Tel-Chai Nation

The partners in the Yamina merger (which has now mostly split up) turned against Shaked for failure, and I hope they're not overlooking Naftali Bennett:

Leader of the Yamina list Ayelet Shaked was under fire Wednesday after exit polls from Tuesday's do-over election predicted only seven seats for her party, considerably fewer than the party had expected to win under her leadership.

Shaked reportedly said at a meeting with party officials on Monday evening that if she failed to bring in more than seven seats, she would resign.

A senior Yamina official said Wednesday: "She has no leadership ability. We're in shock. She managed to push a pencil around. We're waiting for her to resign."

So am I. And Bennett should be called out for his own serious mistakes too. The way they went on and on lashing out at Netanyahu, accusing him in alarming fashion of literally wanting to form a government with Benny Gantz as though he agrees with the latter's platforms, and then accusing his crowd of "hating" her. That was not how to lead a meaty campaign at all. She was doubtlessly taking cues from Bennett, who'll have to be held responsible for his own embarrassments. They don't deserve to be in the Knesset, and should both resign from politics, because it's clear they had at least some hand in damaging the right wing's chances. Nobody should do business with them either.

And ben-Gvir hasn't set a better example post-election:

After the far-right party Otzma Yehudit failed to make it past the minimum electoral threshold for the second election in a row, party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir sent a letter to party activists on Wednesday in which he blamed right-wing leaders and the right-wing media for the party's crash and burn. [...]

"I won't lie – I'm disappointed, sad, and in pain. I thought we could win, but there were those who did everything so that wouldn't happen. First and foremost, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in an inexplicable step chose to go after us and never stopped attacking, when he should have learned from [Blue and White's] Gantz and Lapid, who embraced [Labor leader] Amir Peretz, who was also hovering over the minimum electoral threshold. Anyone who wants to help the Right doesn't shoot at its own people," Ben-Gvir continued.

He then went on to attack former Education Minister Naftali Bennett and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, as well as National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, whom he called "an arrogant braggart."

"Last on the list – members of 'sectarian' media, like B'Sheva or Arutz 7, and of course [journalists] Amit and Haggai Segal, who think that they represent all religious Zionism and did what they accuse the left-wing media of doing."

While criticism of Shaked and Bennett is valid, ben-Gvir's attacks on some others is not. He misses the point that when you don't run united, it risks wasting votes, which was exactly what he did. It was clear he wouldn't reach the threshold, and now, he's caused quite a lot of damage on his part. For that, he should get out of politics, period.

Labels: Israel, Knesset, Moonbattery