Haveil Havalim, the weekly Jblogosphere wrap-up is live…
It’s election time, people, and you know what that means….gooooo, cynicism!
You see, my loyal readers, it works like this: whichever party gets the most votes on Tuesday gets the first shot at forming a coalition with at least 61 seats. This system can be problematic-parties pull out of the coalition, taking away a majority, and the coalition crumbles. A lot of people in Israel question whether this is still the best form of rule. I mean, the Knesset coalition is kind of like a game of Jenga…EXCEPT THAT JENGA’S A GAME!!! We’re talking about a government here!!!
With Jenga, the thing can topple, you say “awww brother!” and five minutes later, you’re laughing about it over a gallon of Chunky Monkey. These are our elected officials!!! Do we really want a new leadership every time a new season of “24” comes on?
CRASH! At least the Knesset doesn’t work like this, ha ha! (pause) Wait…what?So it’s my first election in Israel which is exciting. Good thing a friend told me that I need to go vote in Tel Aviv (my old residence) or I would have had no idea. I also was completely in the dark about election day being a day off. I’m glad I figured that out now as opposed to walking around my office after 2 hours saying, “Where IS everybody???” Yet another way to spot the American.
So who am I voting for? To my surprise, it was an easy decision and probably the quickest decision I’ve ever made in any election ever. A couple of Saturday nights ago, a few of us went to an event sponsored by Jpost. There were representatives of nine different parties there, saying a few words about their platforms (or lack thereof), some of them more impressive than others. For example, in his opening speech, Benny Begin of Likud (Menachem’s son) made sure to criticze Kadima about 10 different times while not saying a single thing about what his party stood for. Way to completely turn us off, dude.
That paled in comparison to the guy from Shas, the religious Sephardic party. B’ima sheli, would it have killed them to send someone who could actually speak English? Dude couldn’t put together a subject and verb if you spotted him both a subject and verb. He reminded me of the Andy Kaufman character from “Taxi”, Latke, but with worse English. He also continued to employ the most pathetic campaign strategy ever, stealing You-Know-Who’s “yes we can” line. Seriously? You guys really want to go there? “Yes we ken end we ahl-redy did!” Oh G-d, make it stop.
Anyway, the best speaker in my humble opinion was Rabbi Michael Melchior of a small party called Hayeruka-Meimad. They’re a combination of two parties, Hayeruka (the “green” party) and Meimad, an acronym which means “Jewish state, democratic state.” In contrast to a lot of the speakers who were negative, overly critical, and in-your-face righteous, he was positive and simply acted like a human being you’d want to place your faith in. I’ve heard his name in the past and that he’s a good, reputable person so why not cast my vote in someone I like who’s going to take a stand for issues that are too often overlooked in this country? And why not feel good about my vote, which I’m actually casting for someone, instead of walking out of the booth thinking “ugh, I can’t believe I actually just voted for ________?” And if they don’t get any seats and we’re stuck with the same kind of government we’ve had for the last how-ever-many years?
B’SEDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!
Do you miss the combover yet? I think it just moved.
Another blogger’s take on Hayeruka Meimad.
(And if you want to know what I really think of Bar, who graces the cover of the new SI swimsuit issue, read this.)
great choice
didn’t know that one… “united rabbis for the ozone”?
only in Israel……
have a good election day!
Excellent choice. Am right there with you. But have discovered that admitting that in public in my very religious neighborhood is … not so simple.
B”H
Thanks for the link.
I’ve “outed” you in my bloggers endorsement table, if that’s OK.
Michael Melchior wouldn’t know the Torah if it came over and smacked him in the face. But it doesn’t sound like that’s a factor in your choice.
{Now you know why I have to go in disguise, on the rare occasions I travel to his Baq’a neighborhood.}
As long as you’re not voting for the Jewish Home Party, which is neither Jewish, a Home, nor even a party. {alla Mike Myers Linda Richman character} Discuss amongst yourselves….
http://esseragaroth.blogspot.com/2009/02/jewish-home-party-lesson-in-hypocrisy.html
They had the same meeting in Netanya at AACI, but alas, I could not make it that night.
For me, it is rather irritating to see the recycling of party leaders, when their previous attempts either ended in failure or corruption. Why in g-ds name would we want to vote for them a second time?? Either we have bad memories or sadly, they cannot find anyone better. Is there a marijuana party out there ???
All I know is, a day off for this is nuts; what will we do with the kids in the rain?? ?
What’s up with the combined parties? The weirdest is the Senior marijuana supporters and Holocaust survivors party which has been dubbed הזוי (which means weird, odd, hallucination). And there is another junior marijuana supporters party (with Gil Kopach).
Is it a common occurrence for a Torah to be smacking people in the face? How awful (and I want photos). So why doesn’t he know the Torah?
