Western Elites

My latest over at Inforos:

Despite holding two elections this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no closer to forming a government than he was before the elections. The Knesset is sharply divided between religious Jerusalem and secular Tel Aviv one might say. In Jerusalem is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of nationalist and religious parties, in Tel Aviv Benny Ganz’s Blue and Whites, a fusion party of secular voters who loathe Netanyahu and resent the privileges enjoyed by Israel’s Haredi Jews. These include control of Israeli religious life and institutions and exemption from the nation’s otherwise universal draft. The Haredi often live on the public dole. Standing above all this is Avigdor Liberman’s Israeli Bitenyu Party, itself a nationalist party composed almost entirely of Russian Jews. Liberman advocates for the destruction of Hamas, but opposes the Haredi. With Bibi and Avi, the dispute is personal as Liberman quit as Minister of Defense, triggering the first round of elections this past spring. The Israeli deadlock along political-socio-economic lines is not isolated but endemic to the entire west.

Click on over for the rest.