I offer this simply to underscore how much many of the world elites want Netanyahu kicked to the curb. I'm pretty sure very few Israeli voters are going to cast their votes based on what The Economist has to say. But, it makes for fun reading.
Editorial published today:
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU is articulate, dashing—and distrusted, by friends and foes alike. Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French president, was once heard telling Barack Obama: “I can’t stand him. He’s a liar.” Mr Obama did not demur.
This month the Israeli prime minister offered fresh glimpses of his deviousness. Following reports that he had offered the Palestinians more generous terms than his rhetoric admits, Mr Netanyahu (pictured, right) tried to regain right-wing support by repudiating his acceptance, in a speech in 2009, of (strictly limited) Palestinian statehood. This leaves a big question: is the real Bibi a man of negotiation, or of occupation? Recklessly, he gambled with bipartisan American support for Israel when he defied Mr Obama by brazenly appearing before a Republican-dominated Congress to denounce the administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran: “This is a bad deal. It’s a very bad deal. We’re better off without it.”
On March 17th Israeli voters will have their say on Bibi (see article). In this newspaper’s view he has been a bad deal for Israel. It is better off without him. His challenger, Yitzhak “Bougie” Herzog (pictured, left), is not charismatic. But he is level-headed and has a credible security and economic team. He wants talks with the Palestinians and to heal ties with Mr Obama. He deserves a chance to prove himself. [emphasis added]
And:
He has refused to make any genuine concessions to the Palestinians, on the ground that “there is no partner for peace”—even though Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has abjured violence and maintained security co-operation with Israel in the West Bank (Gaza is controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement). Mr Abbas himself has plenty of shortcomings, but he has also been deliberately weakened by Mr Netanyahu. Israel has cut off Palestinian tax revenues in retaliation for Mr Abbas’s decision to join the International Criminal Court. The pragmatism that Mr Netanyahu sometimes expresses is belied by his actions: he has expanded settlements, thus breaking up Palestinian areas and making a mockery of the very notion of Palestinian statehood.
To be clear, I still bet that Netanyahu will end up forming a coalition by slim margin in alliance with the racist, right-wing, ultra-nationalists and Taliban-Pat Robertson like religious forces. And if Herzog-Livni are able to capture the government, people should not be shocked when very little changes in terms of how Israel deals with the Palestinians (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if, kind of Democratic Party-like on security, Labor will try to show how tough it is on security and do very little to end the prison-like conditions in Gaza, for example).
That said, it will be a cause for celebration to potentially end the political career of Netanyahu, who really stands at the head of class when you talk about conniving, narcissistic, psychopathic world leaders. The man is a scar. I recall, back when I lived in Israel in the 1970s, the chants of "Begin, Begin, Begin" when the right-wing took over in the 1977 elections--and signaled the rise of the Sharon-Netanyahu iron-fisted cadre...scum.