Haaretz-style Democracy and Chemi Shalev's Garbage

Haaretz is crushed by the new Likud list.

Tens of thousands of voters, probably more than are subscribed to Haaretz, established their priorities in a quite democratic fashion.

The paper's Chemi Shalev has no alternative, in his eyesm except to suggest an undemocratic resolutuion of the situation, an appeal abroad;

The replacement of well-known Likud Old Guard “princes” such as Benny Begin and Dan Meridor with ultra-nationalists newcomers such as Danny Danon and Moshe Feiglin - coming on the heels of the recent Likud merger with Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beiteinu party - is sure to elicit concern in foreign ministries throughout the world and among many Diaspora Jews as well. It may also create new long-term challenges for Israel’s hasbara efforts and for the country’s PR campaign abroad.

Can you imagine how he would have reacted had he been around in 1977 when Menachem begin was elected?

If TIME reacted Begin=Fagin, what is he to do with Feiglin?

But Shalev is not new to this reality.  Back in 2003, at a Brookings Institute event, he said

As the voting booths close and the campaign jingles fade, the focus of post-election Israeli politics will be the daunting task of forming a coalition government. The character of the new government will be determined in large part by whether Prime Minister Ariel Sharon can convince Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna to join a coalition government with the Likud. Without the support of the Labor Party, Sharon may be forced to rely on a narrow, unstable coalition of religious and right-wing nationalist parties. The outcome of this coalition-building exercise could significantly impact the future of the peace process as well as U.S. policy in the region.

The same old garbage now as then.

But he does admit:

...one should be cautious about overestimating the degree of potential public disfavor with the new Knesset list. After all, it is not just the Likud Knesset list that has veered to the right, but the entire Israeli electorate, which no longer believes in the peace process and shares the often parochial and belligerent “the whole world is against us anyway” view promoted by many of the Likud’s new stars. 

Not only Likud.  So there is democractic opinion in Israel.


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