Feeling better for the past 24 hours. The hours immediately after the close of the polls on Tuesday was hell. Fourth election in two years and still no bloody result. Trump was right last year when he remarked “they keep having elections, and no one gets elected”.
Today, reading the various newsfeeds, while it is still all doom and gloom, there are a few laughs to be had.
Moshe Gafni is pissed at Bibi for bolstering the rightwing fascist Religious Zionism faction at the expense of UTJ - https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-parties-angry-at-netanyahu-for-sending-their-voters-to-smotrich/
The laugh is that Gafni is surprised. Surely Gafni knew that Bibi would play every trick in the book, clean, dirty, and then some to stay in power. It’s hard to believe that Ganfi was that naïve?
Not so funny, it is sad that to possibly cling to power, Bibi has aligned himself with fascist-like Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, and Avi Maoz, and of course their “mentor” Rabbi Tsvi Tau.
Avi Maoz seems to forget that Israel is a democratic country where Judaism is the predominant religion - https://www.timesofisrael.com/exit-polls-show-far-right-anti-lgbt-candidate-slated-to-enter-knesset/
Interesting to note that the Gulf States, as well as various US Jewish organizations, have condemned Bibi for his alliance with Smotrich and his gang of thugs - https://www.timesofisrael.com/democratic-pro-israel-group-appalled-by-kahanist-factions-entry-into-knesset/
Equally funny but sad is the notion that the Arab conservative party Ra’am could influence who becomes the country’s next PM.
What a crazy system.
Benny Gantz’s recent rant “If I lose my Knesset seat, Netanyahu will turn Israel into a monarchy” looks to have paid off with his eight seats - https://www.timesofisrael.com/gantz-if-i-fail-to-enter-knesset-well-see-regime-change-before-our-eyes/
This, in turn, means that the recent Jerusalem Post headline “Israel Elections: Gantz could become PM on Nov. 17 or be fired March 24” could come true and Gantz become PM in November, assuming of course that (a) in the coming weeks a collation can’t be cobbled together and (b) Bibi does not call yet another election for the late summer - https://www.jpost.com/israel-elections/israel-elections-gantz-could-become-pm-on-nov-17-or-be-fired-march-24-661598
I don’t like the Jewish Hagim (holidays), I can’t relate to them. For me, Yom HaZikaron (Army Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) have a deep meaning. The rest of the “religious holidays” I just can’t connect with.
We are spending the weekend – Friday afternoon thru Saturday evening – in Beer-Sheva. I am not looking forward to the fifty or so hours. But it is important to Becky, so I will just have to “grin and bear it”.