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Last update - 09:36 12/02/2009
Israel Harel / In this election, Israel's left got what it deserved
By Israel Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Ehud Barak, Gaza, Israel News 

Click here for exclusive Haaretz coverage of the elections in Israel

Zahava Gal-On, Shelly Yachimovich and many others in the left are ceaselessly explaining, to the outside world at least, that Labor and Meretz crashed in Tuesday's election because they were not sensitive to the socioeconomic hardships of the public, and also of course because they made strategic errors in their campaign.

Excuses. When terror hits with no letup and no mercy ever since the left brought the Oslo disaster upon the state, and in no few places in the Negev and Galilee Jews are hesitant to travel at night out of fear that their car will be hit by rocks, socioeconomic distress - while still serious and painful - becomes secondary even for poor voters.
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Ehud Barak did not lose because of his luxury apartment. He lost because even in Operation Cast Lead he did not have the courage to decisively defeat the terror of the Gaza Strip. And Meretz began calling for an end to the operation on its third day, and some of its people accused the Israel Defense Forces of war crimes.

The increase in oppositional activities among Israeli Arabs - which often exceed the bounds of legitimate expression of opinion - against Israel as the state of the Jewish people has alienated voters from the left. For years those voters have been hearing the strident tones whose main chord, according to the verdict rendered on Tuesday, is an overidentification of this public with Arab-Palestinian nationalism, even during a vicious war of terror against the Jews.

In that arena, not even the slightest bit of regret was expressed after the election. The error, if any, representatives for the left said, was that the way of peace was not sufficiently explained - as if the electronic and printed media were not enlisted to pound the left's messages into the public's collective skull. Arab murderousness reached its heights precisely as a consequence of the far-reaching concessions brought down upon the state by the very same parties that crashed - finally, receiving their just deserts - at the ballot box.

Voters declared that this ideology, which the left championed for the past 20 years, failed utterly in the spheres of security, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (the various agreements a la Oslo and the territorial concessions a la the uprooting from Gush Katif further postponed peace and certainly did not hasten it), and relations between Jews and Arabs within Israel. The comprehensive defense of the untenable positions of Israel's Arabs on the part of the leftist parties, as well as the law authorities and, above all, the Supreme Court have only heightened the determination of the Arabs to secede from the state and establish their own political and cultural autonomous region, voters concluded.

As a result, voters decided to give the right that is prepared to confront these issues - Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, the National Union and Habayit Hayehudi - about 60 of its 65 Knesset seats (United Torah Judaism is out of that picture). A very decisive majority. And the left that fled from confronting them (a la Barak) or adopted a pro-Arab-Palestinian stance (a la Meretz) received only 17 Knesset seats. Kadima, while it is leftist, is not exactly there.

And so even in the safest strongholds of Meretz, kibbutzim of the Hashomer Hatza'ir movement, voters preferred Kadima over the mother party. Even in kibbutz Merhavia, with all that it symbolizes for the radical-Zionist left, Meretz lost to Kadima. The same applies to kibbutz Mishmar Ha'emek. Many members of United Kibbutz Movement kibbutzim voted for Kadima and not Labor. And not only because of Tzipi Livni's glamorous aura. Rather, mainly because of the faded Zionist aura of Barak and a large number of the party's candidates, who stopped playing by the rules and abandoned the national direction of socialist Zionism.

