It’s always something

Friends,

It seems like there’s always something. When the domestic front is quiet, the regional goes beserk. And vice versa.

Now Israel faces what could be an unprecedented failure by any party to form a coalition government. After asking the Israeli citizen for his or her vote twice in the past few months, Netanyahu seems unable to form a coalition. This, even after concessions to his rival parties that were seen as untenable when President Rivlin first gave him the right to form our new government.
In about a month or earlier, we will be wiser and know whether the third option is enacted, for the first time in Israeli history – by law, the Knesset Members can band together and support a third candidate, from any party, for Prime Minister. What kind of partnerships would that entail? Let your imagination run wild. Here’s a breakdown of parties for reference, have fun creating your version of a coalition, it’ll probably be as close as any to the so-far unforeseeable outcome.

Note: some of these details have shifted as well, but not significantly.

Cynicism aside, this is a serious blow for Netanyahu and for the Likud, as well as the conservative right who find ourselves nail-biting as unknown leadership may emerge – and until the smoke clears, we won’t know for sure what they have planned on domestic and foreign policies. Some are optimistic, so let’s keep that door open as well.

On our northern border, US policy has not been greeted with support from Israel. The Kurds were our allies, and Syria is a dangerous game, too close to home for us. It seems that the old saying is true yet again, Israel must look out for its own national interests, relying on ourselves in the long run. It’s okay for close allies to have discrepancies in policies, as long as we respect each other’s right to secure policies – we just dont have the bandwidth for mistakes in this part of the world. President Trump has enjoyed Israel’s support but in this case we see things differently, and have explained that to many friends in Washington.

Now that a deal has been reached, we can learn from mistakes and not repeat them, in order to build a more stable environment just a few miles from Jerusalem. The challenge now is to evaluate Putin’s power in the region and keep it under control – if possible.

On a positive note, the Sukkot holiday has passed and with it some rains are now thundering in, a welcome segway into more wintery weather for this region.
Many of you have been to Gush Etzion and its city of Efrat – Enjoy.

Ruthie, Sarah, Avi & the rest.