Hope and Change Based on Naivete and Inexperience: The Herzog/Livni 100 Day Plan

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9:00 am Israel time, Friday, March 6 2015

11 Days Until The Election

**As you know, your humble servant has a problem with polls in Israel. They are often remarkably off-base because of extreme bias.

Apparently, your humble servant is not the only one who thinks so.

Yesterday, the Green Leaf Party (whose major platform plank is the legalization of marijuana), filed suit at the Israel Supreme Court demanding that all of the polling in Israel be halted.

It alleges that the polls never report that up to 30% of those surveyed are “undecided”, and that these “undecided” voters are assigned to various parties at the whim of those doing the polling. In doing so, the suit alleges, the polls present a demonstrably false picture to the public.

The suit cites a recent poll of the Sarid Institute in which the 30% undecided voters were primarily assigned by the poll-takers to the center and left parties ( for example, 7.5% were “given” to Herzog/Livni, and 3% were “given” to Likud).

In this particular Sarid poll, Likud actually had more real support, but the poll said that Herzog/Livni would receive more seats in the Knesset because of the poll’s allotment of the undecideds.

What the Green Leaf party is particularly upset about is that no poll is citing that it is actually close to the 3.25% threshold of getting into the Knesset.

**As the Obama Administration marches ever closer to a deal with the Iranians, the fighting in Syria is giving a clear picture of what Netanyahu was talking about before the U.S. Congress.

As was reported earlier in the week, another Iranian general was killed in the fighting. This particular general was in charge of all of the raw groups of mercenaries that Iran is flying into Syria from Afghanistan and Iraq (where dozens of Iranian T-72 tanks crossed the border this morning).

But as of yesterday, there is a new source of fighters for Iran in Syria–and that source is Yemen. Following the take over in Sana’a  of an Iranian-backed government, Iran immediately turned its attention to streaming “soldiers” from the Shi’ite tribes in Yemen into Syria. In the last week alone, more than 10,000 Yemenis have arrived at the Iranian base near Daraa, Syria.

TODAY’S BLOG

Well it is all there now for everyone to see. No more subterfuge, no more going out into Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria claiming to support them, no more pretending to maintain a distance from Barack Obama—nothing but pure, unvarnished Isaac Herzog (aka Bougie).

Today, Herzog has published the plan for his and Tzipi Livni’s first 100 days as leaders of Israel Prime Minister in an interview with Ari Shavit in Haaretz.

Allow your humble servant to summarize the “highlights” and interpolate my comments:

1. They will begin to implement the so-called Trajtenberg plan for socio-economic change. It should be noted that Manual Trajtenberg would become the new Finance Minister.

Israelstreet: Here is a short paragraph from Nehemia Shtrasler’s longer critique of Trajtenberg’s plan that appeared in the left-wing Haaretz newspaper one month ago (2/5/15):

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“It promises the world while forgetting there isn’t the money. It contains Houdini-style sleight of hand: We’ll increase spending and intervene without raising taxes, but we’ll still cut the deficit. How’s that possible? It’s not . . . So how can we talk about increased spending without getting into a Greek-style crisis?”

How will Trajtenberg solve the housing crisis in Israel? He proposes giving away land for free to developers to build houses if the government is allowed to rent the houses to young couples at subsidized prices. But in such a situation, what would be the incentive of developers to build houses and apartments at all? As Shtrasler points out, the Trajtenberg plan “would halt construction and spur price increases.”

2. They will then travel to Washington to embrace President Obama. 

Israelstreet: Of course Herzog will go to the White House to kiss the Moshiach’s tushke. After all, it is Obama who is providing the manpower and funds (through State Department grants) to get Herzog elected. There will undoubtedly be a kumbaya ceremony in the White House rose garden, complete with a gushing, loving hug between Tzipi Livni and John Kerry.

3. They will then travel to Cairo and ask President Sisi and plead with him to get Mahmoud Abbas back to the negotiating table.

Israelstreet: On the Egyptian side, does anyone really believe that President Sisi has one ounce of respect for Herzog and Livni? Sisi respects strength, something that Herzog and Livni sorely lack. Just two days ago, the Egyptians announced joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean this summer–with the Russians. These are the same Russians that are now providing more than $3 billion dollars worth of new military equipment to Cairo.

On the Palestinian side, of course Mahmoud Abbas will be turning handstands if Herzog and Livni will be elected. There will be no need for any more pretense of negotiations. All the PLO has to do is present a list of demands, and voila!, Herzog and Livni will accede to them. 

4. They will then make gestures to the Arabs in Israel by appointing an Arab minister and “projecting the feeling that the the period of division and internal strife is over, and that a period of healing and reconciliation is starting.”

Israelstreet: Obviously this is straight out of the Nelson Mandela playbook–the same Nelson Mandela who was an ardent supporter of the PLO (by the way, “reconciliation” will mean that Israel will need to ask forgiveness for the alleged “crimes” it has committed against the Palestinians). And the Obama playbook: if we just “project good feelings”, everything will be all right.  Kumbaya again.

5. They will immediately freeze all construction outside settlement blocks in Judea and Samaria. Herzog says that he will seek “an immediate arrangement [with the Palestinians] based on the demarcation of a boundary and the guaranteeing of security. And then [he adds] if the moment comes for evicting settlements, I will do so.”

Israelstreet: So there it is. No more pretense. The 375,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria will be evicted. Or at least Herzog and Livni will try to evict them. Expect the same process to take place in Jerusalem as Herzog and Livni give the Old City to the Palestinians.

In sum, it really is Barack Obama all over again. Hope and change based on naivete and inexperience. At least Obama had (it has long since vanished) the power of oratory on his side to inspire his followers, the squeaky and superficial Herzog has nothing going for him except the Israeli populace’s fatigue with Benjamin Netanyahu.