YNet is reporting that following comments made by members of Likud about the American election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stepped in ordered his fellow Likud ministers to refrain from saying negative things about President Obama. Negative things such as this:
Knesset Member Danny Danon was one of the first to express his disappointment with the election results, saying that Obama cannot be trusted. “The State of Israel will not surrender to Obama. We have no one to rely on but ourselves,” he argued.
Although to be fair, Danny Danon DOES chair the Knesset Committee on Aliyah, so maybe he was just making his sales pitch a little brusquely. A few other ministers made some similar remarks before Bibi put the kibosh on it, instructing them to coordinate all statements about the American election with him. In the context of the upcoming Israeli elections–for which it seems imperative that Netanyahu appear to have a good relationship with the United States–this is a smart move.
President Obama’s re-election also drew censure from the terrorist group Islamic Jihad:
“Nothing will change in Obama’s second term. In fact, I don’t think he will make any positive changes regarding the Palestinian people since his administration is supporting Israel with money and weapons against the Palestinians and Arabs,” said Khaled Al Batsh.
While Al Batsh has not yet been reprimanded for his statement by the Islamic Jihad PR Squad, this unfolding does bring about a potential opening for diplomacy. For starters, both Danon and Al Batsh oppose the two-state solution.
So if mutual disenchantment with President Obama’s re-election exists between Likud and Islamic Jihad, could that be enough common ground to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians?
Perhaps this was Obama’s plan all along.http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/116098/likud-and-islamic-jihad-decry-election-results?utm_source=tabletmagazinelist&utm_campaign=cc4e764e17-11_8_2012&utm_medium=email
With the dust settling from last night’s election, I received an e-mail from Tel Aviv about what President Obama’s re-election means for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I’ll post what I imagine will be a much different companion e-mail from Jerusalem just as soon as it arrives, but I found this missive to be–in that salty Israeli way–somewhat revelatory. Here’s what it said about Netanyahu:
His dangerous gamble might cost Israel in the long run as he has certainly worked at undermining the bipartisan consensus on Israel. Obama seemed intent, at least in his first term, to throw a huge amount of clout and resources into shoring up the relationship militarily, and I assume this will last, at least for a while.
Bibi seems in a pretty good position, with Moshe Kahlon announcing this week he is taking a sabbatical, after suspicions that he would start his own party and surveys suggesting he would garner a significant number of seats, mostly at the expense of the Likkud and Shas. That was the only foreseeable hope of defeating Bieberman, as far as I can see. Even if Tzipi [Livni] enters the race it’s just to fight over former Kadima voters. The right-wing bloc remains huge and fairly monolithic.
I don’t think Bibi will change policy on any front or look to any new initiatives- did you see in Ha’aretz that the cabinet is considering expanding settlements as punishment for Abbas if he goes to the UN? That sound like a government that even considers the two state solution a good idea?
The fact that this letter didn’t include a peep about Iran is very interesting to me. Also, there is little immediate fear that Israel is going to lose American support, which means that, for some, both presidential candidates did a good job of conveying their message about the endurance of the “special relationship.” Lastly, it’s uncommon to hear the blame for any would-be fissures between the United States and Israel heaped so squarely on the shoulders of Netanyahu. I’m sure MANY will disagree with that idea, but with the election finally over, I would not be surprised if that argument picks up steam in places beyond the White City.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/116054/where-does-netanyahu-stand-now?utm_source=tabletmagazinelist&utm_campaign=cc4e764e17-11_8_2012&utm_medium=email
In late July, Sheldon Adelson pledged $6.5 million of his casino empire’s fortune, and potentially as much as $100 million, to a campaign by the Republican Jewish Coalition. It was aimed at peeling away Jewish voters from the incumbent Democratic president, Barack Obama, in potential swing states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Just to underscore the point, the Adelson announcement came as the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, was traveling to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, another one of the magnate’s favored politicians.
Well, we now know that Adelson emphatically succeeded in his goal of affecting the presidential election. The only thing is, he succeeded in re-electing Obama. In the broad sense, the national campaign saw the newly unlimited corporate and personal political spending by SuperPACs mostly harm Republicans by fueling a vicious primary race that bloodied up even its victor. In the very specific case of Adelson, his role as Newt Gingrich’s bankroller may well have cost Republicans the White House.
Admittedly, it is difficult if not impossible to prove a counter-factual. (Just ask President Obama, who had to persuade disappointed voters how much worse the economy would have been without his stimulus bill.) To comprehend how Adelson unintentionally assisted his enemy requires the leap of imagination — “What if?” — of an alt-history novel. Finally, the point here is not about a Jewish conspiracy in the person of Adelson. Rather, the point here is about hubris unhinged.
