Yashar #2 suggests possible Zionist Unity Government after election‼️‼️ “Yashar’s No. 2, former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, told Channel 12 that his party could sit in a coalition with Likud if Netanyahu were no longer leading the government, and even said it could govern alongside Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism if those parties accepted Yashar’s principles.” — The Times of Israel, September 15 Excellent idea and perhaps now the only realistic way to break the deadlock between the two blocks. Removing Netanyahu will not be an insurmountable challenge, especially if Yashar overtakes Likud as Israel’s largest party and - here is the clincher - Herzog pardons Bibi after the elections. Israeli law stipulates that Bibi, under indictment, cannot serve as a regular cabinet minister, only as either Prime Minister or as a backbench MK. If the former is impossible he will not choose the latter, especially if he is pardoned. Then the road will be open to a Zionist Unity Government with Yashar, Likud, and the rest of the Zionist opposition. Otzma Yehudit would be beyond the pale, although, as Cohen says, Smotrich might make the cut. If he does it’s important that he wield no authority in Judea and Samaria - he would make a great agriculture minister, however! 😜 Such a government would be well placed to confront two of Israel’s biggest challenges: integrating the Haredim into the IDF and giving them a modern education, and squelching burgeoning Jewish violence against the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. I lay out the justification for this approach and various scenarios here: meforum.org/meq/for-a-big-ba…

Once I would have said that he is exaggerating, but after seeing how Bibi tried to ram through pro-Haredi legislation during the last days of the Knesset and how his campaign amounts to nothing more than scare tactics (“the right or Palestine!”) I’m not so sure. The reelection of the current government would indeed be a disaster for Israel. But the only alternative doesn’t have to be a weak change government similar to Bennett’s ill-fated attempt. There is a third way that could enable Israel to begin to resolve its most pressing internal problems and convince those who work and pay taxes that Bibi isn’t selling the country to the Haredim so that he can stay in power. I explain at the link below. Please get back with your reactions! meforum.org/meq/for-a-big-ba…

“This Jewish terror endangers us all. The soldiers of the IDF, Israel’s security, our standing in the world, and our economic future. If we don’t stop it, we’ll all pay a heavy price.”

Eisenkot concisely and correctly describes Israel’s current crossroads:

Yinon Magal: “ This is the man closest to Netanyahu who decided to call the Chief of Staff, a bereaved father, a man whose family lost three young children in this war (while Netanyahu's sons were doing karaoke in Miami) a "Sephardi monkey." Amen!

The monkey here is Yinon Magal, one of Bibi’s most slavish acolytes. Slurring an entire ethnic group in this fashion recalls Israel’s early days when Mizrahim (Jews from Arab & Muslim countries) were systematically discriminated against. Bringing it up now could well explode in Magal’s and Bibi’s faces, luring Mizrachim to support Eisenkot, whose parents were from Morocco. Let’s hope so! Pro-Netanyahu pundit calls Eisenkot ‘monkey,’ in apparent slur against Sephardic heritage timesofisrael.com/pro-netany… via @timesofisrael

Worth reading. I have long thought that a weak Zionist Unity government - and especially an even weaker minority one - would not be able to withstand the hurricane of opposition that passing a universal conscription law and crushing Jewish terrorism in the West Bank would cause. Lieberman’s solution is intriguing : the entire opposition - including Arab parties - replaces Knesset Speaker Ohana and then passes a law prohibiting defendants in criminal prosecutions from running for the Knesset. Then the Knesset dissolves itself and there are new elections, this time with Netanyahu replaced as head of Likud (and perhaps put out to pasture by a pardon contingent on quitting politics.) Then new elections produce a solid Zionist majority, enabling a strong government to tackle Israel’s most pressing challenges. But there are 2 problems: 1. The Supreme Court may invalidate the “defendents” law because it is too carefully tailored to address one specific individual. Before going ahead with this law, the opposition must discreetly feel out the Supreme Court on this issue. 2. Liberman never defines “Zionist parties.” If he includes Smotrich and Ben Gvir as acceptable Zionist partners, then the whole operation is a waste of time. The whole point of drawing Likud into an alliance with the four Zionist opposition parties is to delink Likud from these two anti-democratic/quasi-theocratic caricatures of real Zionism. There is no way that the territories can be cleansed of Jewish terrorism with Smotrich & Ben Gvir in power. I explain my plan, which in some respects parallels Liberman’s and in others doesn’t here: meforum.org/meq/for-a-big-ba… Lieberman eyes new elections without Netanyahu, vows to pass law barring indicted PMs ynetnews.com/article/h1jtvqw…

