2013 elections Archive

  • The pundits and the politicians agree that the protest movement succeeded, resulting in big electoral wins for Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid ("There is a future") and Naftali Bennett of the rightwing ha-Ba'it ha-Yehudi ("The Jewish Home"). These luminaries are united in their hatred of the Ultraorthodox and the Arabs and in their indifference to the workers. Both are future partners for Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. It's not at all clear that this is what Dafni Leef had in mind when she pitched her tent on Rothschild Boulevard starting the social protest of Summer 2011, but such is the gloomy outcome. Those who wanted to unite the entire people—left and right, settlers and impoverished middle-class youth—have succeeded in a big way. The protest refrained from calling on Bibi to resign in order not to be stigmatized as political, and so Bibi remains to conduct the choir.

    Elections 2013: The protest movement succeeded perhaps, but the people lost out

    Posted on 24/01/2013
    The pundits and the politicians agree that the protest movement succeeded, resulting in big electoral wins for Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid ("There is a future") and Naftali Bennett of the rightwing ha-Ba'it ha-Yehudi ("The Jewish Home"). These luminaries are united in their hatred of the Ultraorthodox and the Arabs and in their indifference to the workers. Both are future partners for Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. It's not at all clear that this is what Dafni Leef had in mind when she pitched her tent on Rothschild Boulevard starting the social protest of Summer 2011, but such is the gloomy outcome. Those who wanted to unite the entire people—left and right, settlers and impoverished middle-class youth—have succeeded in a big way. The protest refrained from calling on Bibi to resign in order not to be stigmatized as political, and so Bibi remains to conduct the choir.

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  • 2645. That's the number of votes the Daam Party received in the previous elections. But since the outbreak of social unrest, the socialist Daam party has become a hot trend in Tel Aviv. Party leader Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka explains why poverty is no lessworse badno less an evil than the Occupation, why she wouldn't have sailed on the Marmara, and why there is still hope in the Middle East.

    A new left arrives in Israel

    Posted on 13/01/2013
    2645. That's the number of votes the Daam Party received in the previous elections. But since the outbreak of social unrest, the socialist Daam party has become a hot trend in Tel Aviv. Party leader Asma Agbarieh-Zahalka explains why poverty is no lessworse badno less an evil than the Occupation, why she wouldn't have sailed on the Marmara, and why there is still hope in the Middle East.

    Continue Reading...

  • Something fascinating, innovative, authentic and hopeful is happening on the Israeli left and it has happened almost overnight. Though this something is still embryonic, a small bud not yet on the opinion poll radar, those following the left's dire situation can't miss it. For the first time since perhaps the death of Jewish-Arab communism of the 1950s, a new Israeli left has been born here, a left that carries hope and a new kind of vision.

    In an Arab woman, a new hope for Israel’s left

    Posted on 08/01/2013
    Something fascinating, innovative, authentic and hopeful is happening on the Israeli left and it has happened almost overnight. Though this something is still embryonic, a small bud not yet on the opinion poll radar, those following the left's dire situation can't miss it. For the first time since perhaps the death of Jewish-Arab communism of the 1950s, a new Israeli left has been born here, a left that carries hope and a new kind of vision.

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  • One might think that these elections are meaningless. The results are ostensibly known in advance, like a repeat broadcast of a soccer match. There’s a feeling of defeatism in the […]

    Riding the wave to the Knesset: The Daam campaign

    Posted on 23/12/2012
    One might think that these elections are meaningless. The results are ostensibly known in advance, like a repeat broadcast of a soccer match. There’s a feeling of defeatism in the […]

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  • As Israel goes to elections for the 19th Knesset in January 2013, two critical issues cry out for attention. The first is the political stalemate which will lead to a third intifada and a terrible confrontation with the Arab world. The second concerns the austerity program and drastic cuts to the national budget which will lead to unemployment, poverty and the collapse of public services.

    Daam Workers Party: Election platform for the 19th Knesset, 2013 (abridged)

    Posted on 18/12/2012
    As Israel goes to elections for the 19th Knesset in January 2013, two critical issues cry out for attention. The first is the political stalemate which will lead to a third intifada and a terrible confrontation with the Arab world. The second concerns the austerity program and drastic cuts to the national budget which will lead to unemployment, poverty and the collapse of public services.

    Continue Reading...

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