Just pause for a moment to consider what happened during the Republican primaries. Adelson and his wife Miriam poured an estimated $20 million into a SuperPAC that supported the quixotic campaign of Gingrich. Thrice married, a polarizing figure for 20 years, and a card wild enough to assail Romney about Bain Capital’s predatory style, Gingrich was never, ever going to win the Republican presidential nomination. What he did manage to do, however, once endowed with Adelson’s riches, was deny the nomination to the man who might well have defeated Obama: former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.
Everything that Mitt Romey so flagrantly lacked, everything that he looked transparently artificial in trying to express, was what Santorum embodied naturally, in his family history, in his bones. He was a conservative Catholic whose consistent record against abortion and gay marriage genuinely energized the GOP’s evangelical Christian base. He was the product of immigrant parents, grew up in the steel and coal region of western Pennsylvania, and had built an organic constituency in the industrial heartland.
Something in our DNA inspired Jews to be a voice for social justice and public service in America. Jews have served at all levels of civic leadership since the founding of this country. Whether motivated to advance perceived Jewish interests or to champion social justice issues, a disproportionate number of Jews have been councilmembers, Assembly members, members of Congress and senators. My generation has grown to expect that our local elected officials would be Jewish and that there would be Jewish political leaders on the national landscape.
However, Jewish leadership in civic life appears to be waning, as evidenced by a decline in Jewish political representation. At the national level, leading Jewish representatives will no longer be in Washington in 2013. The reasons are varied: retirement (Joe Lieberman and Barney Frank); redistricting (Howard Berman or Brad Sherman); or extraordinary circumstances (Gabrielle Giffords). As a result, 2013 will mark a historically low point for Jewish representation in Congress. This decline of Jewish representation is occurring at the local level as well. At its peak, five of the 15 Los Angeles City Council members were Jewish, yet as of July 1, 2013, we will have just two, possibly three. And legendary L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will be leaving office in 2014, a result of term limits.
Experts see multiple reasons for the diminishing number of Jewish electeds at every level of government. Shifting demographics, housing patterns, term limits and the recent redistricting process all have played a role in this evolution. What’s more, who would want to enter public service at a time of unprecedented partisanship, polarization and gridlock? According to the Pew Research Center, American values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years.
But our concerns should run deeper than elected officials. In every aspect of Jewish civic activism, we must ask another question: As a community, are we actively developing the next generation of Jewish civic leaders?
The good news is that even in the crosshairs of debilitating partisanship and rampant apathy, the Jewish community is doing something to re-establish our leadership in helping build a better Los Angeles. The community offers a wide array of civic-minded Jewish leadership programs, such as Bend the Arc’s Jeremiah Fellowship, the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Institute and AIPAC’s Leadership Training Initiative. I am proud to serve as the chair of The Jewish Federation’s New Leaders Project (NLP), one of our city’s premier civic leadership training programs.
NLP provides participants with the skills and relationships to work with diverse partners throughout our city and address the most critical issues facing Los Angeles. During NLP’s year-long program, participants gain a deep understanding of the fabric of our city and the issues it faces, including race relations, business development, education, labor, transportation and public safety — to name just a few. In an era where many refuse to entertain viewpoints that differ from their own, NLP members have no taboos or third rails. Our sessions are relevant to what’s happening in the city now and feature pre-eminent policy and thought leaders. Its participants learn valuable leadership skills and work hand in hand with a cohort of similarly motivated and ambitious young Jewish leaders. NLP’s only agenda is to create a new generation of leaders who approach their responsibilities grounded in Jewish values and have the skills to tackle the challenges that affect both the Jewish and civic communities. NLP is an integral part of the Federation’s Community Engagement Strategic Initiative as it seeks to strengthen the Jewish community, enhance relationships with key leaders and forge a better Los Angeles.
Since its inception 20 years ago, NLP has graduated hundreds of participants who are now part of an impressive network of alumni who work together across partisan lines to advance their civic passions and to better the Los Angeles community at large. NLP graduates include two Superior Court judges, leading members of local city commissions, elected members of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School Districts and many candidates for elected office.
In light of the recent election, let us invest in developing the future Jewish civic leaders of Los Angeles. The day after the election we can either lament the decline of Jewish representation and tune out politics for another four years, or we can help develop civic leaders who translate our Jewish values into action. Democrat or Republican, we can all agree on this: Our country, our city and our community stand to benefit if our best and brightest dedicate themselves to the greater good through civic leadership. Programs like the New Leaders Project can help make this happen.
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