Israeli Political Roundup - Israeli Politicians Are Mean Edition
More retirement news this morning. Yossi Sarid is quitting politics. We'd be a lot more sympathetic if, on his way out, he didn't feel the need to take a gratuitous swipe at a certain erstwhile opponent towards whom it is fashionable to take gratuitous swipes:
"Had I known I was to become education minister in the next government, I would have had a reason to stay because of my commitment to education," Sarid said. "Had I known I was to become justice minister in the next government to clean out the filthy stables, I would have stayed," he added. "But being a realist, I know my chances are slim to none, and I have no need to break Guinness World Records like Shimon Peres. I am sick and tired of those who seize the horns of the altar," Sarid concluded.
Charming.
Labor
Old Labor stalwarts are beginning to feel a little nervous about all of the exciting (read: new (read: not them)) faces that have become enthusiastic Labor candidates in the last two weeks. There's apparently a fine line between being a mid-level backbencher enthusiastically forcing out a party elder and being a mid-level backbencher being unenthusiastically forced out. And if you might think that might be unfair because most of the party elders sided with Peres during the primary, their behavior after the fact (suddenly every Labor politician discovered that they'd been in favor of Peres leaving for years) has been quite unseemly - which makes them not just back-stabbers, but hypocritical backstabbers. Because Peres and the 30% of Israelis who say they're more likely to vote for Sharon's party because Peres has joined it are a real electoral drag. On the other hand, Barak is staying in the Labor party - which must be a relief, given the electoral goldmine that he is.
Kadima
We somehow missed that two days ago Uriel Reichmann left Shinui and joined Sharon's party (which is why we should read Allison more often). If you don't understand the monumental consequences of that shift, run a little thought experiment: imagine that you're Shinui, and before you had fundraising and money, and now you don't. Let that play out. Or read the Ha'aretz writeup, and try to wrap your mind around the fact that they get a Shinui MK to go on the record saying that someone who's just their party is still a good human being.
Likud
Netanyahu is making bold predictions about doubling what the current polls are saying. Which might seem ambitious at first blush, but when you think about it, doubling the pathetic 10 mandates that Likud is currently polling at doesn't really sound all that impressive (let's see - 120 Knesset seats... 10 mandates... carry the 1... yeah, that's just over 8% of the Israeli population. For it to be that low, some Likud MKs actually have to be voting for other parties, right?).
"Had I known I was to become education minister in the next government, I would have had a reason to stay because of my commitment to education," Sarid said. "Had I known I was to become justice minister in the next government to clean out the filthy stables, I would have stayed," he added. "But being a realist, I know my chances are slim to none, and I have no need to break Guinness World Records like Shimon Peres. I am sick and tired of those who seize the horns of the altar," Sarid concluded.
Charming.
Labor
Old Labor stalwarts are beginning to feel a little nervous about all of the exciting (read: new (read: not them)) faces that have become enthusiastic Labor candidates in the last two weeks. There's apparently a fine line between being a mid-level backbencher enthusiastically forcing out a party elder and being a mid-level backbencher being unenthusiastically forced out. And if you might think that might be unfair because most of the party elders sided with Peres during the primary, their behavior after the fact (suddenly every Labor politician discovered that they'd been in favor of Peres leaving for years) has been quite unseemly - which makes them not just back-stabbers, but hypocritical backstabbers. Because Peres and the 30% of Israelis who say they're more likely to vote for Sharon's party because Peres has joined it are a real electoral drag. On the other hand, Barak is staying in the Labor party - which must be a relief, given the electoral goldmine that he is.
Kadima
We somehow missed that two days ago Uriel Reichmann left Shinui and joined Sharon's party (which is why we should read Allison more often). If you don't understand the monumental consequences of that shift, run a little thought experiment: imagine that you're Shinui, and before you had fundraising and money, and now you don't. Let that play out. Or read the Ha'aretz writeup, and try to wrap your mind around the fact that they get a Shinui MK to go on the record saying that someone who's just their party is still a good human being.
Likud
Netanyahu is making bold predictions about doubling what the current polls are saying. Which might seem ambitious at first blush, but when you think about it, doubling the pathetic 10 mandates that Likud is currently polling at doesn't really sound all that impressive (let's see - 120 Knesset seats... 10 mandates... carry the 1... yeah, that's just over 8% of the Israeli population. For it to be that low, some Likud MKs actually have to be voting for other parties, right?).
