To quote Derek “Del Boy” Trotter, we, the good citizens of Israel, are without a doubt “a bunch of wallies”.
Time and again we send 120 legislatures to Jerusalem to represent us and our common views. From what I can see we pick these representatives based on TV or radio sound bites, the way they look or maybe smile. Certain groups vote according to the whim of their rabbi without having an original thought of their own; just following the rabbi’s orders. Others, who knows. Maybe they approach voting as picking lottery numbers. And of course around 30% chose not to vote; maybe they are the clever ones?
These 120, many who I suspect could not hold down a job in the real world, earn at our expense, again to quote Del Boy “a good wedge”. And they think it is perfectly acceptable to treat us, the citizens of Israel as raving idiots. Well, maybe they are right if we keep again and again sending these people to Jerusalem. They take our money and royally screw us time and again.
I find it simply unbelievable that Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz can find no common ground to form a government. I sincerely hope that Hamas’ Saleh al-Arouri is wrong when he says the “deadlock (is) a sign that the country (Israel) is in decline, after years of stability”. And yet these last weeks, it certainly feels like it.
Avigdor Liberman’s speech yesterday did not help matters, and yet, despite his scathing remarks about Israeli Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox parties, he does have a point, however hurtful some may feel his words were. Many see Israeli Arabs as a “fifth column” and the ultra-Orthodox as “anti-Zionist”.
To many Jewish Israeli citizens, the Joint List certainly appears to be more interested in the welfare of the Gaza residents and those in Hebron, Tulkarem, and Nablus, rather than their brethren in Kafr Qara, Ar'ara, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, and Umm al-Fahm, Qalansawe, Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara, and Jaljulia). the many other dozens of towns and villages in Israel.
As for the ultra-Orthodox, the fact that tens of thousands of males don’t go to the army or perform other types of national service is telling. To many secular Jews they, the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, are happy to let some other poor slobs freeze his or her butt off pulling gaird duty. Just likely many of the 120, we are being royally screwed by the ultra-Orthodox rabbis and their students.
Shame on them!
Shame on Us!
To make clear, I am a center to the right conservative. I don’t believe that Benny Gantz is ready to be prime minister. While he is certainly blooded (metaphorically not physically) from his IDF service, he is a mere novice, a rookie that needs to learn the ropes. Maybe following a suitable period of apprecship, Grantz will be ready to assume the mantel of PM.
Ronald Reagan was budded the “Great Communicator”. While Netanyahu prosses excellent communication skills, he will no doubt be remembered above all else as a Great Manipulator.
And yet so desperate are large sways of the Israeli citizenship, they hitch their wagon to any savior that comes along and promises to lead them from the Land of Bibi.
Yesterday also revlived a breath of sanity in the comments of Labor-Gesher MK Merav Michaeli said Liberman had “upgraded Netanyahu’s concept to ‘minus Arabs and ultra-Orthodox.’ Arabs and ultra-Orthodox are part of Israeli society. The leaders of both communities should understand that this is the moment for them to cooperate with the liberal forces and form a government without Netanyahu.”
Shame on us we don’t push for and embrace this opportunity.
Afterall, maybe we are just “a bunch of wallies”.