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Sep 11, 2019
The problem with Kachol Lavan and Benny Gantz
I think Benny Gantz is running a lousy campaign.
Gantz should be harping on Bibi's power struggle, his recent string of failures (including today's camera law) and how he went with no precedent and did not return the mandate to the president, essentially wasting hundreds of millions of shekels. He should be harping on Netanyahu paying off Hamas regularly. He should be harping on Netanyahu running the country while under indictment and distracted by his personal legal issues. He should be harping on all sorts of issues one can legitimately be upset about regarding Netanyahu as Prime Minister, but you hardly hear him talk, let alone about anything that would help him and maybe turn people away from Netanyahu.
People claim Gantz is unqualified for the position of Prime Minister, and that his party is full of unqualified people. I would just say that Bibi was unqualified for the job as well, until he won and became prime minister. He became qualified on the job, and that included making mistakes along the way. I am not sure anyone running for such a position is qualified, until he/she actually gets the job and figures it out. His being unqualified does not bother me. Also, for many people, as far as I can tell, the real reason to vote for Gantz is just to get rid of Bibi, assuming that if Gantz wins Bibi wont continue to run the Likud for long and will retire from politics. These people largely accept that Gantz being unqualified and his government likely to fold relatively quickly is just the price to pay for getting Bibi out.
Another big issue with Blue and White is that I see no path to government for them. Even if they trounce Bibi/Likud and win more seats, they have no way to form a government. They arent truly left and wont sit with the Arabs and likely not with Meretz/Barak . Likud would be silly to jump in and say we'll join a Gantz-led coalition when they know they can stonewall and prevent Gantz from forming a government. The Haredim wont join because of Lapid (and maybe also because of Lieberman). Yamina, or parts of it, could join but they would likely do like the Likud and stonewall. I dont see how Gantz even gets close to forming a government, even if they win more seats.
(I might make this a series of the problems I have with each party. Or I might not.)
Gantz should be harping on Bibi's power struggle, his recent string of failures (including today's camera law) and how he went with no precedent and did not return the mandate to the president, essentially wasting hundreds of millions of shekels. He should be harping on Netanyahu paying off Hamas regularly. He should be harping on Netanyahu running the country while under indictment and distracted by his personal legal issues. He should be harping on all sorts of issues one can legitimately be upset about regarding Netanyahu as Prime Minister, but you hardly hear him talk, let alone about anything that would help him and maybe turn people away from Netanyahu.
People claim Gantz is unqualified for the position of Prime Minister, and that his party is full of unqualified people. I would just say that Bibi was unqualified for the job as well, until he won and became prime minister. He became qualified on the job, and that included making mistakes along the way. I am not sure anyone running for such a position is qualified, until he/she actually gets the job and figures it out. His being unqualified does not bother me. Also, for many people, as far as I can tell, the real reason to vote for Gantz is just to get rid of Bibi, assuming that if Gantz wins Bibi wont continue to run the Likud for long and will retire from politics. These people largely accept that Gantz being unqualified and his government likely to fold relatively quickly is just the price to pay for getting Bibi out.
Another big issue with Blue and White is that I see no path to government for them. Even if they trounce Bibi/Likud and win more seats, they have no way to form a government. They arent truly left and wont sit with the Arabs and likely not with Meretz/Barak . Likud would be silly to jump in and say we'll join a Gantz-led coalition when they know they can stonewall and prevent Gantz from forming a government. The Haredim wont join because of Lapid (and maybe also because of Lieberman). Yamina, or parts of it, could join but they would likely do like the Likud and stonewall. I dont see how Gantz even gets close to forming a government, even if they win more seats.
(I might make this a series of the problems I have with each party. Or I might not.)
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Even before his first middling term as PM in which he perhaps "learned on the job", Bibi made a name for himself as an eloquent speaker representing Israel as the Deputy Foreign Minister (doing the job of the mainly political appointee minister David Levi) during the time of the First Gulf War, then was clearly touted as a protege of then-PM Yitzhak Shamir.
ReplyDeleteAfter losing the elections to Barak, Bibi eventually came back as a wildly successful Finance Minister under Sharon, before re-taking the Likud after the Gaza withdrawal and becoming PM again. By then I would say he was very much qualified for the job.
Gantz, on the other hand, has been in the IDF up until two years ago, and since then has basically spoken out once in a while, usually embarrassing himself in some way (even when he makes a valid point), and not much else. That's a lot less qualified than Bibi ever was.
true but being an eloquent speaker, as great and as helpful as it is, isnt the main qualification for the role of PM. There are presidents and prime ministers all over the world, plenty of whom rule their countries quite successfully, who are not the most eloquent of speakers.
DeleteBibi was an eloquent speaker, but he only really became qualified for the job of PM after he had already become PM. and most PM candidates are in similar situations. some have good experience, some have more, some less, but for the most part, even with lots of helful experience, most of the qualifications are only happening while on the job