I just walked outside, this beautiful Sunday afternoon. If I had squinted my eyes enough, I would've sworn I was back in my front yard with the beautiful tiny, white flowers that signal spring has sprung. But then I felt the welcomed desert wind sweep across my body, and I remembered that I'm in my adopted, crazy, fun new home.
And with that in mind, I have quite a bit to update readers on!
This post, I'll focus on the Israeli elections that happened March 17th. It's possible that this is simply the first time that I have felt calm enough to write about them. And with the disappointing results, it's not as easy to find news stories in English on the topic of coalition building and where this next Netanyahu government will go. English news, is in fact, obsessed with what is going on with the Iran deal and the hustle and bustle leading up to Passover (which begins Friday evening). I will still attempt to add some insight and explanation to what has happened on the Israeli political scene.
Just a very quick run down of how elections and the government in general work here. The Israeli legislative branch, called the Knesset, is made up of many different parties that represent a wide spectrum of interests in Israeli society. When elections roll around, we Israelis must vote for a party, and the head of the party who receives the most votes will most likely be appointed as Israeli's prime minister. This is up to the Israeli president (who is Reuben Rivlin as of last summer) - s/he appoints the party head who seems most likely to be able to build a coalition of parties that will make up a majority in the Knesset (61+ seats, as there are 120 available seats in the Knesset). That party head must then dive into negotiations with the parties whom s/he is courting, bargaining about things like the budget, which ministry positions each party will receive (like who will be Housing Minister and so on), and which committees the party can control. This is currently where we are right now...kind of just waiting to see what sort of a deal will be reached. It's so funny because last elections, I felt like there was SO much coverage on the elections...who was requesting what in order to be in the coalition, the DEADLINE for the building of the coalition. This time around, I don't feel that sense of urgency or need to know. Maybe everyone is just ready for more of the same? Blah.
Netanyahu and his right wing Likud party won the most Knesset seats (30 total), and so he has been charged with forming the coalition. There was a huge movement from the left these elections, trying to muster enough votes to put the left in the coalition. And it seemed promising. The left in Israel is (and this is very general) more focused on societal welfare, taking care of citizens with public services, and finding a solution for peace with the Palestinians (again, among other things). The right is very much about security, strengthening Israel's borders, and is not the most friendly when it comes to peace negotiations. Anyway, to the dismay of many, the left did not pull out a win, although the left's voice was pretty significant.
It will be interesting to see what happens, what changes. For now, I'm not as depressed and hopeless as I was. The night of the elections, I literally felt, "If the left doesn't get this, I've got to find another place to live." But, I'm over that. I'm not at all happy with the elections. I'm not happy with Netanyahu. His policies have caused housing and food prices to skyrocket while education and minority issues have just gone down the toilet. He's also taken a nice, steaming dump on diplomatic relations with America, which puts me on edge a bit. But...I'm still here. Even though he's not who I want to be running this precious country, I will deal with it. And I will keep fighting the good fight - for the minorities in this country, for the rights of every human being, good health care and strong education. Better situations and rights for workers. Equal share of the burden among all of Israel's citizens. The list could go on.
Please, leave questions in the comments. I'd love to discuss this more in depth and see what more I can share with you, my lovely audience! Looking forward to hearing from you!
Happy Passover!
