I’M NOT TAKING SIDES, but I have to take exception to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contention that an IDF general lacks “political experience.”
A GENERAL — in anyone’s army — does not get to be a general unless the general is a politician. It helps to have friends in high places, but political skill is the first requirement.
The U.S. has had more than 13 generals as president, starting with Geo. Washington (http://tinyurl.com/yxuyofya). The most recent general to reach the White House was Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, a 5-star and once the allies’ “Supreme Commander” in the European Theater.
In Israel, to “get ahead” in ANY profession, a person must have served in the IDF. Beyond the rank of captain (seren — סרן ) politics must be combined with “Vitamin P” (protection — pro’tek’zia), who an officer with visions of promotions knows.
Interested in IDF ranks? Refer to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces_ranks
for list and rank insignia.
I have not been following the political claims and attacks among Israel’s politicians. The political system is one reason I left Israel.
But comments that Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, former IDF Chief of Staff, lacks political experience are laughable.
No one seems to be accusing any other candidate — on the left or the right — of lack of experience. Perhaps this is an “old boy” or “school tie” thing; if a candidate is already a politician, then he, or she, is “in the club.” Not so the outsider (Ganz, in this case).
I don’t know if Ganz would be better for Israel than Netanyahu; the latter has a decade’s experience as prime minister, and the record on which to stand (of fall).
As in the U.S., Israeli politics is plagued by fake news and dirty dealings.
President Donald Trump seems to be working tirelessly to get Netanyahu re-elected. So much for U.S. interference in foreign elections, but then Trump simply is following in the footsteps of his immediate predecessor in the White House.
Israeli politicians experimented one time to elect a prime minister independent of the politician’s political affiliation. Now, returning to its old ways, the party with the most votes usually is invited to form a (coalition) government with the party head as prime minister.
According to polls from Israel, right wing parties, and there are several, should retain control of the Knesset (parliament) as a coalition. (Israel never has been governed by a single party.) One far-right party was banned from the election by the Israeli Supreme Court; the same court permitted anti-Israel parties (e.g., Balad) on the ballot. Editorial opinion: Go figure.
As with ALL polls, they are not to be trusted. Polls easily are manipulated to provide the answer the poll sponsor wants to see.
As for Gen. Ganz, to claim he lacks “political experience” is, frankly, stupid and anyone who accepts that is politically blind to reality.
Would Ganz make a good prime minister?
Probably no better or worse than Netanyahu.
Standing between Ganz and Netanyahu are a number of parties on the left, on the right, and two whose goal is to drive the Jews from “Palestine.”
Israeli elections are as acrimonious as U.S. elections; there are just more options for Israeli voters.
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
