Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Jeffrey Goldberg is Dishonest

In a blog post, Quick Israeli Election Reactions, Jeffrey Goldberg claims:

7) This election is a reminder that settlers only represent 4 percent of the Israeli population.

Really?

Well, first of all:

About one third of the incoming Knesset’s members are religiously observant, though they have varying world views. Alongside 11 members of Shas and seven members of United Torah Judaism, 11 members of Habayit Hayehudi belong to the religious Zionist movement, as do six Likud MKs. Three of Yesh Atid’s MKs live observant lifestyles, as does Hatnuah MK Elazar Stern.

And more exactly:

Twelve members of the 19th Knesset (10%) live beyond the Green Line, as opposed to 4% of the country’s population.

But more than that, can we not assume that all of Likud/Yisrael Beiteinu support Jewish communities in Yesha?  Most, at least, of Shas?  And of United Torah/Aguda?

What does Goldberg mean be "only"?

Population representation is one thing.  True.

Knesset representation is another.

If he refers to the Knesset elections, obviously parliamentary representation is the subject.

He mixes apples and pears.

Goldberg is dishonest.

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