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Jan 21, 2020
who really wants to annex the Jordan Valley?
This is a weird exchange in the Knesset. It seems mostly to be a couple of politicians trying to each "out-man" the other...
Yesterday some Likudniks floated the idea of possibly trying to put Benny Gantz in a tight spot by taking advantage of Gantz forcing the Knesset to convene, despite the election season, in order to deal with making the Immunity committee official and proposing a law to annex the Jordan Valley.
I am not quite sure why that puts Gantz in a tight spot, as he has said he supports such an annexation. Maybe some of Gantz's potential coalition members are more left wing and would not like him voting on that. personally, from Gantz's perspective it seems like a better proposition for him to have the Likud propose it with his support than for him to propose it and have to rely on the Meretz votes to push it through (though he probably would not have to anyway because presumably right wing votes would be enough to push it through).
But ok, they suggested it. This morning Benny Gantz said that after the elections he would work to annex the Jordan Valley, with international support.
To me the addition of "with international support" sounds like he is turning it into a non-issue, as it is extremely unlikely he would have international support, but that's what he said.
To that PM Netanyahu responded asking why wait until after the elections rather than doing it right now with a broad concensus in Knesset? Netanyahu said he is waiting for Gantz's response, unless Tibi is vetoing the idea.
This is just a silly response. Netanyahu has been prime minister for ten years straight and has had every opportunity to propose the annexation, and has not. Suddenly he is in a rush and it is Gantz delaying, as if Gantz has any power right now? Netanyahu even said just a few weeks ago that he is going to propose the annexation in Knesset, but has yet to do so. So he is blaming Gantz for delaying such a vote, when he himself has been in a far better position to propose it and push it through but has failed to anything more than talk about it?
Yesterday some Likudniks floated the idea of possibly trying to put Benny Gantz in a tight spot by taking advantage of Gantz forcing the Knesset to convene, despite the election season, in order to deal with making the Immunity committee official and proposing a law to annex the Jordan Valley.
I am not quite sure why that puts Gantz in a tight spot, as he has said he supports such an annexation. Maybe some of Gantz's potential coalition members are more left wing and would not like him voting on that. personally, from Gantz's perspective it seems like a better proposition for him to have the Likud propose it with his support than for him to propose it and have to rely on the Meretz votes to push it through (though he probably would not have to anyway because presumably right wing votes would be enough to push it through).
But ok, they suggested it. This morning Benny Gantz said that after the elections he would work to annex the Jordan Valley, with international support.
To me the addition of "with international support" sounds like he is turning it into a non-issue, as it is extremely unlikely he would have international support, but that's what he said.
To that PM Netanyahu responded asking why wait until after the elections rather than doing it right now with a broad concensus in Knesset? Netanyahu said he is waiting for Gantz's response, unless Tibi is vetoing the idea.
This is just a silly response. Netanyahu has been prime minister for ten years straight and has had every opportunity to propose the annexation, and has not. Suddenly he is in a rush and it is Gantz delaying, as if Gantz has any power right now? Netanyahu even said just a few weeks ago that he is going to propose the annexation in Knesset, but has yet to do so. So he is blaming Gantz for delaying such a vote, when he himself has been in a far better position to propose it and push it through but has failed to anything more than talk about it?
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Labels:
Benny Gantz,
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It is becoming a weird campaign (although so were the previous 2 campaigns).
ReplyDeleteBoth leaders are drifting to the right.
This makes great sense for Gantz who realizes that to win the election he needs to gain traditional Likud voters, and if the cost is that some of his left wing supporters go to Meretz instead, that's fine by him, as Meretz would be a natural partner after the election.
On the other hand, Bibi's swing to the right, for example by supporting Ben Ben Gvir will alienate some of his traditional voters and send them to the left, and if it attracts new voters to Likud, that will weaken the parties to his right
Bibi made the same mistake in the past 2 elections, He probably took a few thousand votes from Benet in the first election by adopting some of Benet's policies in the days before the election - and those thousand votes cost him the election (remember Benet was only 1400 votes short of getting into the Knesset).
In the second election, Bibi reduced the right wing block from 60 to 55. Looks like he'll be lucky to get 50 in the right wing block this time round (he certainly has lost my vote).
The country doesn't matter to politicians. It's only their positions and power!
ReplyDeleteLikud has more in common with Blue and White than any other party in the Bibi-Bloc. When early elections were called, Bibi promised that we would end up with the exact same government as before the election. His strategy has been to make sure every vote for one of his normal allies would automatically be a vote for him. To do so, he beefed up his 'right wing' credentials. He also went to great lengths to turn fringe votes into mandates for him.
ReplyDeleteIn pursuing the 'right wing' and 'right wing' fringe vote, Likud has abandoned the votes in the centre (where the majority of voters are). Rather than compromise, he alienated Yisrael Betaynu and as Michael described, pushing some Likud voters into the Blue & White camp.
I think Smotrich was just looking for some immediate returns for his loyalty to Bibi. Gantz called the bluff and may end up picking up some Likud voters in the process.