Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party has announced a merger of candidate lists with fellow far-right party Yisrael Beiteinu, currently run by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Likud officials insist the move doesn’t amount to a full merger of the two parties, but only of their lists for the purposes of combining votes in the early elections in January. The list seeks to retain a far right grasp on political power in the face of growing opposition among centrist and leftist parties.
The list will be called Likud-Beiteinu, with Netanyahu and Lieberman getting the 1 and 2 slots, respectively. Unconfirmed rumors say that a deal is in place to install Lieberman as prime minister in the fourth year of their next term, though both parties denied that this was the case.
Lieberman said the merger was important because of the need to retain control over the government with rising interest in Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party, the ideological successor of the free market Shinui Party. Lieberman lashed it as a “fashionable party” that would disappear after the next election.
This will either work or completely backfire. Im not sure what to think of it. It also might finally secure a centre-right secular coalition that can eliminate a lot of the socialism.
But let the hateful screeds begin below!
Hateful? If the Israeli polity wants to commit suicide by keeping far-rightists in power, then that's their problem.
Anything to hold on to power, right Bibi?
Less democracy, more fake-ocracy.
No hate screeds here, juvanya, unless you view truth as hateful.
Israel is currently ruled by psychopaths, Netanyahu, Barak, and Lieberman being the worst. With this troika in power, the entire world is holding its breath, desperately hoping that WW III won't be started by them. Their constant threats against Iran (a nation that's never attacked its neighbors in over five centuries, btw) has even the USA on edge. No sane country wants war, including Iran; but, even Iran has the right to defend itself against aggression.
There are sane leaders in Israel, mostly retired military and intelligence officials who know what the consequences of a war with Iran would be; and, it won't be pretty. Iran is a large country with over 75 MILLION inhabitants, along with a strong military and sophisticated weaponry that could very well destroy (or severely damage) Israel. Only psychopaths would be willing to risk this. Hear that, Bibi??
Everyone is forgetting the lessons of 1939: When the world doesn't stand up to their belligerence, aggressive crazymen are only encouraged. In this case the crazy man is Netanyahu, and he will continue to make a bad situation worse.
We cannot afford to do nothing and let a nation with nuclear weapons be run by psychopaths. It is time for regime change in Israel.
Whatever. It's all a charade for which we American suckers gladly pay even if it kills us.
Eileen said: "Israel is currently ruled by psychopaths, Netanyahu, Barak and Lieberman being the worst."
Never has a truer statement been said. And, to make matters worse – remember, the psychopath Netanyahu got nearly 30 standing ovations from the sleazy, mentally insane, nauseatingly subservient psychopaths who call themselves our U.S. Congress, when he was here preaching his war mongering insanity to them. And, Mittens boasts almost daily how he and Bibi are best buddies.
A combined bloc? Scary.
Three times as crazy and four times as hateful together as they are apart.
birds of a feather, turkeys that is