sometimes, when we no longer expect things to get better – when we are already resigned to the fact that they may get worse, the situation shifts. And that is what happened yesterday, when the news broke – in leaks at first – that Gantz was going to join Netanyahu …

Not our government’s response to the coronavirus danger, certainly: That has been most exemplary. And I want to look at this first, before I describe the contemptible situation we have also been dealing with. Israel, as it turns out, responded more quickly than other countries to the impending threat of …

Election number three. What was different? Exit polls, having twice underestimated Prime Minister Netanyahu and his block’s number of Knesset seats in April 2019 and September 2019, now overestimated them. Only by a small number. But a very critical one. Despite predictions of voter fatigue – turnout has steadily increased …

Some observations: – There has been a consistent pattern to the “peace process” for 100 years from when the Palestine Arab Executive Committee met in 1921 and declared – “Either us or the Zionists.  There is no room for both” Some form of partition is proposed, the Jewish people go with …

Benny Gantz has only until Wednesday until he must form a government or return the mandate. It’s anyone’s guess what is going to happen. And here I was, just days ago, thinking that maybe it would go well and we would have a unity government in very short order.  But …

Hey, I know politics are a fact of life, necessary for civil governance.  But it happens that a consideration of the political situation here is neither inspiring nor uplifting these days.  In fact, it is depressing. I face the prospect of writing once again about our political situation, my friends, …

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night received the mandate for forming a new government from President Ruby Rivlin. That the president acted so quickly was a surprise: he had indicated that he would likely wait until next Wednesday, the last day that it was legally possible for him to …

Arguably, Netanyahu’s gravest strategic miscalculation was not to call elections in May 2016 rather than capitulate to Liberman’s demand to be given the Defense portfolio.   Earlier this month, I wrote a column with the interrogative title: Sept. 17: Will the Right snatch defeat from the jaws of victory…again? Judging …

These elections are perhaps the most interesting in recent times, even though there are really only two candidates running. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Bibi. Which side of Netanyahu will figure more prominently in the eyes of the Israeli electorate – the statesman also known as ‘Mr Security’, or the person …

About a week ago, a reader wrote to me that we should have good cheer: things were looking so bad, politically, that they were bound to start looking up. I appreciated the optimism, for I try to hold on to that attitude myself.  The problem, however, is that things have …

Not I.  In all of the many years during which I have tracked Israeli pre-election campaigns, I have never encountered a campaign season like this one. I’ve been writing about the multiplicity of new parties, and perhaps that was a clue that I missed: an overt sign of divisiveness.  And …

It took a long time in coming, but it’s very serious now.  The military action, called Operation Protective Edge, was announced in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. As I write, well over 140 sites in Gaza have been hit by the Israeli Air Force and some 14 people have …