{"id":3178,"date":"2012-10-25T19:48:33","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T01:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=3178"},"modified":"2012-10-26T03:00:44","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T09:00:44","slug":"netanyahu-merges-with-the-right-knocks-out-the-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/netanyahu-merges-with-the-right-knocks-out-the-left\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu merges with the right, knocks out the left"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BEN SALES and URIEL HEILMAN<\/p>\n<p>TEL AVIV (JTA) &#8212; Political pundits long have debated who is the real Benjamin Netanyahu.\u00a0Is he a pragmatist handcuffed by his right-wing support base and, until his father\u2019s recent death, fealty to his father\u2019s nationalist vision?\u00a0Or is he a true right-wing ideologue whose apparent concessions, like a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he accepted the principle of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are but feints?<\/p>\n<p>Or is he merely a political survivor willing to do whatever it takes to stay in office, ideology be damned?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3185\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3185\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3185 lazyload\" title=\".\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1.jpg 483w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 200px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 200\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3185\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3185 \" title=\".\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1.jpg 483w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3185\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, of Likud and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beiteinu holding a joint news conference announcing that their two parties are joining forces ahead of the upcoming Israeli general elections, Oct. 25, 2012. (Miriam Alster\/Flash90\/JTA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This week\u2019s surprise announcement that Netanyahu\u2019s Likud Party and Avigdor Liberman\u2019s nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party would merge their candidate slates in the upcoming election &#8212; under the name HaLikud Beiteinu &#8212; offers some signs that the smart money is on the right-wingers.<\/p>\n<p>The move dealt a potential knockout blow to Netanyahu\u2019s left-wing rivals and makes it\u00a0more likely\u00a0than ever that the prime minister will win a third term.<\/p>\n<p>It also make it more likely\u00a0that\u00a0Liberman\u2019s nationalist agenda will gain further traction in the next government, not less. The agenda has included legislation requiring loyalty oaths for new non-Jewish Israeli citizens and a ban on settlement boycotts &#8212; moves that many Israeli and American Jewish critics have slammed as undemocratic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe real government reform starts now,\u201d Liberman said at a news conference Thursday night. \u201cWe advance to finish the work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Critics worry that with the merger, Netanyahu has unambiguously embraced Liberman\u2019s hard-line domestic agenda.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The prime minister is essentially signaling that he has chosen the extremist, pro-settlement right, that he has chosen to walk in place, not to make progress in the diplomatic process,&#8221; Zehava Gal-On, head of the liberal Meretz party, told Israel&#8217;s Army Radio, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>Not that the Orthodox parties will be happy with the deal.<\/p>\n<p>Liberman, a secular immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Moldova,\u00a0is one of Israel\u2019s most prominent anti-haredi politicians. He wants Israel to allow civil marriage in addition to religious marriage, and he has railed against government privileges granted to the haredi Orthodox. The current coalition\u2019s tensest moments came this summer when Liberman and the haredi Orthodox parties battled over whether to require army service for haredi Orthodox youths, who previously had received exemptions to study Torah.<\/p>\n<p>In that battle, Netanyahu sided with the haredim, breaking up the committee assigned to draft a new military service law.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0HaLikud Beiteinu merger represents a real triumph for Liberman. He founded Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999 as a right-wing party for Russian constituents, then quickly broadened its appeal. In 2009, when Israel last held elections, Yisrael Beiteinu won 15 of the Knesset\u2019s 120 seats, becoming the nation\u2019s third-largest party. Liberman was awarded the coveted post of foreign minister.<\/p>\n<p>In the elections scheduled for Jan. 22, Netanyahu\u2019s party\u00a0was expected to win a plurality of votes, but there has been talk among Israel\u2019s left and center-left parties of creating an alliance to challenge Likud. Since the elections were announced, rumors have swirled about former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or former opposition leader Tzipi Livni, both of the Kadima Party, returning to politics and uniting the Knesset\u2019s\u00a0centrist and left-wing factions. A recent poll by Haaretz showed such a party potentially edging Likud.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3187\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3187\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3187 lazyload\" title=\"Bibi Liberman\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3187\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3187  \" title=\"Bibi Liberman\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Bibi-Liberman-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3187\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Avigdor Liberman and Benjamin Netanyahu at their joint press conference. (Miriam Alster\/Flash90\/JTA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>HaLikud Beiteinu, however, is expected to win more votes than any center-left alliance. Polls before the merger showed Likud winning 29 seats and Yisrael Beiteinu winning close to its current 15 seats. If those numbers hold, the united party could win more Knesset seats than any since Labor won 44 seats in 1992 under Yitzhak Rabin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe time has come to unite for the State of Israel,\u201d Netanyahu said in Thursday\u2019s news conference announcing the merger. \u201cWe ask for a mandate to lead Israel with strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the beefed-up party would allow him to more effectively combat Iran\u2019s suspected nuclear weapons program, fight terrorism, and make domestic social and economic changes. Netanyahu\u00a0said reducing the cost of living in Israel is one of his top priorities.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Netanyahu%20merges%20with%20the%20right%2C%20knocks%20out%20the%20left\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[967,969,970,8790,971,820,8788,674,968],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3186,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3178\/revisions\/3186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}