why did Gantz and the other guys, who were running against him, negotiate to form a government with him?
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why did Gantz and the other guys, who were running against him, negotiate to form a government with him?
Gantz couldn’t form a government as two of his own MKs refused to consider forming a government backed by the Arab parties, which was Gantz’s only path. And Gantz apparently couldn’t stomach a fourth round of elections in the midst of the current crisis, so calculated his only remaining means of participating in the next government was unity with Likud. Which split his party. Which may have been Netanyahu’s plan in stringing Gantz along. Fourth elections now look more promising for Netanyahu than the proposed unity government, especially as Israel appears to be handling Covid-19 quite well.
In short, Gantz is a mediocre dunce whose political career will likely wind down now, while Netanyahu remains the absolute master.
@PedroMendez this article presents a much more complicated picture than my post above, and suggests that much remains to be determined - https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-frustrated-rivlin-threatens-new-elections-in-a-bid-to-avoid-them/
@2cents
cheers. I don't understand how Netanyahu can still cling to power. I don't really know much about the situation but from my superficial perspective, Gantz must be one of the most inept politicians out there (in terms of organizing an effective opposition/getting elected; its unrelated to any program). Thats the only explanation that makes sense to me. It should be easy to win in the center against this version of Bibi.
cheers. I don't understand how Netanyahu can still cling to power. I don't really know much about the situation but from my superficial perspective, Gantz must be one of the most inept politicians out there (in terms of organizing an effective opposition/getting elected; its unrelated to any program). Thats the only explanation that makes sense to me. It should be easy to win in the center against this version of Bibi.
I’ve seen this exact thing said by a number of Israelis who I’d tend to trust on such matters.
The right remains fiercely loyal to him. And he’s managed to retain a unique control over his own party, where other men would have been ousted by now.
As for the rest, even among the large section of Israelis who are thoroughly sick of him by now, you’ll find many still willing to admit their admiration for him and the job he’s done for the last decade. For these, Gantz is/was a default option rather than an inspiring alternative.
This looks like it could be a great read:
Intoxicating Zion
A Social History of Hashish in Mandatory Palestine and Israel
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id...WhqF7AvkhtdVfOVpPmtAi6OIEgaMMv8ORGDnunDYt66us
Intoxicating Zion
A Social History of Hashish in Mandatory Palestine and Israel
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id...WhqF7AvkhtdVfOVpPmtAi6OIEgaMMv8ORGDnunDYt66us
When European powers carved political borders across the Middle East following World War I, a curious event in the international drug trade occurred: Palestine became the most important hashish waystation in the region and a thriving market for consumption. British and French colonial authorities utterly failed to control the illicit trade, raising questions about the legitimacy of their mandatory regimes. The creation of the Israeli state, too, had little effect to curb illicit trade. By the 1960s, drug trade had become a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and drug use widespread.
Intoxicating Zion is the first book to tell the story of hashish in Palestine/Israel. Trafficking, use, and regulation; race, gender, and class; colonialism and nation-building all weave together in Haggai Ram's social history of the drug from the 1920s to the aftermath of the 1967 War. The hashish trade encompassed smugglers, international gangs, residents, law enforcers, and political actors, and Ram traces these flows through the interconnected realms of cross-border politics, economics, and culture. Hashish use was and is a marker of belonging and difference, and its history offers readers a unique glimpse into how the modern Middle East was made.
Intoxicating Zion is the first book to tell the story of hashish in Palestine/Israel. Trafficking, use, and regulation; race, gender, and class; colonialism and nation-building all weave together in Haggai Ram's social history of the drug from the 1920s to the aftermath of the 1967 War. The hashish trade encompassed smugglers, international gangs, residents, law enforcers, and political actors, and Ram traces these flows through the interconnected realms of cross-border politics, economics, and culture. Hashish use was and is a marker of belonging and difference, and its history offers readers a unique glimpse into how the modern Middle East was made.
From the NYT today, in an article arguing against annexation
Itmay not help anything, but at least it is helpful when people talk honestly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/opinion/contributors/annexing-west-bank-israel-palestinians.html
Itmay not help anything, but at least it is helpful when people talk honestly.
Not sure if this has been posted before but I quite like this youtube channel:
Asking Palestinians & Israelis what they think
Its run by a Canadian Jew who now lives in Israel and the questions are often sent in by viewers (and can of course be biased) but I've always found it an interesting insight into how some on all the sides there may think and why.
Asking Palestinians & Israelis what they think
Its run by a Canadian Jew who now lives in Israel and the questions are often sent in by viewers (and can of course be biased) but I've always found it an interesting insight into how some on all the sides there may think and why.
I’ve posted a good few videos from that channel on here over the years, it’s excellent. He used a question I sent to him years ago but I can’t seem to find the video now.
