Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a new government and the mandate has now been given to his central political rival, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman has implored Gantz to form what he calls a "national, liberal government" that comprises Likud, Blue and White and his party.
Benny Gantz and Avigdor Liberman meeting to discuss a unity government (Photo: Elad Malka)
Yisrael Beytenu a liberal party? It seems liberalism has a new definition these days.
Standard liberalism ascribes to equal political rights for all, and I simply cannot remember if and when Liberman's party platform included the basic liberal demand to allow voting rights to Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank.
Nor have I seen Yisrael Beitenu's leader demand a withdrawal from the territories as a liberal worldview would dictate.
Perhaps as a new liberal, Liberman will demand public investment in the Arab community be equal to the budget allotted to Jews, as a pre-condition to participation in a coalition government.
In fact, he should have demanded that West Bank Palestinians and West Bank Jews be given the same services and support. If he is a liberal, let him be liberal.
The late Menachem Begin, as prime minister pledged to give equal funding to Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem. He did not - nor did any subsequent government.
Yisrael Beytenu calls for an exchange of territory whereby Jewish settlements will become part of Israel while Arab communities inside the pre-1967 borders become part of the West Bank and under military rule.
The party also demands corporal punishment for terrorists, home demolitions for terrorists without Supreme Court interference and a policy in the West Bank that ignores any court rulings on Israeli sovereignty and settlements.
Unity governments in Israel were never described as liberal. Indeed, prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres (who shared a rotating premiership after the 1986 elections) never described themselves as such.
In Israel, liberal means being opposed to Netanyahu. Being anti-liberal therefore means supporting the outgoing prime minister.
That is the premise upon which Yisrael Beytenu's liberal government would be built, but a national unity government cannot be liberal by virtue of its makeup.
It is a government that includes opposing positions, some liberal, others religious or nationalist or social-democratic.
Sitting around the cabinet table will be ministers who follow separate and often conflicting ideologies. Such a government - which may be inevitable considering the results of the last two elections - would certainly have to mitigate any liberalism and not celebrate it.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz receives a mandate to form a governement from President Reuven Rivlin (Photo: Rafi Kotz)
In his impressive performance Wednesday, as he was receiving the mandate to form a government from President Reuven Rivlin, Gantz said he intends to form a strong and broad government that would include as many political parties as possible.
A "reconciliation government," he called it, and only at the end of his statement did he quietly describe this future coalition as a liberal one.
The decisions facing any incoming government deserve ideological debate and opposing views and the world is undergoing such ideological conflicts every day.
The Brexit row in the United Kingdom is one such example, and it would be delusional to believe Israel would be able to meet the challenges ahead without having an intense debate such as the one currently taking place in Britain.
Israel should not declare it is heading towards national unity, not even if it is dressed up in liberal clothing.
Read more here:
In Israel, being liberal does not mean what you think it means - Ynetnews
- Opinion | Whats Stopping Liberals From Having Kids? - The New York Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- What went wrong for the EU election-losing Greens and Liberals? - Euronews - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Increase in Liberal Views Brings Ideological Parity on Social Issues - Gallup.com - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Calls Taylor Swift Unusually Beautiful, Questions Whether Her Liberal Views Are An Act - Billboard - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Liberal Media Scream: The View says black people not allowed to leave the Democratic plantation - Washington Examiner - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Wonders If Taylor Swift Is Just Pretending To Be Liberal - HuffPost - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- 'Is That Just An Act?' Trump Questions 'Unusually Beautiful' Taylor Swift's Liberal Views - International Business Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Liberal columnist warns that having a fitness routine turns you into a 'right-wing jerk' - Fox News - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Vote liberal in the 2024 European elections! - ALDE Party - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Says Taylor Swift Is 'Unusually Beautiful,' Bemoans Her Being Liberal - TMZ - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Opinion: The Liberal government's response to foreign interference is UltraBasic - The Globe and Mail - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump on Taylor Swift: 'Unusually Beautiful' But 'Liberal' - Jezebel - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Questions Whether 'Unusually Beautiful' Taylor Swift Is 'Legitimately Liberal' - The Daily Wire - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump: 'Beautiful' Taylor Swift may not be the liberal she claims - The Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- The Waning Patriotism of Modern Liberals: A Call to Rediscover National Pride - ASEAN NOW - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Conservative mom who fled to Idaho to escape liberal politics claims family was BULLIED for being from Califor - Daily Mail - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Wonders if Taylor Swift Being a Liberal Is 'Just an Act' - PopCrush - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Fox News Anchor Comes Unglued, Berates 'Dumb' Liberal Colleague - The Daily Beast - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Mathew Chandy '24, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - UConn Today - University of Connecticut - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Will No One Rid Me Of These Meddlesome -Isms: Thinking and Rethinking Liberalism - Front Porch Republic - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Why market demand doesn't capture the value of the liberal arts | Letters - Tampa Bay Times - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- See what the students were wearing for the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High prom - Savannah Morning News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Is a $330000 liberal arts education still 'worth it?' - Los Angeles Loyolan - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Judge installed by liberal Democrats over centrist Hochul pick responsible for Harvey Weinstein ruling - New York Post - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Liberal Cities, Conservative Towns Seek Supreme Court's Help on Homelessness - The Wall Street Journal - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Luke Grimes on Yellowstones liberal critics: A lot of people see a cowboy hat and think, thats not for me - The Independent - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Liberal pundits really do have weekly meetings to 'shape' message