the Leftist +972 online magazine explains why the 'return of the Israeli Left' isn't happening: It’s time to face facts: Rabin’s second government was a historical accident, no more. This was the only time in 35 years that the left won a Knesset majority – and even then, it wasn’t even close to a majority of the Jewish public. Liberalism, in the American sense, never took real hold in Israel.
The current social protest is a unique event with tremendous potential, but if it’s a return to the Jewish democracy dreamland that Americans hope for, you are up for a major disappointment. There won’t be a “return” – all we can and should hope for is something completely new.
Carl of Israel Matzav: I hadn't quite thought about it that way, but he's right. Both Rabin (1992) and Barak (1999) failed to get a majority of the Jewish vote. Sharon (2001 and 2004) won as the Likud candidate. Olmert 2006? Didn't get a majority of the Jewish vote and arguably wasn't running on a Left platform. Kadima is still not considered a party of the Left (although their platform is definitely more Left than Right).
Whatever support for the Left there was among Jewish Israelis was spooked by the terror sponsorship of the 'Palestinian Authority' and that started long before 2000. It's not likely to come back anytime soon. And nearly all Jewish Israelis have become capitalists, Even the ones demonstrating in the streets of Tel Aviv.
Isn't it funny the way opposition agrees against the New York Times? One wonders what planet the Times is on. I suppose their intent is to give the left some hope that they can dismantle Israel from within, but their leftist pals in smaller publications just don't hold that optimism. The fact of the matter is it isn't a matter of left and right. It is a matter of protecting people from killers... and if that is what the right is in Israel, then the left does not have a chance. Should the left decide they want to be a John F Kennedy style Left that protects the country from it's enemies and still considers the jobs and quality of life of it's people, then they have a chance, but the truth is the Left in Israel... what little there is of it ...is not about the people. They are haters that are funded from beyond Israel's borders. Jobs and quality of life are merely bait... and not even good bait because Israel's economy is doing well. Why do you think Israel's enemies are trying so hard to take part in BDS movements? The haters know the one thing that keeps Israel going is success... and they certainly would not want that to happen. As for the right, the fact remains that increasing wealth is better for the people... and in fact stealing wealth from the people to give to a government that hates it's people is not what Jews want. It isn't like as if the LEFT has created jobs in America. I'm unemployed.