By the way, if anybody’s thinking of making one of the jokes along the lines of “How is the marijuana party going to get votes? It’s supporters aren’t going to be able to get off the couch!”, don’t bother.
’cause he is matir eth ha’assur {permits the forbidden}…
No, it’s not common occurrence, but it might be a good idea for it to start.
C’mon, Benji. I’m a fanatic. I’m supposed to talk this way. It’s my job.
{I take the issues seriously, but I try not to take myself so seriously. That would be boring.}
Chicago fans –after voting, Benji is coming to Chicago — he’ll be at the University of Illinois, Chicago campus Hillel, on February 23 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Cheers! I’m adding you to the English-language, Israel-voting blog-walk of fame (e.g. Green Movement-Meimad supporters) if you don’t mind. Great choice and you’re in great company!
“Michael Melchior wouldn’t know the Torah if it came over and smacked him in the face”
“the Jewish Home Party, which is neither Jewish, a Home, nor even a party”
Aaaahhhh, the eternal debate “You’re not a real Jew / your rabbi is a false rabbi”
So fresh.
…but true.
Sorry, dude, but in MM’s case it’s just not rocket science.
We can debate any number of others, though.
gee, does it help that alon tal, the yarok in yarok-meimad, is a judaean, ex natnl programmer in fact, and hails from Ketura . . .
Yay for vaguely liberal pluralism!
If you’re talking to me,…
You ever said I had issues with the Green Movement,…per se?
My issues are with MM.
Ah, so now we see why you like MM, Benji! He’s from Ketura and is a former YJer! We all drank the same Kool-Aid!
Keep up the good work. It’s great to read you here!
First of all, the rule is not that the party with most votes gets first shot at forming a coalition, although normally that will be the case. The president confers with delegates from all of the parties that were elected and gives the first shot to the party that has the best chance according to the recommendations he got from the delegates.
Secondly, I must say that regardless of the persons in the Meimad list or their views, voting for them is a very bad choice and proves you don’t really understand the (broken) political system here.
Voting for them is a waste of your vote because it is quite obvious they will not pass the minimum 2% and will have no influence whatsoever on legislature or government.
If who forms the government or the issues matter to you, you should vote for a party that will obviously get in or at least have a good chance to.
Votes for Meimad and other minnows is nothing but a protest vote that may be easy on your conscience, but elections are for determining what really happens, and for that you have to deal with the real alternatives.
It would be like voting in the US presidential elections for one of those independents nobody hears about.
Completely disagree. I had a talk with someone last summer who said about the US election, “I wouldn’t waste my time voting for a Democrat in Texas until I saw he had a reasonable chance to win.” If everyone says that, where does that leave them? If we sit around twiddling our thumbs because “there is no chance”, then nothing is going to happen. This country needs little more optimism and hope. That makes me want to vote for this party more and I know many others feel the same, to see if optimistic people can make something happen.
You are confusing supporting a party or movement and the act of voting for them.
You should support whoever you like and do so continuously, but vote only when it is a realistic option that can make a difference.
A real party doesn’t start its existence by forming a list for the Knesset (like some of them do). A real party or movement grows and gains support way before the elections, and if it has enough support, will be a viable option when elections come.
Unfortunately, our party and election system encourages this “vote with your heart” approach, which sounds like a very just system, but turns out to be a very unjust system due to fragmentation.
Politics is not about feeling good with your decision, it is about compromise with reality.
I’m not confusing anything. How do we know when we can make a difference? If there are tens of thousands of people who are all saying “well, I’d vote for them but what’s the point?”, they should get off their tucheses and do it. Maybe 9 out of 10 times, they won’t win….but if they don’t try, they definitely won’t. Logically speaking, with all the knowledge we had two years ago, it was absolutely inconceivable that Obama could be the next President of the United States.
Your comparison to Obama is plain wrong.
A day before the US elections it was clear that Obama had a realistic chance at winning.
What you described is how Obama became so popular – that was a longer process.
My point is that there are two separate issues. One is supporting whoever you want to support, campaigning for them and convincing others to join in.
Another issue, is who you vote for when, at elections day, you know quite well who has no chance in hell.
Countries with systems that discourage splintering of power, e.g. the U.S., have a much more stable government which is normally better for everyone, even those that oppose its views.
Coalition based countries like Israel and Italy, hardly have any government last 4 years, and there is a big price we all pay.
There is truth to what you’re saying. But it leaves people resigned to the same old same old that we’re all tired of.
What happens if nobody supports them at the polls tomorrow? Fair to good possibility that very few people support them in the next election. But what if everybody who supports them votes for them? People are pleasantly surprised, the party and its leaders are invigorated, they have something to talk about for the next 2-3 years, word spreads, people get excited, something grass-roots starts perhaps. Maybe in the next election they get 3 seats, then 6, then 12, and then look where we are. It’s about optimism and hope, not realism, cynicism, and the same old stuff. Maybe realism and cynicism have truth to them, but it ain’t a whole lot of fun. And maybe optimism and hope won’t pay off in the short term but in the long term, it can. Who thought Israel had any chance in the short-term in 1947?