Related articles:
  • Wooed by Kadima and Likud, Lieberman agrees to more talks with Livni
  • Akiva Eldar / Why did Meretz fare so poorly in the elections?
  • HOW THEY VOTED: See Israel election results by city/sector
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      1.   Operation Cast Lead needed double the soldiers, twice the speed 01:19  |  Mark Leaman 12/02/09
      2.   Israel Harel you are 100% correct in this article 01:36  |  Livin In Rishon 12/02/09
      3.   The Left`s Decline 01:52  |  John Stein 12/02/09
      4.   Congratulations to Israel Harel 01:54  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 12/02/09
      5.   there is no left in Israel 02:36  |  david 12/02/09
      6.   Bravo, Mr. Harel 02:40  |  flyingdoc57 12/02/09
      7.   john stein Israel does not choose war 02:56  |  dudu 12/02/09
      8.   New election 03:03  |  John 12/02/09
      9.   Israel is like America in 2003 03:58  |  Norman 12/02/09
      10.   Harel - Always On Target 04:11  |  Tod Zuckerman 12/02/09
      11.   I never expected to read something 04:14  |  Jackie 12/02/09
      12.   dudu 04:22  |  michael 12/02/09
      13.   The lefts error is to appease an enemy who seeks to destroy 04:34  |  gay votes right 12/02/09
      14.   Right on the money 05:01  |  judith 12/02/09
      15.   great op-ed 05:24  |  bb 12/02/09
      16.   "uprooting settlement would bring peace..." 05:54  |  steph 12/02/09
      17.   The Israeli swing 05:55  |  Avnera 12/02/09
      18.   Barak failed because he refused to adhere to the 06:44  |  Kris Lazar 12/02/09
      19.   Israel voted right but will they get right? 08:52  |  Zev 12/02/09
      20.   Rubbish. Barak was an excellent Defense minister 09:01  |  Jo 12/02/09
      21.   Left-Center lost because they went to war 09:12  |  GaileeHero 12/02/09
      22.   What is left of the left... 09:13  |  UlfT 12/02/09
      23.   Israel refuses to drink the leftist kool-aid. 09:23  |  Yay! 12/02/09
      24.   Zev is correct 09:25  |  Sounds about right 12/02/09
      25.   Israel is NOT like America Norman9 09:27  |  Sceptic 12/02/09
      26.   `xcuse me? 10:24  |  Noura 12/02/09
      27.   An honest call for the readers help to define my identity. 10:29  |  Galili 12/02/09
      28.   Haaretz should have more articles like this!!! 10:37  |  Lisa 12/02/09
      29.   Skeptic, Ashdod 10:44  |  Rina 12/02/09
      30.   Norm 10:50  |  JohnnyBoy 12/02/09
      31.   I am still surprized at Labor`s disaster with one exception 11:36  |  S 12/02/09
      32.   The future of the arab in the state of Israel 13:11  |  Sylvain 12/02/09
      33.   Fighting Maniacs 13:44  |  Zichron . 12/02/09
      34.   the reason the left voted for Kadima 13:50  |  dina 12/02/09
      35.   Liberman says what the majority in Israel thinks 14:05  |  Father Emanuel 12/02/09
      36.   Hi! S #31 15:05  |  Esther 12/02/09
      37.   Levy & Harel Agree 15:14  |  Hank N Tennessee 12/02/09
      38.   #27 Galili, An honest call 15:31  |  P 12/02/09
      39.   What Left? 17:14  |  Abby 12/02/09
      40.   To Norm 17:24  |  Avram 12/02/09
      41.   It must really hurt badly, to realize that the Right 18:30  |  Kris Lazar 12/02/09
      42.   Uh Kriz Lazar, re: "West Bank" 21:27  |  Rajni Gupta 12/02/09
      43.   To Galili - heres how to find the party of your heart 22:10  |  Yesh 12/02/09
      44.   Israel Harel is by far and away the best writer on Haaretz 22:17  |  Ken Jurist 12/02/09
      45.   Ken Jurist 22:54  |  The Teacher/Instruct 12/02/09
      46.   Tzipi Livni`s glamorous aura 00:58  |  LMAO! 13/02/09
      47.   re: 9. Except where is the 9/11 event 06:15  |  Dameocrat 13/02/09
      48.   the orthodox, israili arabs and left are the problems 06:41  |  Jaime 13/02/09
      49.   #36 Esther I haven`t noticed your post of yesterday... 09:21  |  S 13/02/09
      50.   #36 Esther, addendum 09:58  |  S 13/02/09
      51.   Elections 22:01  |  The Teacher/Instruct 13/02/09
      52.   ad 00:11  |  Amir 18/02/09
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