Ben-Gurion

Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party seems almost certain to become the country’s third largest parliamentary faction and, as such, a member of whatever ruling coalition the new prime minister forms. Lieberman is not new to the Knesset and he has held cabinet portfolios, but with between 15 and 20 parliamentarians in his faction, he will be far more powerful than he has ever been before. Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni of Kadima and Ehud Barak of Labor already granted Lieberman legitimacy by agreeing to sit in a government with him, but in the new government he will possess both legitimacy and power.

Press reports about Lieberman have focused on his promise to require Israel’s Arab citizens to sign a loyalty oath in order to preserve their citizenship. Stripping citizens of their rights because of their political views and ethnic origin is manifestly anti-democratic, but that’s hardly where it ends….

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Eran Ben-Yemini of TY-Meimad

Skeptical journalist that I am, I’ve been doubting my decision. I’ve been looking for the holes in my arguments. I’ve been agonizing. In the wake of the Gaza war, shouldn’t security issues take precedence? What if the Green Movement-Meimad doesn’t get over the 2 percent threshold? And if they do, what can a tiny party accomplish?

But now, with the election coming up next Tuesday, I’ve made my decision. Again. And it’s to vote for the only party in the race that I can be enthusiastic about. The only party that offers a new way of looking at the weighty issues that Israel will face in the years before us, the only party that offers a comprehensive, long-term vision of Israel’s future as a democratic Jewish state that is part of the local and global community of nations.

A friend told me the other day: “Environmental issues are important, but given the perils Israel faces, should the environment be the single issue you vote for?” A brief perusal of the movement’s platform….

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