Back to Gideon RachmanI have written a column about the Israeli election for tomorrow’s paper. But - as ever - the odder aspects of the story tend to get squeezed out when you are attempting to make a serious argument.
But Israeli politics is nothing if not quirky. Among the stranger aspects of this election:
- The Holocaust survivors’ party have merged with the Legalise Cannabis party. Apparently the logic is that neither grouping on its own is likely to get above the 2% margin required to win seats in the Knesset. Together, however, they hope to break the threshold. Pollsters, however, are not optimistic that this gambit will work. Still, at least we know the answer to the question - what have they been smoking?
- The bogeyman of the election is Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the anti-Arab Yisrael Beiteinu party. He has been variously described as a fascist, a semi-fascist, a racist and very ugly. But his threatening image is slightly undermined by his nickname - “Yvette”. The leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party has said that a vote for Lieberman is a vote for Satan. This is a reference to his religious views (or lack of them), rather than his attitude to Israeli-Arabs.
Kadima, the centist party have established that large numbers of floating voters are young women. So they have been forcing their party leader, Tzipi Livni, to make appearances at discos and dance in a carefree manner. Meanwhile her opponents have been running posters of a panic-stricken looking Livni, next to the slogan - “It’s too big for her.” This is a reference to the job of prime minister.
This blog covers a variety of topics from US foreign policy to European politics and the Middle East - and whatever else happens to be in the news or catch my attention. I joined the FT as chief foreign affairs commentator in 2006, after a 15-year career at The Economist which included stints as a correspondent in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington. I write a weekly column on foreign affairs, which appears in the paper on Tuesdays. Occasionally my FT colleagues contribute posts to this blog.
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