Anyone read Khalidi’s book “The Hundred Years War on Palestine”? I found it a very good read (of course written from the Palestinian perspective) but I’d be interested to hear the views of others with more direct experience or at least deeper knowledge of the situation than me.
Out of interest, what was the question?
I imagine yours was far more scholarly than some of the more inflammatory questions others send in?
I expected nothing less!
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Duplicate post.
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I don't know if others have seen this either (or would even be interested) but a very very interesting documentary on the Jews of Egypt and their horrible history in the second half of the 20th century.
Its a little biased for me, in the sense that most of the people interviewed seem to have been from relatively upper strata of the society and as far as I can remember, he didn't interview any who went to Israel. Regardless, its an incredibly interesting and sobering watch.
I don't know how long it will stay up on youtube so would watch it while you still can if you're interested.
@2cents especially.
Netanyahu Won't Get Off Palestine's Neck
As Israel prepares its latest land grab, solidarity activists in the UK are hitting back
https://www.thecanary.co/global/wor...idarity-activists-in-the-uk-are-hitting-back/
https://www.thecanary.co/global/wor...idarity-activists-in-the-uk-are-hitting-back/
Is this significant? @2cents
Israel and UAE strike historic deal to normalise relations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-53770859
Israel and UAE strike historic deal to normalise relations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-53770859
Sure it is, though probably not so much in terms of a resolution to this conflict. Netanyahu agrees not to annex parts of the West Bank (something I think he never really wanted to do anyway), but beyond that the Palestinians are pretty irrelevant in this. Israel has never been less isolated in its history, and it would not be too surprising to see the likes of Morocco and Oman follow the UAE soon enough. Meanwhile peace with the Palestinians has not looked so far away in decades. So it’s something of a vindication for Netanyahu’s double policy of proactive diplomacy and ignoring the peace process. And since one of the promises of the “peace process” was that it would facilitate Israel’s integration into the wider region, it’s the kind of development which may bolster the case of those on the Israeli side of the equation who claim that engaging in the peace process is pointless.
Two sate solution is dead.
The ruling Arabs in the gulf never cared a feck about the Palestinians anyway.
So is the one state solution.
All that's left for Palestinians is the no state solution.
A real one state solution isn't on the cards either. No one will give palestenians full rights as Israelis.
Don’t be hoodwinked by Trump’s UAE-Israel ‘peace deal’ — it’s a sham
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/dont-be-hoodwinked-by-trumps-uae-israel-peace-deal-its-a-sham/
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/dont-be-hoodwinked-by-trumps-uae-israel-peace-deal-its-a-sham/
This is satire right?
Unless by shared values he's referring to mutual animosity towards Iran and state sponsored racism.
Take the US military out of Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi and they will most probably overthrow the ruling regimes in these countries. The Iranians do not have to get involved. Trump says jump and how high is what they say. They do not care a feck about the Palestinians. If the Gulf Arabs had wanted a solution they could have sorted it out ages ago.
This is massive, absolutely massive. Most won't care, or understand (more likely won't care) but this will be huge for the next generation. And not just in that region:
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...-al-aqsa-mosque-analysts-200913185257276.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...-al-aqsa-mosque-analysts-200913185257276.html
Yes this is huge. Now I wonder if there would be riots in Bahrain. When there was protests in the Arab spring in Bahrain clamouring for democracy, the Saudis sent in their army. Not one in the west stood with them. They shot and killed protesters. Not much difference to what happened in Ukraine or happening now in Belarus.
The Arabs rulers always are a selfish bunch only interested in themselves and have found a great partner in Trump. Just exactly like them.
Spot on. Trump is just the face of the clever men behind the puppet(s).
Fair question.
All Muslim majority countries are willing to recognize Israel now if the borders are before the 67 War. I also don't think they would have a problem with israel as a jewish state under those circumstances.
Do these countries also recognize the occupied territories as israeli territory now?
Do these countries also recognize the occupied territories as israeli territory now?
“The combined citizen populations of the UAE and Bahrain probably don’t come to two million, less than that of greater Tel Aviv. The Jewish population of Israel is three times the Arab populations of the UAE and Bahrain combined. Likewise, there are as many Arab citizens of Israel proper as there are of the UAE and Bahrain. The Arabs of these two countries form only half a percent of the 400 million Arabs in the world.”
https://martinkramer.org/2020/09/18/israels-vulnerable-new-friends/
https://martinkramer.org/2020/09/18/israels-vulnerable-new-friends/
Neither were the Jordanians and Egyptians obliged to IIRC. There's no motivation for peace, that's why they throw in caveats to any deal which they know will be rejected.
The logic is that there is no “right of return” issue with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE or Bahrain. The insistence that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state is designed to counter the Palestinian insistence on the right of return (which btw most Israelis consider to be a “caveat to any deal they know will be rejected”).