For Netanyahu it’s all politics. He is afraid that criticizing settler violence might loose him votes, so he quibbles over details. A disgrace! ‘They kicked the French mayor, shouted Viva la France’: Diplomat recounts West Bank s ynetnews.com/article/r1e1hib…

This is a detailed and informative overview of Israeli intelligence liaison activities abroad. As someone who has been personally present at scores of liaison meetings with Israeli intelligence services (and with many, many other countries) I can confirm that the article is largely accurate. But something else - that the article only mentions briefly - is important: Israel cannot afford to ignore bad relations with our (one time?) allies with idiotic statements like “who cares what the goyim think, it’s what Israel does that matters.” Netanyahu came close to this in his notorious”super-Sparta” comment. Here is what the article has to say about that: “The idea that Israel can be Sparta, meaning that it can manage entirely on its own, is somewhat childish. Cooperation, in general, arises when our problems exceed our independent capabilities. The intelligence world is no different.” Israel’s economy and its intelligence and military establishments are intimately linked with the rest of the world. Rushing forward with policies that alienate Europe and America is idiocy. Hopefully, the next government will have a better understanding of this than “Mr. security! Inside Israel's secret intelligence gold mine israelhayom.com/2026/10/16/i…

Not my idea of Judaism! Haredi Judaism in Israel has become a caricature of itself. The basic thrust is that Haredim deserve massive subsidies from the state to maintain a parasitic society that rejects modernity, gives the state and other Israelis nothing in return, and whose members refuse to defend themselves or their fellow citizens. And then they have the chutzpah to assert that their position in Israel is analogous to that of European Jews during the Holocaust-because draft dodgers can’t go overseas for a shidduch lest they be arrested at BenGurion airport. Anyone who votes for any of the parties in the current government is voting to maintain this disgraceful and in the end self-destructive system‼️ New UTJ candidate: Situation of Haredim in Israel today is ‘close to what was in the Holocaust’ timesofisrael.com/liveblog_e… via @timesofisrael

This is a must read before the elections. Well-informed Israelis know all about the Netanyahu government’s war on Israel’s independent judiciary. But there are many foreign observers whose vision doesn’t go beyond Israel’s foreign policy. For them - despite the evidence of then 7 October massacres - Bibi remains “Mr. security,” a geo-strategic genius of the sort that comes around only to once or twice a century. His defeat would imperil Israel’s future and be a victory for Islamic radicalism and other anti-Western forces. This is, of course, balderdash. It was Bibi’s geostrategic vision - based on funneling billions of Qatari dollars to Hamas to keep Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank divided - that laid the groundwork for October 7. Netanyahu certainly had a role in subsequent Israeli success in Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon, but he must share the plaudits with the IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad. The most important issue too be decided on 27 October has nothing to do with security or foreign policy. It has to do with the independence of the courts and Netanyahu’s campaign - ever since he was indicted on several criminal counts in 2020 - to bring the Supreme Court to heel. The real divide, as Paul Gross states, “is about competing notions of just what Israel should be: a Jewish nation-state, run according to liberal democratic principles; or a quasi-authoritarian Jewish state where democracy means unchecked majority rule.” On this issue the ruling coalition of Likud, Haredim, Kahanist racists and messianic theocrats stands on the side of unchecked parliamentary power; the opposition wants to strengthen the checks and balances characteristic of a true liberal democratic system. Gross lays it out very clearly: open.substack.com/pub/theunp…

critiqueanddigest.substack.c… Well worth reading. Many of Israel’s staunchest defenders are arriving at the inevitable conclusion that West bank Jewish terrorism is real, and must be throttled lest it infect more of Israeli society… What to do about it? Elect a strong Zionist unity government without either Smotrich or Ben Gvir that can get the job done. Here is a modest proposal: meforum.org/meq/for-a-big-ba…