APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday March 18, 2015

Quote of the day:

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Breaking News:
A resounding victory for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud party. Israelis woke up shocked to find that the two top parties were not neck and neck at 27 mandates, as they had thought when they went to bed following the release of exit polls, but that Likud had 30 and Zionist Camp had 24. Netanyahu called for a nationalist coalition and Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog conceded defeat today.
 
Front Page:

Haaretz

• Significant achievement for Netanyahu; Rivlin: A unity government is necessary – Likud 27; Zionist Camp 27; Joint (Arab) List 13; Yesh Atid 12; Kulanu 10; Habayit Hayehudi 8; Shas 7; Yehadut Hatorah (UTJ) 6; Meretz 5; Yisrael Beiteinu 5; Yachad 0
• K-U-L-A-N-U’s (everyone’s) prime minister – Kahlon is kingmaker // Yossi Verter
• The change that didn’t happen // Ari Shavit
• Fear and loathing // Chemi Shalev
• A slap for Lieberman // Gidi Weitz
• Boomerang effect // Barak Ravid
• Really refreshing // Amira Hass
• Replace the people // Gideon Levy
• That’s it, poof // Kobi Niv
• Very narrow // Uri Misgav
• Trans Polling Station journey of a lone voter // Roee (Chicky) Arad
• In Sderot they forgot Operation Protective Edge, in Nahal Oz they voted under guard
• Kahlon, the hottest thing in Ghajar village
• Iran: Only one issue left to solve; US: Difficult disputes still remain in negotiations

• Close battle
• Bibi Boom // Nahum Barnea
• Dawn of an old day // Sima Kadmon
• Life in the bubble // Eitan Haber
• (Kahlon) The kingmaker // Ben-Dror Yemini
• The right-wing mobilized // Hanoch Daum
• They went to vote: High voter turnout – 71.8%

• Enormous victory: Netanyahu close to fourth term – contacts for Kahlon-Lieberman bloc
• Two states // Ben Caspit
• No news for the economy // Yehuda Sharoni suggests Kahlon join Herzog
• Last chance // Nadav Haetzni

• Success for Netanyahu; Calls on Kahlon to join – In opposition to the left-wing campaign and most of the media, surprise: Likud leads sample polls and expected to form next government
• The people chose Netanyahu in opposition to the commentators’ position – and they are continuing to try to bypass the decision // Boaz Bismuth
• Victory over the unprecedented coalition of interests // Haim Shine
• Prime Minister couldn't expect a sweeter victory // Mati Tuchfeld
• It’s not true that a unity government is paralysis // Dan Margalit  
• Ultra-Orthodox dropping – but real results will tell // Yehuda Shlezinger
• Public sick of media and the arrogance of the left-wing // Dror Eydar
• The public identified the lies of (Yedioth publisher) Noni Mozes – and threw them away // Itsik Saban
• The day after: What awaits the elected prime minister?
• They voted with their legs: Hundreds of thousands took advantage of the holiday for trips and entertainment
• World coverage: “Head-to-head battle in Israel”

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News Summary:
In the highest voter turnout since 1999, when Ehud Barak beat Binyamin Netanyahu, 71.8% of Israeli voters showed up at polls– and crowned Netanyahu as their leader – for the fourth time. However, that was not clear last night, when the three local TV station exit polls showed the two parties neck-and-neck at about 27 mandates, with a slight lead for Netanyahu. A center-left coalition had a larger bloc than the right-wing, but Moshe Kahlon, chairman of Kulanu party, was the kingmaker. Nevertheless, Netanyahu claimed victory last night, while Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog said the race was still open. By morning it would become clear that the race was over. Netanyahu garnered more mandates at the expense of the other right wing parties, such as Naftali Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi party.
 
Today’s papers discussed what happened to the different parties and the commentators, most of whom have been highly critical of Netanyahu, discussed why - despite everything they wrote and everything wrong he did, he succeeded.

One of the lowest and most controversial points of the election campaign took place during the voting yesterday, when Netanyahu resorted to race-baiting against Arabs, ‘warning’ right-wing voters to get out and vote because Arab citizens were voting ‘in droves.’ Zehava Galon, head of the left-wing Meretz party, responded: "Dire Warning: Israeli citizens are voting in the elections. "Nevertheless, the Joint (Arab) List, made up of the Jewish-Arab Hadash party and Arab parties made a great achievement when it became the third largest faction in the Knesset with 14 mandates.

