May 23, 2016

THE ONLY EXISTENTIAL THREAT IS INTERNAL:

Shake-up in Israeli politics prompts 'seeds of fascism' warning (LUKE BAKER, 5/23/16, Reuters)

A military affairs commentator interrupts his broadcast to deliver a monologue: I'm alarmed by what's happening in Israel, he says, I think my children should leave.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak warns of "the seeds of fascism". Moshe Arens, who served as defense minister three times, sees it as a turning point in Israeli politics and expects it to cause a "political earthquake".

The past five days have produced tumult in Israeli politics, since conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unexpectedly turned his back on a deal to bring the center-left into his coalition and instead joined hands with far-right nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, one of his most virulent critics.

Lieberman, a West Bank settler, wants to be defense minister. So on Friday, Netanyahu's former ally and confidant, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, resigned and quit Netanyahu's Likud party in disgust.

After a weekend to digest the developments, which are expected to be finalised in an agreement between Netanyahu and Lieberman on Monday to form the most right-wing government in Israel's 68-year-old history, commentators have tried to put it in perspective and found themselves alarmed.

For so long as there's a war going on, the Anglosphere can tolerate some divergence from the norm--witness South Africa, Spain, Chile, etc.

But when the war ends our allies have to practice what we preach too.  Israel is deviating ever further even as the war winds down.

Posted by at May 23, 2016 3:42 PM

  

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