on Trump - Washington Times - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Trump slams 'Bidenomics' ahead of court, claims to have a 'good chance' of winning liberal state - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Ones a Conservative, Ones a Liberal. Heres Their Secret to Friendship. - InsideHook - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Bill Cotterell: What? NPR is liberal? Say it ain't so - Tallahassee Democrat - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Orban: Hungary is island in the European progressive liberal ocean - bne IntelliNews - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- NY Times keeps spotlight on NPR crisis on heels of Uri Berliner blowing whistle on liberal bias - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- CPAC Hungary: ex Polish PM Morawiecki warns of "destructive ideas of liberal elites" - Notes From Poland - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- The biggest threat to freedom in the West is liberalism itself - The New Statesman - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Letter: NPR Editor Berliner reveals liberal bias of network - Arizona Daily Star - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Chicago native says residents livid over liberal mayor's new migrant funding, ready to vote for Trump - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Ontario Liberal leader says Dresden landfill project could be nixed with 'stroke of a pen' - The Chatham Daily News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Opinion: The Liberals' immigration policies have accomplished the opposite of what was intended - The Globe and Mail - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- At Issue | Was the Liberal budget a bust with Canadians? - CBC.ca - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Have the Liberal Arts Gone Conservative? - The New Yorker - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Letters to the Editor: 'I see myself in Katie Britt' what liberal critics missed in the senator's response - Los Angeles Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Even when it criticizes Israel, the liberal world is not against us - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Former Trump Aide Alyssa Farah Griffin Becomes a Liberal Favorite - The New York Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Renowned author, liberal arts proponent to deliver annual Lester Lectures - Mercer University - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- NYU to Host Zaheer Ali at the Annual Liberal Studies Student Research ColloquiumApril 5 - NYU - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Power to the Neighborhoods!: New York City Growth Politics, Neighborhood Liberalism, and the Origins of the ... - Joint Center for Housing Studies - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Canada's Conservatives back NDP-Liberal anti-scab legislation that undermines the right to strike - WSWS - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- The Surprising Left-Right Alliance That Wants More Apartments in Suburbs - The New York Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- PARKER: Clarence Thomas, liberal racism and the ongoing denigration of Black conservatives - Kankakee Daily Journal - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Media Scream: Hollywoods freaks over Trump - Washington Examiner - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Why liberals failed in the fight against antisemitism - JNS.org - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Renew manifesto sneak peek and bits from Bucharest congress - EURACTIV - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Katie Britt calls on liberal media 'to pay attention' to border - 1819 News - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal truck wash cited $171k for OSHA violations - KSN-TV - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Over 30,000 Killed in Gaza, but Even Israel's 'Liberal Left' Says: That's War - Opinion - Haaretz - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Man Injured in Beaver County Accident - KSCB News.net - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- What is the Market's View on China Liberal Education Holdings Ltd (CLEU) Stock's Price and Volume Trends Monday? - InvestorsObserver - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- German liberals send defence expert into tripartite EU election leadership team - EURACTIV - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Ramaswamy warns liberal justices 'buying political latitude' with 9-0 ruling as more Trump cases lie ahead - Fox News - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- How much of this is propelled by white liberal guilt from executives?: Gutfeld - Fox News - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberals and the Libel of Christian Nationalism - The Imaginative Conservative - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Arts & Science Academy - Austin extends home winning streak to seven - MaxPreps - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Racism and the Denigration of Black Conservatives - Daily Signal - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Watchdog group exposes radical, liberal ideology of school-based health centers - The Lion - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- What happens when a liberal learns her family owned slaves? - Leader & Times - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Is it Liberal Arts, Without the Arts? - Xavier Newswire - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Quebec Liberal Party would be more popular with Denis Coderre at the helm: poll - Montreal Gazette - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Maine's Liberal Members of Congress Stand by Biden After Disastrous, Confused Press Conference - The Maine Wire - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Liberal Media Scream: Kristen Welker likes to lecture Republicans, too - Washington Examiner - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Australia's only Liberal government lives on - for now - Yahoo News Australia - February 11th, 2024 [February 11th, 2024]
- Liberal institutions are the threat to liberal institutions Claudine Gay is warning about - Washington Examiner - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Elon Musk, the "free speech absolutist" kicks liberal journalists off Twitter - Daily Kos - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Liberal Arts and studies in humanities under attack on college campuses - The Community Word - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Liberal candidate for federal byelection planned to run for Conservatives last year - National Post - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Bill Barton: 'The Liberal by the Bay' - Redheaded Blackbelt - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- OPINION | Female-dominated liberal arts imperative in male-dominated tech world - Tulane Hullabaloo - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- Dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts job with Tarleton State University | 37572379 - The Chronicle of Higher Education - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- Laughing Stock: 'A liberal agenda' may not be what you think - Tucson Weekly - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- Justin Trudeau plays the Trump card - POLITICO - POLITICO - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]
- Norman Lear, Producer Of TV's 'All In The Family' And Influential Liberal Advocate, Dies At 101 - Newstalk 750 - 103.7 ... - KFQD - December 7th, 2023 [December 7th, 2023]