Israel is holding it's election today (which means no work, even for us goyim! Yay!), and unlike the last election in early 2013, this election could be a game-changer, booting out Benyamin Netanyahu.
Israel has a complex political spectrum, due to it's multi-ethnic community. The country was founded by Secular European Jewish refugees fleeing post-Holocaust Europe. They tended to have left-wing, secular ideals. A small ultra-orthodox community accompanied them at the time, but due to their massive birth-rate (Haredi women have an average of 7.7 children per annum) the ultra-orthodox now factor in at ~10 % of the country. This is a politically contentious issue since most male Haredim do not work; due to the "status quo" agreement between the Secular Zionists and Ultra-orthodox at the founding of the country, Yeshiva students receive a "stipend" from the government and do not have to serve in the military. By 2060 the country is project to be up to 50 % Ultra orthodox, so secular Israelis will soon no longer be able to support the Haredim.
Backlash against the founding of Israel in 1948 caused Islamic countries to begin to repress their Jewish populations. This caused a massive exodus of Arab & Asian Jews (Mizrachi Jews), so now they represent ~50 % of the Jewish population in Israel along with the German Jews (Ashkenazim) and the Spanish Jews (Sephardim). The Sephardim had moved to Europe after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, so they come from both Europe and Africa/Asian regions. Of course, there has been traditionally been tensions between the Arab Jews and Ashkenazi Jews since the German Jews tend to believe in their genetic superiority.
Following the influx of Mizrachi Jews, there was the import of Ethiopian Jews, who tend to now work as janitors or other low-skilled positions. Then after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a large influx of Russian-speaking Jews, mostly from Ukraine. These Israelis are generally secular, but hard-right, often saying that the Arabs don't belong in Israel and should be expelled.
Arabs are also a fractured community in Israel, though Arab Israelis number ~20 % of the population, they are not fully represented due to their political splits and voter apathy. There are the Druze and Bedouins who initially supported the formation of Israel and even serve in the military today. Also there are the Arab Christians, who are mixed on their support of Israel, though some have been expressing their willingness to serve in the military recently. Finally there are the Palestinian Muslims who hold Israeli citizenship, and also split into Secular vs. Religious camps.
So the complex Israeli political spectrum has ethnic splits (European Jew vs. Mizrachi Jew vs. Sephardi Jew vs. Soviet Jew vs. Arab) and religious splits (Secular vs. Religious (which again splits into Ultra-orthodox vs. orthodox vs. conservative) and everyone abuses the poor African immigrants. Also there is a split amongst the left of whether or not they intend to confront the Palestinian issue, with many younger people not caring at all, since the status quo isn't too bad for Israel. By ~2070 by my calculation, the Israeli population in the West Bank will exceed the Muslim population, so then Israel can decide to respect self-determination and hold an election!
Since Israel uses a parliamentary system, people vote for a specific party, and the number of seats in the Knesset, or Israeli parliament (Knesset means gathering or meeting place in Hebrew; Bet Knesset, e.g. Meeting House, is the name for Temple in Hebrew, fyi). This year there are some large changes to the different parties.
The first major change is that in a bid to deny any seats to the fractured Arab/Palestinian parties, the Israeli right-wing raised the minimum threshold from 2 % to 3.5 %. This plan however backfired, causing the normally split Arab/Palestinian parties to unite to form the Joint List. Arab Israeli citizens number ~20 % of the population, although they generally suffer voting apathy and aren't represented proportionally.
The other big change is the formation of the Left-Center Zionist Union that will rival Netanyahu's block of right wingers. Zionist Union is the union of the Labor Party and Tzipi Livni's party, The Movement. During the previous election, Tzipi Livni split from the Labor Party since she was upset that she wouldn't be Prime Minister. This year, Tzipi has relented, allowing Isaac Herzog represent the Zionist Camp, which will coalition with Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Meretz (Vigour). Yesh Atid is sort of the "Hipster-Tel Aviv" party, who are upset by the high cost of living in Israel, but don't care about ending the occupation at all. Meretz is a sort of social-democratic party. In order to defeat Netanyahu, the left-centre bloc will need to unite with the Joint List as well the center party Kulanu (All of Us).
On the right in Israel you have Likkud, represented by Benyamin Netanyahu, who has united with fascist parties, The Jewish Home (Religious-Fascist) and Israel Our Home (Secular-Fascist). Also the religious parties tend to stand behind Likkud (Shas, Yichad, and United Torah Judaism), though Shas has left wing tendencies (economic only).
Basically what will decide who will become PM will be if the Joint List and Kulanu (All of Us, a center economic issue party) decide to partner with the Left, Herzog will become Prime Minister. If Kulanu supports Netanyahu, he will remain the prime minister. Including an Arab party in the ruling coalition's bloc is very exciting for the opportunity to help end the occupation.
