Is it the individual citizen who is more important in a free society, or is it the government? It’s easy to see this as the philosophical choice during this election season: One side seems to favor the liberty of the individual, while the other favors the primacy of the government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced early national elections.
For the second time in just two months, the Israeli political universe was upended when Shaul Mofaz’s Kadima Party voted to quit Israel’s governing coalition.
The Kadima party will likely leave Israel\’s government coalition after negotiations with Likud over a universal draft bill broke down.
Stability and order, those are the pillars that enable a democratically elected politician to successfully pursue their agenda. And stability and order are exactly what Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, has guaranteed for himself and for his party by creating a new national unity government with his rivals.
Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz was approved as a government minister and Labor party chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich was appointed head of the opposition.
For years, Sderot was a city under siege, the target of non-stop rocket attacks launched by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza. School was halted, synagogues were silenced and in a community defined by courage, the fragments of rockets and mortars – the vehicles of attempted murder aimed at innocent Israelis – were plain for all to see. Sderot became a living museum of terror.
The Likud Party, which leads the ruling coalition, has submitted a bill to dissolve the current Knesset and is pushing for new elections on Sept. 4.
As one who has been harping for years on the Israel lobby’s unique ability to silence critics of Israeli policies whether they work in politics, the media, academia or anywhere else, I can’t say that I am surprised by the brouhaha surrounding Sunday’s 60 Minutes broadcast of a Bob Simon report on the treatment of Palestinian Christians.
A special Israeli government committee legalized three West Bank outposts and will seek a delay in the evacuation of a neighborhood in a Jewish settlement there.
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