{"id":942,"date":"2019-09-17T18:03:42","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T19:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=942"},"modified":"2019-09-25T13:03:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T14:03:03","slug":"why-this-israeli-election-is-important-and-why-none-of-them-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2019\/09\/17\/why-this-israeli-election-is-important-and-why-none-of-them-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why this Israeli election is important and why none of them matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

[There is an update to this post HERE<\/a><\/span>.] Israelis went to the polls today yet again, after only a few months, to try to see if a government could be formed from amongst the warring political parties in Israel. Polling on the day<\/a><\/span> puts the Kahol Lavan Party of Benny Gantz a half point ahead of Likud (Netanyahu), with those two parties far out in the lead. Five months ago, when Netanyahu had to form a coalition, he did so with far right parties. But then the Israeli Parliament dissolved itself and forced another election — this one. It is an important election in some respects,and then in another way, not. We’ll get to the why in both cases as we go along. <\/span><\/p>\n

Voter turnout for this election has been a little higher than in the last one<\/a><\/span>, with Arab turnout and the ‘left’ higher as well<\/a><\/span>, which has Bibi Netanyahu fearmongering to the Israeli public. It\u00a0 is reported that Bibi is breaking the law<\/a><\/span> by revealing internal polls and giving illegal interviews while polling is happening , too, and there are claims of voter fraud in stations across Israel. It sounds like another Israeli election is underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do we know about the two main candidates, Bibi and Gantz? Starting with Netanyahu, he is currently pursuing his fifth term as PM. His chart is listed on astro.com<\/a><\/span>, though I have not had time to check its veracity. He is facing indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases, the most damning of these being cases 1000 and 2000 in the police register. That may well come to bite him in the first of next year, when the Pluto\/Saturn transit happens on his Jupiter. If the astro.com chart is correct then directions to his Ascendant show a \u2018short journey\u2019, as well as, \u201cThe tendency to seclude oneself from others, and going one’s own way in life\u201d. We\u2019ll see.<\/span><\/p>\n

The police cases involve the receipt of expensive gifts while in office, which leave him open to influence, and manipulating media outlets. However, most of his voter base still wants him in the job<\/a><\/span>, whether he is formally indicted or not. Investigations into him began in December 2016<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s policies have been all over the news in recent years, so there is no real need to go back over them. His Likud Party is a far right hawkish party that advocates war with surrounding states. Its platform includes the right of settlement, rejection of a Palestinian state, a neo-liberal free market economic agenda, is said to be secular, but promotes the revival of Jewish culture in keeping with principles of Revisionist Zionism<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Netanyahu used to be on friendly terms with Donald Trump\u2019s largest donor, Sheldon Adelson, a casino mogul, and the latter was one of Bibi\u2019s largest supporters. They had a falling out<\/a><\/span> over \u00a0Adelson\u2019s newspaper Israel Hayom<\/em>. Trump has sought to influence the Israeli elections in favor of Netanyahu with gimmicks such as recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory before the last election (which is illegal), and now with his idea of a joint Israeli-American defense pact. With regard to the latter, that treaty won\u2019t happen<\/a><\/span>. If it were to, it would quickly become untenable to both sides. It was suggested in 1979 and quickly scotched, by Israel. But it might be enough to push Bibi over the line. That takes us to Gantz, Bibi\u2019s opponent in the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gantz is a former IDF chief<\/span><\/a>. (chart<\/a><\/span>) It was he who tied Bibi in the April elections, causing the do-over of that election. He campaigns on a center-left platform, although it is questionable whether such a center-left attitude actually exists in the main in Israeli politics. Further, there is a large gender gap in Israeli politics, but Gantz has vowed to create a 50-50 balance of gender within his party. He boasts of having the first ultra-Orthodox female lawmaker and female Druze lawmaker in his party. His policies are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGantz has called for pursuing peace with the Palestinians while maintaining Israel’s security interests\u2026He has signaled he would make territorial concessions toward the Palestinians, but has also sidestepped the question of Palestinian statehood. His party is also running on a platform promising to impose term limits on the prime minister (Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term), invest more in education, allow public transportation on Shabbat and enact civil marriages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The big problem with a Gantz victory is no so much his views, but the fact that the right wing in Israeli politics is the largest, meaning it would be difficult for him to form a coalition large enough to govern. And the right wing favors Netanyahu. It is Bibi\u2019s ace in the hole. That alone would appear to suggest that Netanyahu would be likely the next PM. However, there is a problem for Bibi. And that relates to his indictment.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a long list of Israeli public officials<\/a><\/span> who have been convicted of crimes and misdemeanors against the state. If Bibi is indicted, he may well find himself in good company with his fellow list members. Gantz has predicted that if Bibi does manage to make it to office for a fifth time, that he probably would not last eight months due to the indictment. Given the transits to his chart in the first of the year, that may well be a prescient prediction. Bibi\u2019s chart with directions and transits for the first of next year are below (bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We see the transiting stellium on his Jupiter, which is also trine his Midheaven in that chart. But then a few weeks later Saturn will transit square his Sun, indicating a slow period and possible setbacks. At the first of the year he also has a direction of Saturn to his Mars, showing weakness and troubles, and maybe a possible illness. And then there is a transit of Neptune opposite his Saturn preceding that, around the time the indictment is set to come (October), activating a solar arc of Uranus on his Saturn, showing pessimism, a painful loss and instability. Then, there are directions of Ceres and Jupiter to his Uranus, showing a sudden large turning point in his life. And all this can be read without a birth time, aside from the Midheaven reading. Apparently, if he does make it to office for a fifth term, it will not be in the best of circumstances, putting it mildly.<\/span><\/p>\n

