B-Man Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 smug versus concerned. i know which emotion i find more appealing in a leader especially in today's world. you? nevermind. The fact that you are calling Pres. Obama's expression in that picture a "concerned" face certainly exposes you more than anything that I could add. Seven Preliminary Thoughts about Israel’s Preliminary Results by Elliot Abrams The outcome of the Israeli election is close, too close to see what coalition will emerge. Still, there are some conclusions to draw. 1. Once again we see why Israel is so much more popular in the United States than its Arab neighbors: because it’s a real democracy where real elections can change the government. And the turnout level, about 65 percent, shames some American elections. 2. President Obama’s campaign to unseat Prime Minister Netanyahu has probably failed. A right-wing coalition or a “national unity government” of Left and Right is far more likely than a left-wing government. In fact, Obama’s ceaseless attacks seem to have helped Netanyahu: He looked strong and tough in the face of an American president who is thought by most Israelis to be unsympathetic to their country. 3. The two major parties, Labor and Likud, did better than expected, and the minor parties were weakened. That’s probably a good trend for Israeli democracy. 4. Israel’s Left and Right are split on many social, religious, and economic issues, but not on Iran. Whatever coalition emerges will be tougher on Iran than the Obama administration and deeply worried about Obama’s prospective nuclear deal. 5. Netanyahu may be able to put together a right-wing-only coalition, but we do not yet know if he wants one. Netanyahu has sometimes preferred to be a balancer in the cabinet, not the left-most guy in a right-wing mix. A “national unity government” would allow him to play that balancer role. It would also likely feature Labor candidate Isaac Herzog as foreign minister, which would smooth Israel’s relations with the United States and Europe. Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 he'd be much less smug if his military wasn't propped up financially by our tax dollars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 he'd be much less smug if his military wasn't propped up financially by our tax dollars You really think 3 billion a year makes a difference? We're talking about the army that took on all its enemies multiple times including armies funded by a major superpower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 You really think 3 billion a year makes a difference? We're talking about the army that took on all its enemies multiple times including armies funded by a major superpower. 3 billion is what - like 4 jets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 3 billion is what - like 4 jets? Everyone likes to talk about the financial aid Israel receives but plenty of countries receive financial aid from the US including *Palestine. Guess who actually does something useful with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Everyone likes to talk about the financial aid Israel receives but plenty of countries receive financial aid from the US including *Palestine. Guess who actually does something useful with it? They're spending our aid money effectively? The nerve of those bastards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) Gees, he hasn't even lost yet and he's whining already http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.646800 Speaking of whiners, you recall that Barry couldn't even bring the Olympics to Chicago. Did you honestly think his thugs buried in Israel were going to beat Netanyahu? Chump. Edited March 18, 2015 by LABillzFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) The Times op-ed on Netanyahu’s victory is beyond parody. Worth a read. I give it two Axelrods up http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/opinion/an-israeli-election-turns-ugly.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss … For the past week, we heard if Bibi's lost it would be attributed to his speech before Congress. Couldn't the same standard be applied with a win? "Really, it was a great speech, lots of ovations. Eh, I guess you had to be there." . Edited March 18, 2015 by B-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 You really think 3 billion a year makes a difference? We're talking about the army that took on all its enemies multiple times including armies funded by a major superpower. That's about a quarter of Israel's defense budget. For a country with little economic or military depth (a full deployment of the IDF would call up 10-20% of their population, or 20-40% of their entire work force) that's huge - Israel can have a defense force or an economy, but not both. And that 3 billion is cash grants - it doesn't include mutually beneficial arrangements such as joint funding of Iron Dome, subsidized F-35 purchases, ABM research, war reserves stockpiling. The economic benefit of things like that (e.g. maintaining our war reserve stockpiles on Israeli soil means the IDF can maintain smaller war reserves themselves, with the expectation of having access to ours in a real crisis) probably ranges on the order of several billion itself. And then there's loan guarantees, which take a load off the Israeli economy as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Does this set a record for lost mid-terms by one president? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 That's about a quarter of Israel's defense budget. For a country with little economic or military depth (a full deployment of the IDF would call up 10-20% of their population, or 20-40% of their entire work force) that's huge - Israel can have a defense force or an economy, but not both. And that 3 billion is cash grants - it doesn't include mutually beneficial arrangements such as joint funding of Iron Dome, subsidized F-35 purchases, ABM research, war reserves stockpiling. The economic benefit of things like that (e.g. maintaining our war reserve stockpiles on Israeli soil means the IDF can maintain smaller war reserves themselves, with the expectation of having access to ours in a real crisis) probably ranges on the order of several billion itself. And then there's loan guarantees, which take a load off the Israeli economy as well... They could just opt out and save up for a bus station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 3 billion is what - like 4 jets? it's plenty enough that if we pulled that support the israelis would be hair-on-fire wild and calling in markers all over washington dc. love to see it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Net-an-Boo-Hoo might lose! http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-behind-final-polling-day-election-074847784.html Guess his Congressional speech only gave hit a dead cat bounce Good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Wow, even Israelis are subject to the "Racism" card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Good call. "might" isn't a call. But funny you need to try and get a shot in, beggars can't be choosers or something, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) Good call. They tried the same poll tricks they do here. Pre-election polls: Bibi behind Exit polls: Tie Actual results: Bibi in a landslide. Sound like the US mid-terms? "might" isn't a call. But funny you need to try and get a shot in, beggars can't be choosers or something, right? Maybe not but that dead cat must have died from eating a lot of super balls Edited March 18, 2015 by 4merper4mer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 "might" isn't a call. But funny you need to try and get a shot in, beggars can't be choosers or something, right? No but starting a thread on it pretty much is. You had a boner thinking he was going to lose so you wanted to start your gloat thread. Good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 "might" isn't a call. But funny you need to try and get a shot in, beggars can't be choosers or something, right? You're following this close than I. What do you think contributed to Bibi's victory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 You're following this close than I. What do you think contributed to Bibi's victory? He'll check with his copy/paste overlords and either get back to you but assume the answer will be "racism." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 it's plenty enough that if we pulled that support the israelis would be hair-on-fire wild and calling in markers all over washington dc. love to see it happen. Only an outright loon would consider doing such a thing. They are the only civilization in the middle east that approaches anything resembling a civilized western democracy. They are our greatest allies and the preposterous thought of not supporting them in a region filled with religious psychopathic extremists who wish harm on anyone who doesn't comply with their Sharia wet dreams is beyond baffling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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