Israeli Political Roundup - You Know It's Election Time When Ha'aretz Editorializes in News Stories Edition
Ha'aretz is starting to get annoyingly snide in their news stories. Today's exhibit about military reactions to the Netanya suicide bombing:
The consultations between the two took only an hour and did not appear to confirm Mofaz's earlier claims that "Kadima has adopted the diplomatic path of Oslo."
Probably not the best trend to establish right when Ynet is getting all snarky with articles titled "Left-wing media? Really?". Count us in the large group of people who would prefer that Ha'aretz keep their editorials on the editorials page, where we can avoid them until we're short on blog posts and need a transparently partisan yet overwhelmingly stupid article to pretend to get angry about.
Kadima
Genuine news about Kadima this morning, as the top of their Knesset list begins to firm up:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will decide Kadima's Knesset list on his own next month, but Sharon's associates said not to expect surprises. The top five on the list has been clear since Sharon left the Likud two weeks ago. Sharon will be followed by Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, former Shin-Bet chief Avi Dichter and Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit, but not necessarily in that order.
The next five on the list is less clear, but it is expected to include the other two ministers who joined Kadima, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson. MK Haim Ramon, who quit the cabinet along with the other former Labor ministers two weeks ago, is expected to be placed in the top 10.
In fact, read the whole article - it's short and crammed with good gossip. Don't miss the poll in the bottom paragraph. Spoiler: "the most any poll has predicted for the party thus far."
Likud
Mere Rhetoric 08/28/05:
Sharon forms a centrist third party and takes his 30% die-hard Likud supporters with him. Maybe Peres joins him... [and] this new party gets all the voters who feel guilty that they ridiculed Peres for opportunism and self-aggrandizement when he rejoined the government to prop up disengagement... since all of the centrist voters have fled the Likud, what's left of the Central Committee has chosen a far-right list for the Knesset - which will make Netanyahu seem even more radical and unappealing in the general election. So in addition to being far less popular nationally than Sharon, Netanyahu is now dragging along a list that's even further right than he is.
Mere Rhetoric 11/07/05:
Sharon suffered a humiliating personal defeat in the Knesset today, when two of his cabinet promotions were rejected by a coalition of Arab parties, far Left members, and Likud rebels... We also wonder whether the Likud rebels who spitefully choose to oppose Sharon on these relatively minor issues are at all uncomfortable with the fact that they've effectively ruined their political careers.
Jerusalem Post 12/05/05:
Interim Likud Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi on Monday attacked the so-called Likud rebels, accusing them of driving away Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and with him the huge number of mandates the Likud won under his leadership at the last general elections. A Haaretz-Dialogue poll conducted last week showed 37 seats for Sharon's new Kadima party and 26 seats for Labor; Likud found itself in fourth place behind Shas, with a paltry 9 mandates...
Hanegbi responded sharply to complaints about limited spots on the list by the rebels, whose objections to the disengagement and subsequent moves to thwart Sharon partly led to his decision to flee the party he helped establish.
Settlers - their choice having been made easier by disengagement hero Uzi Landau bowing out this weekend - are throwing their support behind Netanyahu for Likud leader. No surprise. The more significant news is buried in the middle of the article, where Tovah Lazaroff gets remarkable admissions from settler leaders that their views are in the minority and that they have to settle for electioneering and a "light-right-wing" government.
Labor
Amir Peretz is such a stellar advocate for the little guy that he won't even ride in fancy cars - even if those cars happen to be the armored cars provided to the Opposition Leader to keep him safe. It's nice to see that his election showboating isn't getting in the way of his national responsibilities.
The consultations between the two took only an hour and did not appear to confirm Mofaz's earlier claims that "Kadima has adopted the diplomatic path of Oslo."
Probably not the best trend to establish right when Ynet is getting all snarky with articles titled "Left-wing media? Really?". Count us in the large group of people who would prefer that Ha'aretz keep their editorials on the editorials page, where we can avoid them until we're short on blog posts and need a transparently partisan yet overwhelmingly stupid article to pretend to get angry about.
Kadima
Genuine news about Kadima this morning, as the top of their Knesset list begins to firm up:
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will decide Kadima's Knesset list on his own next month, but Sharon's associates said not to expect surprises. The top five on the list has been clear since Sharon left the Likud two weeks ago. Sharon will be followed by Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, former Shin-Bet chief Avi Dichter and Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit, but not necessarily in that order.
The next five on the list is less clear, but it is expected to include the other two ministers who joined Kadima, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson. MK Haim Ramon, who quit the cabinet along with the other former Labor ministers two weeks ago, is expected to be placed in the top 10.
In fact, read the whole article - it's short and crammed with good gossip. Don't miss the poll in the bottom paragraph. Spoiler: "the most any poll has predicted for the party thus far."
Likud
Mere Rhetoric 08/28/05:
Sharon forms a centrist third party and takes his 30% die-hard Likud supporters with him. Maybe Peres joins him... [and] this new party gets all the voters who feel guilty that they ridiculed Peres for opportunism and self-aggrandizement when he rejoined the government to prop up disengagement... since all of the centrist voters have fled the Likud, what's left of the Central Committee has chosen a far-right list for the Knesset - which will make Netanyahu seem even more radical and unappealing in the general election. So in addition to being far less popular nationally than Sharon, Netanyahu is now dragging along a list that's even further right than he is.
Mere Rhetoric 11/07/05:
Sharon suffered a humiliating personal defeat in the Knesset today, when two of his cabinet promotions were rejected by a coalition of Arab parties, far Left members, and Likud rebels... We also wonder whether the Likud rebels who spitefully choose to oppose Sharon on these relatively minor issues are at all uncomfortable with the fact that they've effectively ruined their political careers.
Jerusalem Post 12/05/05:
Interim Likud Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi on Monday attacked the so-called Likud rebels, accusing them of driving away Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and with him the huge number of mandates the Likud won under his leadership at the last general elections. A Haaretz-Dialogue poll conducted last week showed 37 seats for Sharon's new Kadima party and 26 seats for Labor; Likud found itself in fourth place behind Shas, with a paltry 9 mandates...
Hanegbi responded sharply to complaints about limited spots on the list by the rebels, whose objections to the disengagement and subsequent moves to thwart Sharon partly led to his decision to flee the party he helped establish.
Settlers - their choice having been made easier by disengagement hero Uzi Landau bowing out this weekend - are throwing their support behind Netanyahu for Likud leader. No surprise. The more significant news is buried in the middle of the article, where Tovah Lazaroff gets remarkable admissions from settler leaders that their views are in the minority and that they have to settle for electioneering and a "light-right-wing" government.
Labor
Amir Peretz is such a stellar advocate for the little guy that he won't even ride in fancy cars - even if those cars happen to be the armored cars provided to the Opposition Leader to keep him safe. It's nice to see that his election showboating isn't getting in the way of his national responsibilities.
