January 24: Readers react to the outcome of elections

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