By: Cliff Rieders
The results are almost in. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has overwhelmingly defeated its foes and will have no problem forming a right of center government. “BiBi” reprised his incredible victory during the waning days of the Obama Administration. How did he do it? In reality, the American left was his biggest unintentional ally.
When Israelis discovered, and President Obama admitted to the fact, that the State Department was funding Netanyahu’s detractors, the Israeli public was outraged. It did not make much news in the United States and no impeachment charges were brought against the President for “meddling” in foreign elections. However, Israelis vote in outstanding numbers. It is not uncommon for almost 70% of Israelis eligible to vote to show up at the poles. That is almost twice what happens in typical American elections. They all knew that President Obama hated Netanyahu, and regardless of their own political affiliations, no small country will tolerate the big bully trying to push them around.
Two years ago, when President Trump was elected President of the United States, many Israelis were worried about the rightward turn of events. This softened support for Prime Minister Netanyahu and in the last year he has barely cobbled together a caretaker government.
Enter Bernie Sanders. Sanders, one of the dumbest guys in politics, depends heavily on young voters who feel rebellious. Many of those voters say that if Sanders does not get the Democratic nomination, they would vote for Trump. They are simply looking for an outlaw.
Bernie Sanders’ recent scathing and unfounded criticism of the Israeli government was repeated in Israel ad nauseam. Bernie Sanders has come to typify the self-hating Jew who rejects everything about his background and religion, only to help the enemies of the Jewish people. This may do well for Sanders in the eyes of Soviet-era totalitarian minds, but it does not help him in a robust democracy such as that in Israel. The convincing victory of Benjamin Netanyahu is not only a tribute to Netanyahu’s success domestically and in foreign affairs, but is also a reaction to American left-wing Democratic “meddling” in Israeli politics.
Clearly there are many factors in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s victory. The economy has never been better in the history of the country. Israel has a blend of socialism and capitalism which works well. Unlike other socialist countries in Scandinavia which own the means of production, private ownership is celebrated in Israel. However, there is a robust safety net for the poor and business is sufficiently regulated, without being strangled, so that it serves the interests of the working person. Israel has gained friends in the Arab world. The third largest party in this country is the “Joint Less” which is made up of Arab Muslims living within Israel. No other country treats its enemies so well.
In terms of international safety, the bad days of President Obama are gone. While the Obama Administration, without question, encouraged very strong military ties between the U.S. military and the Israeli military, the President of the United States unleashed the mad dog of Iran. Iran finally, thanks to American led sanctions, is being humbled and is less able to spread its own form of revolutionary disease around the world. Israel still has to worry every day about those regimes which want the nation annihilated. That is not likely to change so long as Islamic extremism exists anywhere in the world.
The relationship between Israeli Arabs and Israelis is a horse of a different color. Arab and Jew celebrate their cooperation. When the Trump Administration offered Arabs in Israel the ability to part of a Palestinian State without moving one inch, they resoundingly rejected the idea. “We want to be Israelis” declared the Palestinian Muslim Arabs living within this country! Who could blame them? Israel has one of the highest living standards in the world and is one of the most successful democracies in integrating its minorities. Druze, Christian Arabs, Messianic Christians and all sorts of other minorities benefit from the largesse of this country’s governance system.
Israel has certainly not without its challenges, both domestic and foreign. There are still those leftists in Europe and the United States that would like to demonize and boycott Israel, just as Jews faced economic isolation for millennia. Ulysses S. Grant attempted to keep Jewish merchants out of territory which he conquered in the South. Before Pennsylvania and Delaware were states, there were attempts to keep Jewish traders out of the so-called Delaware Territory. Fortunately, the Dutch reversed that bigoted policy.
Unfortunately, most of the Democratic Party today has very little understanding of Israel, its democracy or the values of its people. They see political life in terms of black and white, right and left, and without appreciating the nuance of a sophisticated progressive society. The leftists of Europe and the United States have developed the totalitarian mindset that came to define Soviet-era politics such as those found in even modern-day Russia, China, and a variety of other non-republics.
Israelis, as is typical, will continue to forge their own independent path. They will not knuckle under to Americans or anyone else who attempt to define the Jewish mind and mystique.
I am sure that as Benjamin Netanyahu, and his supporters, savor their remarkable victory, they are also chuckling about the bizarre manner in which the Bernie Sanders of the world have unwittingly helped them achieve victory.
Cliff Rieders is a Board-Certified Trial Advocate in Williamsport, is Past President of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and a past member of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. None of the opinions expressed necessarily represent the views of these organizations.
