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Last update - 00:00 10/02/2009
Lieber-fear and Bibi-phobia: How fear of the far-right could make Livni PM
By Benjamin L. Hartman
Tags: Israel Elections 

Click here for exclusive Haaretz coverage of the elections in Israel

I have to confess, at times, these last two weeks, I've drifted off to sleep only to find myself in a halcyon Israel where the skin of every Israeli is painted blue and white, and the birds fluttering through the eucalyptus trees on Allenby Street chirp "Hatikvah" with a Russian accent at lines of flatbed trucks carrying Arab families away to points unknown.

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he fear of a far-right (let's just call it extremist) government headed by Bibi Netanyahu and his ghosts of Knessets past, in alliance with the surging Yisrael Beiteinu party, threatens to determine the results of tomorrow's election.

In an election where truth has been stranger than fiction (see "Marijuana legalization-Holocaust survivors alliance"), no spectacle could be more bizarre than the meteoric rise of Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party. Having raked in 11 votes in the last election, they now stand to bring in as much as 20 seats, and be the real power-broker in this election.

This is where the visions start of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman banging his shoe a la Krushchev against the podium at the United Nations, crying out for Israel to bomb the Aswan Dam. Or there's Lieberman as Education Minister, teaching Israeli High School Civics classes that loyalty tests as a requirement of citizenship are essential to any functioning democracy. Sometimes I see Lieberman the Justice Minister, trying to force through poll taxes and Hebrew- (and Russian-) only literacy tests for the ballot boxes in future Israeli elections. Or Housing Minister Lieberman, whose first act is to build a moat around Umm al-Fahm.

This fear may very well be the best thing Tzipi Livni has going for her in this election. After all, even if you are the biggest Tzipi fan in the world not named Mr. Livni, you can't deny that there's a serious drop-off in Kadima after our esteemed Foreign Minister.

At #2 you have Worst-Transportation-Minister-Ever Shaul Mofaz, a man whose statements are so asinine and pointless he is rarely even quoted anymore. Further down you have compulsive subject of police investigations Tzahi Hanegbi, known in his younger days as a Likud prince and far-right activist. Then there's former finance minister Avraham Hirschson, a man on trial for bilking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the ministry, in monthly payments of cash-filled envelopes. And did we mention that this is the party that gave us the double-billing travel expenses suspect Prime Minister Ehud Olmert?

Simply put, Kadima bears little resemblance to the party formed by Ariel Sharon in 2005. The in-choice in the 2006 elections, the one driven by the ghost of Sharon, Kadima stared down a Likud Party that was nothing more than a swiftly sinking ship, and itself looked every bit a political force for years to come.

Now only a shell of that promise, Kadima must hope that enough people are terrified of a Likud victory that brings a coalition with Avigdor Lieberman, and will cast their fears about her experience and her party's pending police investigations aside and drop the right little white slip in the ballot box.

After all, what other choices does a left-wing or moderate Zionist have?

You could vote the Arab-Communist party Hadash, whose slogan seems to be "Hey we're Jews, and Arabs, and we speak Hebrew, and Arabic! This is crazy! I'm Jewish, and I'm wearing a Kaffiyeh!" Or you could vote Labor, good old Labor, led by ol' warrior Ehud Barak, who seems to have had a leather jacket welded to his skin for the last 6 weeks. Barak showed great leadership during the Gaza operation and helped exorcise the defeat of the Second Lebanon War. But there is always the sinking feeling that since Labor, unlike Kadima, doesn't have a chance of being the largest party and forming a coalition, so a vote for them is more or less a vote for Bibi, and thus a vote for Lieberman, a man who would definitely make the next Gaza war more interesting.

The sad reality of the 2009 election is that for many Israelis, it is not at all a matter of picking the candidate you like the most, it's not even a matter of picking the lesser of many, many evils. Rather, your vote is really just a tool to help stave off the person you hate or fear the most. And with that in mind,

Da, Livni.

