A Political Storm on Israel’s Horizon
Israeli politics is in the eye of the hurricane, but the calm won’t last long.
After corruption allegations forced Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to announce that he would resign following an internal party primary to replace him, the political calendar is gearing up for the aftermath of the September 17th vote. No one knows for sure whether snap elections will be held or whether a new coalition will be formed that could postpone elections for up to two years.
While only two candidates — Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Defense Minister and current Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz — have any hope of succeeding Olmert, two others are vying for the throne. Though long time pol Meir Shetreet and Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter have little chance, their presence in the race, combined with a party rule that requires a candidate to garner at least 40% of the vote, may force a run-off a week later. In the past, such minor candidates have dropped out of the race at the last minute, avoiding an embarrassing defeat and instead assuming the role of kingmaker.
Whatever happens, by September 24, either Livni or Mofaz will take the reins of Kadima. While Livni leads in the polls by a substantial margin, a lot of the smart money is on Mofaz. To many, this race looks like a repeat of the Labor leadership contest in 2005. Then, a very popular Shimon Peres was stunned on election day when a double-digit lead in the polls didn’t help against a better organized Amir Peretz. With an estimated 40,000 primary voters deciding this contest, organization should prove decisive. Edge to Mofaz.
If Mofaz wins, his only viable option is to form a coalition because if he fails to do so, he will face an election that he will almost certainly lose to Benjamin Netanyahu . The prospects of forging that coalition increased considerably two weeks ago when Labor leader Ehud Barak picked up the morning paper and saw that his party would win 12 or 13 seats in new elections, down from 19 in the current Knesset.
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Ron Dermer was most recently Israel's minister of economic affairs in the U.S. He is the co-author with Natan Sharansky of the bestselling book, The Case For Democracy.
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4 Comments
1. SAF:Indeed Israel is at a dangerous crossroad. While Olmart has been fiddling the Palestinians have been arming to the teeth with the help of Syria and Iran.
After the US election (my belief is that there will be no major action by any terrorist group before as they would love to deal with a President Obama rather than McCain and any terror act reminds the American electorate just how naive Obama is)there will be another mid east war that the Israeli’s will loose again but with much more casualties and property loses.
Not clear to me that Livni is up to the job.
Sep 16, 2008 - 4:13 am 2. “Israeli politics is in the eye of the hurricane…” « Gunservatively!:[...] 16, 2008 by gunservatively Ron Dermer’s article on the coming storm in Israeli politics. After corruption allegations forced Prime Minister Ehud [...]
Sep 16, 2008 - 5:24 am 3. Rivka:Excellent article. Since I am very familiar with hurricanes, it looks to me like Kadima will make sure that the Israel remains under the muddy waters of Hurricane IKE.
Sep 17, 2008 - 8:49 am 4. Ken Besig:Livni is too weak and too lacking in political savvy to form a government, so Olmert will remain in power indefinitely or until he is indicted, which could take months. Worse, during that time, Israel will effectively be without a government that can take decisions on anything, and given the situation here, that might lead to our enemies taking a chance on war. What we need in Israel now is a general election but given the present coalition, they will do and say anything, even up to endangering Israel, to stay in power.
Sep 19, 2008 - 5:44 am