Way back in early 2019 when Israel went to election, I launched an Israeli election circus diary series. In April 2019 after the elections I posted the 6th and “final” diary… except some Israeli politicians thought otherwise, blew up PM Bibi’s coalition talks and forced an unprecedented repeat election in September. Bibi’s side almost lost in September but not quite, so an even-more-unprecedented third round was called in March 2020.
Meanwhile tRump and Jared pitched in again, having already helped Bibi in September. This time they gave Bibi an assist releasing their anti-Palestinian Piece Plan (retroactively seen as a huge head-fake) at the height of the campaign. Then right before the election Covid-19 hit and a sense of emergency prevailed, which Bibi exploited to the max, coming from behind to almost win outright. The only force stopping him at the goal line was the Arab-led Joint List’s historical gains, reminiscent of PoCs’ historical turnout here in Georgia and Arizona.
Sadly, through these 3 rapid-fire elections Bibi’s main electoral rivals was a ridiculous centre-right List led by 3 Generals and a Clown, and held together by less than masking tape. After the 3rd election, despite the repeated tied outcome, the #1 man Gen. Ganz buckled under and decided to join Bibi for an “emergency unity government” or something, cleaving his List in half. He did this despite Bibi having been indicted for corruption charges back in January, and the overarching opposition principle to oppose Bibi remaining in power while under trial.
To paraphrase Gary Lineker, Israeli politics seems to have become a game in which no matter what happens, Bibi stays in power. almost 12 years straight now and counting, 6 consecutive election campaigns, most of them rather tight.
Clik here to view.
But the people who voted for his rivals and cheated out of the vote were having none of it. Every weekend they turned out in the thousands, most prominently right outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, pandemic or not, police brutality only pouring more fuel on the fire.
This month the wheels started coming off Bibi’s highly dysfunctional, hodge-podge coalition with the remnants of Ganz’s party. I won’t belabor you with details, but according to Israeli law if a budget isn’t passed by December 22 midnight, a general election is automatically scheduled 90 days hence. They were nowhere near agreeing on a budget. Yesterday the coalition tried to pass a last-minute extension, but rebels in both Bibi’s Likud and Ganz’s party voted no and the coalition lost 47-49. Midnight between the 22nd and the 23rd passed a few hours ago, and the March 2021 election is now on. Fourth within two years.
Unfortunately, from a progressive and anti-racist perspective the horizon looks bleak. Polls and early moves by politicians suggest that if Likud loses votes, they are more likely to fall into other right-wing parties, who might also scoop up many disaffected centrist Ganz et al. voters.
This is exacerbated by the tRump effect, whose impact upon the racist Occupation regime’s prospects was like hooking up continuous IV heroin into an addict’s veins. No matter the long-term consequences of pretending the Palestinians under our soldiers’ boots don’t even exist - right now most Israelis are on a “diplomatic high” thanks to all the hasty corrupt deals with various Arab oligarchies.
To add insult to injury, the wily Bibi managed in recent months to peel the Joint List’s Islamist component (numbering 4 of the List’s 15 Parliament members) away from the rest, weakening his most determined opposition ahead of the campaign. The Islamists even sat out yesterday’s vote.
Well, the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere, and my fellow Israelis will have yet another chance to think about what kind of country they really want. They will have at least 2-3 decent options, but many more foul ones. Since most Israelis have been living in a Faux-like bubble for the past 20 years I don’t have high hopes. But maybe at the very least we will finally be able to bid Bibi a proper and long-overdue farewell.