Look, there were parties in the past that were formed as new and were successful at the elections. E.g. da”sh , gimlaim. Even Kadima, actually.
The point is, that it was clear they are getting in (though not how much) before the elections. You don’t find out those things by waiting for elections.
Specifically Meimad is an example that is the opposite of what you hope for in your description. They have been around for many elections already, have already gotten MKs in, and now seem like they have no chance. If anything, they are on their way down to extinction.
When they were in, even in the coalition, they hardly made a difference to important decisions.
The only thing you can say about them is “nice people”
hey, even hitler couldn’t rise to power in his first (or second) election. wait, did i just kill the conversation with a holocaust comment?
“…all you can say about Hayeruka-Meimad is nice people?” Paaaah, do your homework chief!
All you can say about HaYeruka-Meimad is that they present a new type of politics – they do, then they say……
a) Rav Melchior No 1:
i)7th generation Rabbi
ii) Past Deputy Foreign Minister
iii) Past Deputy Minister of Education.
iv) Head of Knesset’s “Environmental Lobby”.
v)Chaired the Knesset’s Education Committee.
vi) Rabbi Malchior also heads the Knesset coalition for Jewish-Arab coexistence.
b) Eran Benyemini No.2
i)Founded Environmental Education track at the Kibbutz Seminar’s Teacher College.
ii) Founded Green Course – Israel’s environmental student network and largest student organization.
iii) active in “Tevel B’Tsedeck”, an Israeli initiative assisting the people of Nepal with social and environmental problems.
c) Professor Alon Tal No.3
i)Founded Adam Teva V’din – Israel Union for Environmental Defense.
ii) Helped found Friends of the Earth Middle East and Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
iii) Awarded a life achievement award at age 48 by Israel’s Ministry of Environment.
Its not the “broken political system” that turned Israelis (primarily leftists) into disallusioned cynics – its the fact that in our sea of mediocrity, money, and dishonesty, no one gets anyone excited about politics anymore (primarily on the left). Along comes the Green Movement-Meimad that gets people infused with a new vision and redefined goals (I’ve never seen such pumped-up activists in the last 10 years) and right on the tails are the traditional leftists saying – “bah. fringe. waste of votes. lets throw water on them before they catch on.” Bottom line for me – no party or group of individuals have made me imagine what Israel could be than this group – not Meretz, not Labor, certainly not Kadima. These are idealists who aim higher. With our help they’ll take us there. Or will land up with more of the same.
I’m also a right wing disallusioned voter, who is going to vote for Meimad/Greens. Since I don’t see them having any influence on the right/left argument, but do see them doing a lot of good in all other matters, I’m giving them my vote. And if enough other people do the same they may get in. Let’s be positive.
This has been the most educational, inspirational and interesting set of comments I have ever read on this blog. Kol HaKavod! Not only was I entertained, I learned something.
(Not that I’ve decided who to vote for yet…)
Oh, and my 2 cents is that when I first made aliyah, Shinui, by surprise, got 15 seats in the Knesset and the next election, they had all but disappeared. So it’s possible to get a party that many people support, especially to say that we don’t like business as usual. But then if the party the public’s hearts desired doesn’t follow through, out they go.
Many people vote for the smaller parties because they can’t bring themseves to vote for the bigger nes with the same people who fail again and again.
Whether those parties survive past a single election or fall apart is another issue.
I think Yerukim-Meimad is going to get many votes.
You should distinguish between small parties and protest lists.
There is a significant difference.
Benji, I can’t believe you’re voting for a party just because one representative happened to speak english well and present a positive message at an anglo-voters forum. What about real ideology of the party and especially of the list? Would you vote for a party in the US just because its political operative spoke better than another? No, you would look at the actual candidate and what the party represented.
Careful what you say about Andy. We went to high school together! Same class.
Your vote may go up in smoke, if you stick with Melchior. Why didn’t you like Uri Bank? I understood that he did a good job.
Look at the parties and what they represent? This party represents Jewish education and saving us from our horrible environmental situation! I’m not exactly being mesmerized by the next Hitler.
Benji – Regardless of you who vote for, the most important thing is to enjoy the day off!
Israel’s election day is the closest you’ll ever come to a “Sunday” in the US
Maybe because Uri Bank also proposed to starve a million and a half Gazans into submission on the false assumption that it would get us Gilad Shalit back. But yes, Uri Bank’s English is impecable, and he even seems like he could be a nice guy (if your not on the other side of the spectrum).
I dunno, I kinda like the pot party.