Sir, – I am happy to have voted for the political leadership of the democratic,
Jewish state of Israel.
As a citizen I only hope and pray that the
leadership of the various political parties will be able to put aside the
vindictiveness, divisiveness and often heated rhetoric of the past several
months and work together for the good of the Israeli public. In my opinion, this
is really their job – to work together to insure the safety, well-being, and
unity of Israelis, not to promote a party agenda.
KENNETH BESIG
Kiryat
Arba
Sir, – Bravo to Yair Lapid for pulling off the biggest coup in Israeli
political history. Ditto Naftali Bennett. Clearly, the two of them are drawing
the younger generation of thinking voters who have the smarts to show the old
guard that their days are numbered.
A clean and logical coalition of
Binyamin Netanyahu, Lapid and Bennett would allow us to bid good riddance to
Kadima, as well as to the utterly unlamentable Tzipi Livni, while making sure
the burglars of Shas and UTJ are left out in the cold.
Bibi took a
trouncing because of his hubris, as well as his stupidity in letting himself be
henpecked into destroying his working relationships with quality
people.
Woe betide us if Mrs. Netanyahu continues to control her husband
and we end up with an even nastier version of the status quo ante.
J.J.
GROSS
Jerusalem
Sir, – I sincerely want Binyamin Netanyahu to continue to be
prime minister, if only to prove that we do not have to listen to the leader of
another country tell us our own leader is bad for us.
It was, in my
opinion, a scare tactic to try to get us to unseat our prime minister in order
to please the head of a foreign government – an ally at that!
MARGERY G.
FEINSTEIN
Jerusalem
Sir, – It is a shame that Labor Party leader Shelly
Yacimovich emphasized so strongly during the campaign that she would not join a
coalition led by Binyamin Netanyahu.
Bibi wants – needs – a centrist
coalition, even if it is anchored on the right by Bayit Yehudi, which, despite
certain statements to the contrary, could probably meet the Left and Center’s
demands for a more equitable distribution of the army and national service
burden. Yacimovich, who remained mostly quiet on the peace process in order to
attract more centrist voters, could probably stomach membership in a government
that includes Naftali Bennett.
The best part? The demands of Shas and UTJ
would be made peripheral.
Shelly, it’s not too late to swallow your
pride.
ARI BEN-SENDER
Jerusalem
Sir, – I am not so sure that Israel has
moved leftward. Perhaps it is more that Israel is fed up with a prime minister
who, although he constantly tells us how good he is on security, in fact has put
us in a situation of constant battles that we never win due to surrender and
concessions to the enemy.
It is what I call a protest vote, not
necessarily in the right direction, which should have been for either Bayit
Yehudi or Strong Israel, both of which would fight for our historic and legal
rights.
Netanyahu’s massively over-inflated ego finally broke the bubble
he had been living in for years.
Had Netanyahu not reneged last time
around on all his promises to the “settlers”; gone against all Likud ideology by
legitimizing a fake Palestinian people and offering it our heartland of Judea
and Samaria for its own state – which would have meant a further expulsion of
hundreds of thousands of Jews; stopped all construction of Jewish homes;
continued to relentlessly beg the terrorist in a suit Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate
with him; refused to put the Levy Report into action; and allowed the
humiliation of Jews at their most holy site, the Temple Mount, he could have had
their continued, unwavering support.
He forgot, though, that he was not
God and merely a mortal, and that he could not continue to fool people all the
time (in fact, not even some of the time).
It is surely time for a change
in the Likud leadership. Netanyahu has passed his sell-by date.
EDITH
OGNALL
Netanya
Sir, – I guess it is a good thing that Tzipi Livni did not win
enough mandates to form the next government. If she had, we would have to change
the name of Israel to The Tzipi Livni Country.
NORMAN DEROVAN
Ma’aleh
Adumim
Sir, – I was utterly disgusted seeing the Israeli prime minister and his
wife showing their voting ballots to everyone before sealing them in envelopes.
Not only was this against the law, it displayed Binyamin Netanyahu’s arrogance
and total contempt for how the system is supposed to run As prime minister
Netanyahu should serve as a moral example to the Israeli public. Instead, he and
his wife showed the exact opposite, along with a sheer display of egotism that
should make anyone watching it want to vote for another party.
It’s a
shame what goes on in this country on behalf of the person who claims to be its
leader.
MAURICE PICOW
Netanya
Sir, – Poor David Newman (“Bayit Yehudi –
failure in success,” Borderline Views, January 22). He is so against the reason
that Bayit Yehudi ended up gaining so many votes that he is not even listening
to what it is saying.
Despite the slaps on his face from almost every
other political party, Naftali Bennett did not once say anything against any of
them. He stands for unity among all Israelis, and that is the reason so many of
us voted for him.
A people of Israel united is the only way to
go.
BARBARA SHAMIR
Bet Horon
Sir, – Election day has come and gone and I
have finally found the time to put pen to paper to thank The Jerusalem Post for
the wonderful Election Compass on its website.
With 32 parties to choose
from, I was hard-pressed to find the time to survey their policies and make a
choice. The Election Compass pointed my vote in the right direction in record
time.
Thank you.
JUDITH RACHMANI
Ramat Gan
Sir, – In your
editorial of January 23 (“Celebrating democracy”) you make no mention of the
most obvious: With all the turmoil and destruction surrounding us, we in Israel
were able to enjoy a quiet, orderly, almost uneventful Election Day.
This
might be self-understood to some, but in the face of the turbulence that has
gripped Arab countries, this is no small feat.
True democracies provide
for the peaceful change of government, and this is something Israel can be proud
of.
MATTIAS ROTENBERG
Petah Tikva
Sir, – After reading the January 23
edition of The Jerusalem Post, most of what was highlighted was bad vibes – Gil
Hoffman on why the Likud collapsed; Amotz Asa-El on why Netanyahu has only
himself to blame; the Satmar rebbe paying people not to vote.
What we
should be doing is thanking God that we are able to vote and asking the
government to make us proud.
Let’s all work together and learn to
compromise. Let’s fight the enemy outside, and not fight among ourselves. Let’s
learn to be positive and not negative.
It might sound too simplistic, but
sometimes the answer is right in front of us.
SYLVIA WEISSMANN
Jerusalem
Sir, – Clearly, the electorate has spoken: We are no longer satisfied with the
status quo, be it in matters of security, peace, economy or even our
relationship with the United States vis a vis President Barack
Obama.
Let’s hope that the coalition formers and future leaders will be
imbued with the vision and wisdom to take our country to new
heights.
STUART PILICHOWSKI
Mevaseret Zion
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