With all the preceding in mind (and we don\u2019t even have to look at Israel\u2019s chart), why is this election so important? There are several reasons, but firstly because it comes at a critical juncture in Israel\u2019s history, as well as world history. Many events have come together at the same time that indicate a large shift of power in the Middle East, and that will impact Israel in very significant ways. Depending on the leadership in place, those changes can spell a better period or disaster, depending.<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, Israel has enjoyed relative impunity over recent years with attacks on Syria, supposedly against Iranian targets. However, the days of one-way pain are over<\/a><\/span>. Netanyahu had planned to hit several sensitive targets in Syria in the days before the election. He went to Russia to try and gain support for those strikes, saying they were necessary for Israeli security. It was an election stunt meant to garner ex-pat Russian votes. He returned to Israel chastened, having been told by Putin that strikes in Syria were no longer to be tolerated an to stay out of Lebanon as well<\/a><\/span>. Why, one might ask?<\/span><\/p>\n

Putin has been seen by some armchair pundits as being soft on Israel and too influenced by the Israel lobby in Russia (there is one, though not nearly to the extent there is in the US\/UK\/France). The reason is there are a large number of Russian expat Jews and their descendants in Israel<\/a><\/span>, on the order of 900,000 by conservative estimates. Putin had this to say:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr Prime Minister, I know that your country is on the eve of major domestic political events, the elections to Knesset on September 17, I believe. It is common knowledge that over 1.5 million former Soviet citizens live in Israel. We have always considered them our people, our compatriots. Naturally, we are not indifferent as regards future Israeli MPs, let me be straight about this. We are hoping they will be responsible politicians that will certainly maintain all recent achievements in bilateral relations and will move forward with us in developing Russian-Israeli ties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli actions in neighboring states put those Russian-speaking Israelis at risk. Russia has further condemned the planned annexation of the Jordan Valley<\/a><\/span> should Bibi win the election, a plan that Trump supports. He may come to regret it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondly, the war in Syria is all but finished, with the Syrians having won, with the help of the Iranians, Hezbollah and Russia. Russia wants to maintain the integrity of Syria and to help it rebuild. This has put Zionist interests, as well as those of other Arab states, on the back foot. Israel had plans for expansion being put forward by factions within the state, otherwise known as the \u2018Oded Yinon Plan<\/a><\/span>\u2019. That plan is now dead, barring unforeseen circumstances. Israel is a small nation, and if its population continues to grow<\/a><\/span> at a present rate of about 100,000\/year, with the current population at just over 9 million, it is increasingly feeling itself squeezed. Israel is the same size as New Jersey, with a comparable population. Its current population density<\/a><\/span> is about that of the Netherlands, also. There is not much room for a single family to own a plot of land by themselves. They are running out of personal space \u2013 unless they annex more land.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Deal of the Century<\/a><\/span> is supportive of a \u2018greater Israel plan\u2019. The immediate aim of the plan is the annexation of the entirety of the West Bank and Gaza. The greater plan is to destabilize the entire region and create an area of proxy states. Trump\u2019s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is a part of it, along with the recognition of the Golan as part of Israel, as well as withdrawal from the JCPOA and the sanctions against Iran. The entire plan has now been thrown into question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, thirdly, there is the rise of Iran as the dominant regional Islamic power. It is fast being integrated into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, at which point its security will be ensured, as well as its being integrated into China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative. China is investing heavily in Iran<\/a><\/span>. Israel, in some ways, is being used as a proxy by the US to get at Iran. Iran was to be the big prize of the neocons in Washington, but that is not to be now, either. However, the current belligerence toward Iran puts the average Israeli at serious risk, because if there were to be a war in the region Israel would be in the crosshairs of Iran, Hezbollah and Syria, as well as Iraq.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, there was the recent attack, claimed by the Houthis in Yemen, on the Saudi oil stations that have cut half of their production. There has been a rush to blame Iran for it. It has the hallmarks of a false flag, which will be addressed in the next article. Trump has said the US is \u2018locked and loaded\u2019. It could spark a larger conflict. If Bibi is reelected he would have Israel all-in on an attack on Iran, which would be the biggest of follies<\/a><\/span>. Gantz could be, too, but he appears to be a more sensible influence, having been the IDF Chief from 2011 \u2013 2015, and he is aware of the capabilities of the regional players. However, in a post earlier this year there is a possibility of a storm coming for Israel<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In summary, then, whoever makes it to the leadership with this election is important in this intervening period. The way it is looking, Israel needs to immediately start the process of making peace with all of its neighbors, especially Iran, settling the Palestinian crisis in a just and meaningful manner (not<\/u><\/em> the Deal of the Century). It would greatly benefit also from looking East, too, and lessening its dependence on the United States, which will be facing its own problems in the next few years. Gantz would appear to be a better choice in that regard, but not everything is as it seems. And that brings us to why these elections do not ultimately matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The way Israel is headed, it is on a path to eventual self-destruction. There is an article worth reading that describes why<\/a><\/span>, and the destructive influences are coming from internal divisions and Israel\u2019 demographics, as well as from tensions with outside forces. The slide downhill is also due to consistent poor policy decisions by its leaders. The main takeaways from the article, quoted, are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n