Quick Hits:

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Features:

An unlikely candidate makes gains in Golan Arab village
Voters in Ghajar, a Syrian village split between Syrian and Lebanese territory whose inhabitants are Israeli citizens, are divided. (Noa Shpigel, Haaretz+)
Israeli parties' stance on Palestinians
After an election campaign in which the Palestinian issue rarely featured, Netanyahu upped the stakes by unequivocally ruling out a Palestinian state in the near future. But it is an issue no Israeli government can afford to ignore as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and the Palestinian leadership advances international legal and diplomatic action against Israel. Here is an outline of the main parties' positions on the issue. (AFP, Maan)
Israelis on the street weigh in on the election - and why they voted as they did 
Nearly 6 million Israelis are eligible to vote and the turnout is reportedly heavy. Here are the voices of a few of them, voters from across the political spectrum. (Agencies, Haaretz)
 
Commentary/Analysis:

Netanyahu’s election campaign of fear and loathing (Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+) Many analysts said that Israel's elections were superfluous from the outset, but no one predicted how ugly they would get. 
Stupid unjustified hatred: What is the one lesson we should learn from these elections? (Doron Cohen, Maariv) One thing should be clear after this election campaign: Israel’s existential threat is not Iran, it’s not ISIS, nor Hamas nor Hezbollah. Our existential threat is singular and it is right under our holy nose: hatred. Between religious and secular. Between the right and left. Between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Between Tel Aviv and settlers. Between Jews and Arabs. Intense and burning hatred, yes. But we don’t need to say that it’s hopeless, because more than it being profound and blazing, it is superstitious and stupid. Unjustified stupid hatred.
As an Israeli, I am ashamed that my prime minister is a racist (Bradley Burston, Haaretz+) All this week, he made us one consistent promise: In his coming term as prime minister, there will be no hope. It is one promise that we have all come to believe he can keep.
Netanyahu won, but Israel was brought to its knees (Ari Shavit, Haaretz+) In preferring Lapid, moderate Israelis voted against change and gave the power back to Netanyahu and to a government that will take us to the brink.
Bibi is a magician after all (Nahum Barnea, Yedioth/Ynet) Netanyahu succeeded in reviving Begin's Likud, making voters who didn't want to hear about him cast a ballot in his favor; now he has to make good on his pledge to be a PM for all.
A special moment for Israel (Haim Shine, Israel Hayom) 
With the Likud victory, the land of Israel has been saved from a treacherous attempt to divide it.
**It's time to replace the Israeli people (Gideon Levy, Haaretz+) If after everything, the Israeli phoenix succeeded in rising from the ashes and getting reelected, something is truly broken, possibly beyond repair. 
Two states: the public is afraid for its safety and thinks Netanyahu is the medicine (Ben Caspit, Maariv) The addiction to polls and the tremendous campaign that the Prime Minister managed to do - these elections proved: Israeli citizens speak economically, but vote on security.
Israel's High Court shirking its duty on racial profiling (Eli Bahar, Haaretz+) The court’s refusal to decide on ethnic profiling at airports is nothing less than scandalous. 
New Israeli government, new possibilities (Yossi Shain, Yedioth/Ynet) The current geopolitical trends demand that the next government functions in the regional and international arenas with a sophisticated combination of its economic, military and moral fortitude.
The collective irrationality of voting in Israel (Kobi Niv, Haaretz+) Casting a ballot here is not rational, not for even a second: It is a tribal vote, tribal and nothing else.
Israeli Spring is in the air? (Oudeh Basharat, Haaretz+) It turns out that Israeli Arabs are indeed a threat; they threaten the hegemony of a government that divides the two peoples and the hatred percolating under every statement by the extreme right.
A victory in the media referendum (Dror Eydar, Israel Hayom) The public has had its say: it is sick of the media's condescension and one-dimensional politicization disguised as journalism.
Israeli vote shows the age of rulers and subjects is over (Amir Oren, Haaretz+) The public has demanded to be treated differently by whoever heads the next government.
Among Joint List's many tasks: Convincing Arabs it was worth voting (Amira Hass, Haaretz+) The magnitude and multitude of the tasks facing Joint List in the coming term is equal to the depth of the oppression, discrimination and alienation among Israel’s Palestinian citizens.
This time, it's a personal vote: Netanyahu, yes or no? (Nahum Barnea, Tuesday Yedioth) It's rare for a prime minister to evoke such strong feelings of resentment among so many publics, but Netanyahu probably earned it. He is perceived as a person living in a bubble, whose real life isn't the Israeli public's real life.
Lieberman's collapse – and survival (Barak Ravid, Haaretz+) Yisrael Beiteinu leader miscalculated where voters stand, and misjudged to what extent the second generation of Russian newcomers is well integrated into Israel’s fabric.
Gloomy Tuesday for Habayit Hayehudi as Bennett's party comes up short (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz+) The right's darling in 2013 has proved a disappointment in 2015 with only eight or nine projected Knesset seats.
Netanyahu's sweet victory (Mati Tuchfeld, Israel Hayom) Netanyahu's victory was just as much thanks to the Left's hubris as the public's natural right-wing inclination. 
Kahlon must thwart establishment of extreme right-wing government (Haaretz Editorial) Kahlon must either support Herzog for prime minister, or compel the leaders of Likud and Zionist Union to join forces in the spirit of President Reuven Rivlin.

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.