Western misreading of failure of Israeli election to oust Netanyahu. By Cameron Stewart in The Australian.
Security fears have driven Israelis decisively to the right since October 7 …
You can almost hear the wails of disbelief in Western capitals, including in Canberra, that Israel’s hard-line leader Benjamin Netanyahu was not swept away in a tsunami-like protest vote.
Why, they ask, would so many Israelis continue to vote for a leader whose misjudgements led to October 7 and whose policies since then have killed some 70,000 people in Gaza and promoted perpetual war against Israel’s neighbours while ruining its reputation on the international stage?
The reason is simple — Israelis … have much more immediate concerns — like survival against enemies on all sides who, if given half a chance, would kill them. …
Netanyahu’s main opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, was heavily critical of Bibi on character grounds. But on the issues of Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and the unpopular two-state solution there was barely any difference of opinion between the two main leaders and it certainly was not a feature of the election campaign.
Duh. If only the left could see past its own bigotry.