More by Benjamin Hartman:
  • Benjamin Hussein Netanyahu, or, How a little bit of Obama goes a long way
  • Israel's Knesset: I wish I knew how to quit you
  • Ben Hartman on the U.S. elections
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      1.   Fear, phobia or realism? 19:00  |  UlfT 09/02/09
      2.   Da, Livni... and how! 19:29  |  Esther 09/02/09
      3.   Wrong Haaretz, the only fear is another troika. 19:42  |  Stephen. 09/02/09
      4.   Great piece 19:43  |  Israelette 09/02/09
      5.   fear and democracy. 19:50  |  MK 09/02/09
      6.   Livni would need lieberman to form a government 19:53  |  Neal 09/02/09
      7.   to defend or not to defend Israel? 19:58  |  Ben 09/02/09
      8.   Zeev Bielski at number 15 20:11  |  Still undecided 09/02/09
      9.   Israeli Jews also must consider 21:00  |  Chris Linthwaite 09/02/09
      10.   Exactly the "essence of Haaretz" 21:24  |  Abecassis 09/02/09
      11.   Wish in one hand 21:28  |  Mark Lincoln 09/02/09
      12.   Benjamin L. Hartman will get a dose of reality tomorrow night! 21:50  |  martin knopfman 09/02/09
      13.   Vote Marijuana legalization-Holocaust survivors alliance 22:08  |  Baruch Gold 09/02/09
      14.   Make the right choice 22:09  |  David Lieberman 09/02/09
      15.   Are you sure? 22:11  |  Gene 09/02/09
      16.   Who can tell left from right? 22:14  |  Natallie Durson 09/02/09
      17.   Lieberman is the best Israel has. 22:15  |  American in NY 09/02/09
      18.   Enough demonization! 22:19  |  Sceptic 09/02/09
      19.   The only one to fear is Haaretz`s slanted columns 22:33  |  Silver 09/02/09
      20.   Nonsense, Neal #6 22:37  |  Esther 09/02/09
      21.   Tomorrow I will vote for Likud, Israel needs strong leaders 22:41  |  Roni 09/02/09
      22.   Again re Neal #6... 22:42  |  Esther 09/02/09
      23.   RAMAT AVIV LOVES MERTZ TZIPIE GO HOME 23:02  |  HERBIE KLEIN 09/02/09
      24.   Bibi the favorite? 23:32  |  Michael 09/02/09
      25.   Lieber-fear and Bibi-phobia: How fear of the far-right could make 00:57  |  neil 10/02/09
      26.   Making Livni PM 01:24  |  Sara 10/02/09
      27.   Is there really a difference? Not Really. 01:25  |  Another 10/02/09
      28.   Benjamin L. Hartman = Amira Hass and Gideon Levy 02:06  |  Ken Jurist 10/02/09
      29.   I like that Hadash party if there slogan is we`re Jewish and Arab 02:14  |  George 10/02/09
      30.   Another winner from Hartman 02:16  |  Orrin Koestler 10/02/09
      31.   stop whining, the people will decide and .... 02:25  |  Reuben A`aron 10/02/09
      32.   this pretty much sums it all up in a nutshell 03:25  |  eric 10/02/09
      33.   Haaretz will do its best to make sure of a Kadima win 04:36  |  Avi 10/02/09
      34.   Bibi Far Right? What a joke! 04:44  |  Avi 10/02/09
      35.   Idiot Child 07:52  |  shimon 10/02/09
      36.   Da, Da, Da 08:44  |  Other Ben 10/02/09
      37.   WHAT IS THE POINT HERE? 13:10  |  indrajaya 10/02/09
      38.   AM in N Y your highly valued opinions include 14:13  |  PETER SM 10/02/09
      39.   Ja Livni 14:33  |  Rem 10/02/09
      40.   DREAM ON, HAARETZ 16:32  |  Freethinker 10/02/09
      41.   Natallie #13 17:42  |  Esther 10/02/09
      42.   Huh? Oh! Ha! 19:14  |  Jim 10/02/09
      43.   #26 Reuben A. aron 19:34  |  Jim 10/02/09
      44.   #7 Ben 20:05  |  Jim 10/02/09
      45.   @16 natalie 23:48  |  pvdh 10/02/09
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