Israel has a complex political spectrum, due to it's multi-ethnic community. The country was founded by Secular European Jewish refugees fleeing post-Holocaust Europe. They tended to have left-wing, secular ideals. A small ultra-orthodox community accompanied them at the time, but due to their massive birth-rate (Haredi women have an average of 7.7 children per annum) the ultra-orthodox now factor in at ~10 % of the country. This is a politically contentious issue since most male Haredim do not work; due to the "status quo" agreement between the Secular Zionists and Ultra-orthodox at the founding of the country, Yeshiva students receive a "stipend" from the government and do not have to serve in the military. By 2060 the country is project to be up to 50 % Ultra orthodox, so secular Israelis will soon no longer be able to support the Haredim.
Backlash against the founding of Israel in 1948 caused Islamic countries to begin to repress their Jewish populations. This caused a massive exodus of Arab & Asian Jews (Mizrachi Jews), so now they represent ~50 % of the Jewish population in Israel along with the German Jews (Ashkenazim) and the Spanish Jews (Sephardim). The Sephardim had moved to Europe after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, so they come from both Europe and Africa/Asian regions. Of course, there has been traditionally been tensions between the Arab Jews and Ashkenazi Jews since the German Jews tend to believe in their genetic superiority.
Following the influx of Mizrachi Jews, there was the import of Ethiopian Jews, who tend to now work as janitors or other low-skilled positions. Then after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a large influx of Russian-speaking Jews, mostly from Ukraine. These Israelis are generally secular, but hard-right, often saying that the Arabs don't belong in Israel and should be expelled.
Arabs are also a fractured community in Israel, though Arab Israelis number ~20 % of the population, they are not fully represented due to their political splits and voter apathy. There are the Druze and Bedouins who initially supported the formation of Israel and even serve in the military today. Also there are the Arab Christians, who are mixed on their support of Israel, though some have been expressing their willingness to serve in the military recently. Finally there are the Palestinian Muslims who hold Israeli citizenship, and also split into Secular vs. Religious camps.
So the complex Israeli political spectrum has ethnic splits (European Jew vs. Mizrachi Jew vs. Sephardi Jew vs. Soviet Jew vs. Arab) and religious splits (Secular vs. Religious (which again splits into Ultra-orthodox vs. orthodox vs. conservative) and everyone abuses the poor African immigrants. Also there is a split amongst the left of whether or not they intend to confront the Palestinian issue, with many younger people not caring at all, since the status quo isn't too bad for Israel. By ~2070 by my calculation, the Israeli population in the West Bank will exceed the Muslim population, so then Israel can decide to respect self-determination and hold an election!
Since Israel uses a parliamentary system, people vote for a specific party, and the number of seats in the Knesset, or Israeli parliament (Knesset means gathering or meeting place in Hebrew; Bet Knesset, e.g. Meeting House, is the name for Temple in Hebrew, fyi). This year there are some large changes to the different parties.
The first major change is that in a bid to deny any seats to the fractured Arab/Palestinian parties, the Israeli right-wing raised the minimum threshold from 2 % to 3.5 %. This plan however backfired, causing the normally split Arab/Palestinian parties to unite to form the Joint List. Arab Israeli citizens number ~20 % of the population, although they generally suffer voting apathy and aren't represented proportionally.
The other big change is the formation of the Left-Center Zionist Union that will rival Netanyahu's block of right wingers. Zionist Union is the union of the Labor Party and Tzipi Livni's party, The Movement. During the previous election, Tzipi Livni split from the Labor Party since she was upset that she wouldn't be Prime Minister. This year, Tzipi has relented, allowing Isaac Herzog represent the Zionist Camp, which will coalition with Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Meretz (Vigour). Yesh Atid is sort of the "Hipster-Tel Aviv" party, who are upset by the high cost of living in Israel, but don't care about ending the occupation at all. Meretz is a sort of social-democratic party. In order to defeat Netanyahu, the left-centre bloc will need to unite with the Joint List as well the center party Kulanu (All of Us).
On the right in Israel you have Likkud, represented by Benyamin Netanyahu, who has united with fascist parties, The Jewish Home (Religious-Fascist) and Israel Our Home (Secular-Fascist). Also the religious parties tend to stand behind Likkud (Shas, Yichad, and United Torah Judaism), though Shas has left wing tendencies (economic only).
Basically what will decide who will become PM will be if the Joint List and Kulanu (All of Us, a center economic issue party) decide to partner with the Left, Herzog will become Prime Minister. If Kulanu supports Netanyahu, he will remain the prime minister. Including an Arab party in the ruling coalition's bloc is very exciting for the opportunity to help end the occupation.
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