Why did Yisrael Beiteinu gain 137,000 votes in the span of five months?
Impact of ‘religious freedom’ upon the Israeli elections
Avigdor Lieberman has emerged as the great victor of the elections (despite the small size of his party – 8 seats), for his party has turned out to be the determining factor in the balance of the coalition negotiation efforts.
Uri Regev 11/10/2019 00:59
Tags: 2019 elections · Avigdor Lieberman · Moshe Gafni · Yaakov Litzman · Yisrael Beiteinu · religious freedom
Avigdor Lieberman, source: Wikipedia
Israel is facing political deadlock. Neither of the two major parties (Likud and Blue & White) seems to be able to assemble a majority of Knesset members, and Avigdor Lieberman, according to most accounts, has emerged as the great victor of the elections (despite the small size of his party – 8 seats), for his party has turned out to be the determining factor in the balance of the coalition negotiation efforts.
As Yom Kippur ended, Lieberman announced his blueprint for a coalition, which makes it clear, once again, that he will not render his support for a narrow coalition. The only way to reach a majority and form a government is by the Likud shedding its declared alliance with the ultra-Orthodox and the religious right and negotiating the principles of a new government with Blue & White. Any additions to the coalition beyond Yisrael Beiteinu would be determined primarily by a willingness to adhere to those principles, which include key elements undoing the ‘status quo’ on religious affairs, such as a draft bill and the ‘blue law’ regarding mini-markets on the Sabbath.
In addition to Hiddush’s analysis, going back several months before the elections, as to the potential far-reaching impact of raising the banner of ‘religious freedom’ upon the outcome of the elections, a data analysist recently published a detailed analysis of how Lieberman picked up his party’s additional 137,000 in the September elections (giving him an addition 3 Knesset seats). The analyst concluded that Lieberman’s embrace of ‘religious freedom and equality’ as the central pillar of his campaign is to be credited with his dramatic rise. (click HERE for Hiddush's translation of sections from the original Hebrew article)
While heartening to read Litzman’s and Gafni’s deep regard for Western democratic values, we all know the cynical and manipulative of their self-serving complaint.
The ultra-Orthodox parties and their allies, as in the past, are crying ‘antisemitism’ and ‘ultra-Orthodox hatred’ when referring to Lieberman’s and Blue & White’s demands to keep them out of the coalition. Knesset Members Litzman and Gafni complained to President Rivlin over the ‘inflammatory campaign that… incites against a whole sector of society – something that is untenable in a Western democracy.’ While heartening to read Litzman’s and Gafni’s deep regard for Western democratic values, we all know the cynical and manipulative of their self-serving complaint.
As a matter of fact, just a couple of weeks ago, one of the ultra-Orthodox media outlets carried a story conveying the true spirit that every Reform and Conservative representative who has attempted to speak at a Knesset committee where Gafni et al. were present has known forever: Gafni would utter obscenities against Reform and Conservative Judaism and demonstratively leave the room along with his colleagues to demonstrate that they would not be in the same room with them.
The story published was regarding an annual conference of the Jerusalem builders association, which was scheduled to take place at the beautiful event hall and conference center owned by the World Union for Progressive Judaism. It was to be a festive New Year’s event for the leading Jerusalem-area contractors, with the participation of Jerusalem’s mayor and senior officials from the Ministries of Finance and Housing and from the Jerusalem municipality. The article reported that the ultra-Orthodox contractors announced they would boycott the gathering because of its location, and some of them expressed harsh criticism of the religious mayor of Jerusalem “who was elected by the ultra-Orthodox and is expected to participate in the gather, in spite of its problematic location, which hurts the feelings of significant groups of his supporters.”
With that clear demonstration of passionate concern for civility, inclusiveness, and Western democratic principles, not much more needs to be said. We regret the need, so early in this New Year, to bring up such disheartening matters, but these are the facts, and they make up much of the public, political, and media discourse in Israel these days. We are confident, however, that once religious freedom and equality, as promised by Israel’s Declaration of Independence replaces the discriminatory and coercive system in place, this will herald a new spirit of tolerance, comradery and solidarity. Unity and dialogue can only exist when all are on equal footing and none can oppress others.
We hope and pray that the year 5780 be a year of transformation, freedom, and peace.