Washington, DC – Israel’s general election results are
a disappointment for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans. They will undoubtedly make our objective even harder to
attain.
Pre-election polls and the overall atmosphere in Israel preceding the
elections provided us with hope for a government that would embrace the policies and values that we support.
It now seems like Israel’s next government will provide us with more of the same, if
not worse.
Moments like this are not new to us. Yes, they disappoint us, but we do not succumb to the disappointment. We know
that our fight to secure peace for Israel and its neighbors is a long-term fight. We care too deeply about
Israel’s future as a democracy and a Jewish state to cede the struggle over Israel’s future character to the
bullies and the bigots, the racists and the ultra-nationalists. We know that the only way for Israel to be loyal to
the vision of its founders, to be both a secure, morally sound Jewish state and a democracy, is to end the
occupation and reach a peace settlement with the Palestinians and the Arab world. Together with our Israeli sister
organization, Peace Now, we will therefore redouble our efforts to advance this objective, serving as a bulwark
against the rejectionists and the zealots, true to our core values.
This week, Alpher discusses what happened in these elections*; what the next government is likely to look like; how Netanyahu engineered such a dramatic come-from-behind victory, despite the polls giving Labor (Zionist Camp) an advantage almost until election day; whether there are winners here, besides Netanyahu; how Herzog and Lapid are likely to respond to their setbacks, and what “losers” on the right who are nevertheless likely to join the coalition are going to do; how to explain the phenomenon of Israel's seeming to be set on a right-wing course, with no end in sight; and assuming Netanyahu now forms a fairly cohesive right-wing coalition, what are the main challenges it will face.
On March 13, 2015, APN's Ori Nir was interviewed on Warren Olney's NPR nationally syndicated show,
To the Point, to discuss Israel's upcoming elections.
Israeli Elections: Initial
Analysis
Briefing call Wednesday, March
18th, 12 noon, Eastern Time
With Israeli Security Expert Yossi Alpher
Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer.
Listen to the analysis HERE.
It is safe to say that in the past two years construction starts for approximately 5,000 housing units
took place in the settlements. This huge jump in construction starts took place, according
to the CBS, mainly in the beginning of 2013, whereas in Peace Now’s data it was reflected only in 2014.
On March 10, 2015 the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS or CBS) published the number of construction
starts for 2014. According to the CBS, 1,344 new housing units started to be built in the settlements in 2014 and
2,829 units in 2013. Peace Now, who conducted a count of all construction starts based on aerial photos, reported a
higher figure for 2014 (3,100 housing units) and lower one for 2013 (2,243 housing units). So how much was actually
built?
With less than a week before Israelis go to the polls, Israel's leading political blogger Tal Schneider spoke with APN's Ori Nir about the pre-election trends and about what she would be looking for on election night. Tal's English language blog is here: http://en.talschneider.com/
Israel Elections: What to Expect -- with Tal Schneider from Americans for Peace Now on Vimeo.
After my dear friend Leonard Nimoy died recently, I was reminded of the time in 2011 when I first
introduced him to Americans for Peace Now-- a shiddach worth celebrating. What was born of this relationship was
a fundraising letter that he enthusiastically endorsed.
In my March 4th tribute to Leonard published in Tablet, I noted, "When I've asked other celebrities to sign a petition, ad, or call to action—whether about peace or women's issues—they usually want to know who else is signing; they need cover; they need time to consult their friends, managers, or agents to be sure they're not risking their public image. Not Leonard. He simply read the suggested draft, tweaked a few sentences, then put his name to the letter, which closed with a plea for a tax-deductible contribution to APN -- and the inside Spock joke, "Dare I say it? It's the logical thing to do."
1) Where and when to follow election results and analysis?
If you are not a Hebrew speaker and are not going to tune in to online broadcasts of Israeli radio (Reshet Bet; Galei Tzahal) or television (Channel 1; Channel 2; Channel 10), you can start following exit polls and real results as of 10:00 PM Israel time (4:00 PM EST) on Tuesday, March 17 on Israeli English language web sites (Haaretz; The Times of Israel; Ynet; Jerusalem Post; i24) as well as on APN’s twitter accounts, available through our web site. Votes are typically counted quickly. A good picture of election results should be available before midnight EST.
Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.
Below is a compilation of elections-related materials from Yossi Alpher's Hard Questions, Tough Answers, December 8 to the present. You can see all Yossi Alpher’s Hard Questions, Tough Answers columns here.
March 18, 2015 - Israel’s Knesset elections - analysis
March 9, 2015
- Netanyahu’s speech to Congress: looking beyond the commentary heard thus far.
March 2, 2015 - Meanwhile, back home in Israel.
February 23, 2015 - Knesset election assessment.
February 16, 2015 - With one month to go, Netanyahu’s election manipulations.
February 9, 2015 - Jordan being dragged into the Syria conflict, escalated fighting in Sinai, an
election update and more.
January 26, 2015 - Netanyahu's invitation to speak before Congress, new elections lists, the Saudi
succession and more.
January 12, 2015 - The Paris attacks and the Islamist threat, election update, and more.
December 22, 2014 - UNSC Palestinian statehood votes; is there Israeli consensus on UN
intervention? and more.
December 15, 2014 - Israeli Elections - small signs of hope; and security and violence.
December 8, 2014 - The Israeli elections issue.