That article is a pretty nice summary from John Podhoretz which includes the following concise summary paragraphs:
"The Zionist Union won something like 24 seats, an improvement for its core Labor Party from 15 seats just two years ago. But the thing is, Israel’s left doesn’t have any answers to the nation’s pressing problems either — and is seen as too ready to capitulate on hard-core defense and security issues."
"So, in the final days of the election, trapped in his own backfield, the Zionist Union coming hard upon him as Obama and his minions cheered from the skyboxes, Bibi eluded its grasp and made his move. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Bibi pulled off a pretty spectacular piece of footwork in the most exciting election finish I can remember."
I have some other thoughts.
So inasmuch as this is a victory for the Israeli right and for Netanyahu, it is also a stinging rebuttal to President Obama directly from the people of Israel.
Something else that hasn't been discussed that much in the English media is the extent to wish the Israeli leftist media monopoly collaborated in the efforts to have "anyone but Netanyahu". The Israeli media, that is to say all of the major Hebrew newspapers and television news shows fed the Israeli public a disgusting and incessant diet of virulent anti-Netanyahu and anti-conservative propaganda 24/7. They were utterly deranged about it.
Their efforts backfired-yet they clung to their fairy tale exit numbers.
It was absolutely delightful to watch their faces get completely messed up and watching them lose their composure entirely when the reality started to sink in-live. I just cannot remember enjoying anything on television more in recent years.
The other thing about the Israeli elections that I noted to my husband this morning is that Meretz, the radical left party also went up in flames. And to me, that is a clear indicator that a small, vocal, aggressive minority makes up the far left in Israel. That aggressive, power-hungry minority though-like in other Western countries, yields power that is extraordinarily disproportionate to its numbers.
In Israel, as elsewhere (Canada, America, Australia, etc..), the extreme left commands the judiciary, the arts, the media, the academy, the higher echelons of the civil service and the public education system. That's where they most effectively shove their influence down all of our throats. They do that because they can.
But...and it's a big but...when it comes time for actual democratic decisions to be made-like this Israeli election, which was basically a referendum on Israel's security and the existential threat from Iran, the left lost big time. Their monopoly on our lives, their tyranny over our personal liberties can only be sustained through processes that generally entirely bereft of transparency, real choice and honesty. Now, not everyone chooses liberty over tyranny when it comes down to a vote-but many do, consistently choosing to believe their own lying eyes rather than the stories they are being told to believe.
You know, even Obama sending American taxpayer dollars to Israel to fight Netanyahu through V-15 was a total bust. What will they do with all those t-shirts?
As Mark Steyn pointed out this morning on the John Oakley show, one of the most exquisite parts of this Israeli election story is that Obama's belligerent, relentless, Alinsky intervention is likely to have been a major factor contributing to Netanyahu's stunning victory. How's that for a Mazel Tov?!?!
It doesn't get much more delicious than that. Pity there isn't a Hebrew word for "butthurt", though yesterday, someone on Twitter suggested that the Hebrew word for "schadenfreude" is "Axelrod".
Pretty sure it's "Axelrod" #Caring RT @daveweigel What’s Hebrew for Schadenfreude?
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) March 17, 2015
I have to tell you, I would pay many, many shekels for a photo of Obama (and frankly, Valerie Jarrett and John Kerry) as the Israeli election results started to come in. So glorious! Just the thought of it makes me giddy.Seriously, a thousand camels to the first person who provides me of a photo of Barack Hussein Obama in real time for that moment....I want it even more than the Rashidi tape from the Los Angeles Times.
Obama, the ever petulant, decides "not to weigh in".
LOLZLOLZZLZZ!!
How gratifying it must be right now for Netanyahu to be vindicated and to be compared, and I think rightly so, to a modern Churchillian leader.
In short, this election is a glorious victory for a great leader and, indeed, for the free world.
P.S: *Goy Alert*
Netanyahu is pronounced Neh (like the Yiddish "feh" but with an "n")-tun (rhyming with sun) yah-hoo.
It just gets mangled a lot so YOU'RE WELCOME.
