Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Jewish Majority Prefers Nationalist Policies - not Left Imitation

The National Camp naturally numbers more than the Left. The majority of Israeli society identifies itself first as Jewish and is inclined to tradition and nationalism. Why then, does the Right seem to be shrinking?
Conventional political wisdom dictates that to win elections, the Right must get votes from Israel's illusive 'Center.' The political wisdom pundits urge the Right to win over Centrist voters by touting itself as Left-lite.

Reality, though, shows that just the opposite is true. In elections in which the Right remained true to its values, it won more mandates than the Left. But when it edged left-ward, it lost. Let us look at the facts:


In 1981 the Likud won 48 mandates. But then Likud PM Begin went to Camp David and implemented the policies of the Left. The destruction of the Sinai settlements brought the Likud down to 41 mandates in 1984. The Labor party won those elections with 44 mandates.

In 1988 the Likud returned to power with 40 mandates. But after focused pressure by the Left, Likud PM Shamir went to the Madrid Conference and opened the way for indirect talks with the PLO. The left turn did not help the Likud at the polling places. On the contrary - in the 1992 elections, Shamir lost to Labor candidate Yitzchak Rabin 32:44.

1n 1996 the Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu triumphed over Labor's Shimon Peres. Israel held its breath, anticipating that Netanyahu would nullify the Oslo Accords. But just the opposite occurred. Netanyahu shook Arafat's hand, signed the Wye Accords and Oslo marched on. In the following elections in 1999 the Likud crashed to 19 mandates and Labor's Ehud Barak became prime minister.

Support for the Labor shrank as a result of the Arab uprising in 2000. In the elections of 2003 Ariel Sharon brought the Likud to a massive victory against Labor, winning 38 mandates as opposed to Labor's 19. Sharon was elected to defeat the Arab enemy. But he veered sharply left and destroyed Gush Katif. Israel despaired of a nationalist alternative to the Left and in the 2006 elections, the Likud shrank to an all time low of just 12 mandates.

Conclusion: The Likud represents the right-leaning Jewish majority in Israel. The way for the Likud to win elections is to remain loyal to the values of Israel's Jewish majority. These are the values that Manhigut Yehudit promotes!

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