Give John McCain credit where credit is due. A so-called "maverick" and ideological Liberal-Independent in Republican clothing, his dance to the mythical Center (Left, in reality) was clearly not working and his campaign was floundering. In one bold stroke, he did what he needed to do. In picking Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain re-energized the core conservative base of the Republican party and suddenly vaulted ahead of Obama in the polls. You can talk all you want about Palin's appeal to women and her folksy style, but she is what McCain is not; a card-carrying conservative to the core who has the Republican DNA that McCain clearly lacks.
Binyamin ("Bibi") Netanyahu is Israel's John McCain. Bibi heads Likud, the largest party in Israel, the nationalist Right-leaning party that is truly a "mini-Israel," but Bibi clearly lacks Likud DNA. Evidence? Let's go back to the general elections of 2005. Political experts weigh in and state that Bibi will win if he leans more rightward. So what does he do? He plunges ahead in an attempt to find Israel's mythical Center, deviates the Likud to the Left on all national and security issues in order to clone the Likud in Kadima's style. It's a master strategy and a winner... for Kadima. Ehud Olmert, a shy(ster) lawyer and empty suit, wins the Prime Ministerial chair as head of the one-issue Disengagement party (or as it has now come to be known the expulsion-to-save-Ariel-Sharon's-rear-end-from-indictment party), while his mentor cools his body and brain in vegetative hibernation.
Fast forward to 2008. As Tzipi Livni will now attempt to form a government that will give away everything and the kitchen sink (no matter what Shas says), Bibi clearly is intent on proving me right when I tell his supporters he will never change. He attempts to shove leftists such as Dan Meridor and Uzi Dayan onto the Likud election list, as well as preserving the membership of about 3,700 people who are registered for both Likud and Kadima in order to again move leftward towards that mythical Israeli Center.
Why is Bibi doing this when again political experts are telling him to move Right? Well, ironically enough, Bibi is trying to hurt the Likud's Sarah Palin (in a political sense of course).
That's right, folks, Bibi's and the Likud's version of Sarah Palin is none other than Moshe Feiglin of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in Likud. See Bibi watch Feiglin slowly climb the Likud ladder to become the second most powerful figure in Likud with an unswerving, incorruptible message of non-coercive faith-based leadership, in order to form a true Jewish state. See Bibi watch Moshe's message take hold and begin to resonate with the Likudniks, both observant and secular. See Bibi try every dirty trick in the book to have Moshe thrown out of Likud, or at least marginalized and shoved further down a list in which no less a political expert than Ayala Hasson of Popolitika states that Moshe is within the Likud top five. See Bibi know that Moshe will not be his poodle or cut any deals with him. See Bibi realize that it is Moshe and not he who truly possesses the Likud DNA of leadership. Despite political experts telling Bibi to stop the dirty tricks and embrace Feiglin, rather than trying to hurt him, as it will help both him and Likud, see Bibi not listen and repeat the mistakes of 2005 all over again.
You see, Bibi, you have your own Sarah Palin right there in the Likud party - Moshe Feiglin. With him, you could reach out to many people on the Right and assure yourself and Likud victory in an upcoming election. But you also realize that Moshe will not toe the line for you in government and that you will not be able to silence him or buy him off. So you continue on your dysfunctional way and even talk of forming a unity government with the virtuoso pianist and part-time Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He who, except for the grace of G-d and Yasser Arafat's mind-numbing homicidal tendencies and Jew-hatred, almost succeeded in giving away most of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem while acting as Prime Minister.
Unity governments never work, Bibi. But then again, why should I expect you to prove me wrong? You have not disappointed me yet. I cannot wait to see what happens if Livni does form a government. Then, if there is some relative peace and quiet, she will become media darling number one and you will sink into irrelevancy, as the 80% of people who say they will vote for you but don't trust you may just turn to someone else to lead the Likud. That someone? Your Sarah Palin, Bibi.
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