Monday, December 29, 2008

Electoral Strategy

Hilzoy, quoting D.C. reporter Spencer Ackerman:
"Do you believe for a moment that leveling Gaza will stop the rockets? Well, then you've lost your right to call the peaceniks naive. You want the cycle broken? Then you can start by breaking your own."
Bryan, pointing to BBC reporter Katya Adler's candid dispatch:
The BBC’s Katya Adler in Jerusalem says the timing of Israel’s operation is significant, as Israeli politicians are keen to score points ahead of a general election in February.
More from Adler's report:
Israel holds parliamentary elections in just over a month's time.

The Israeli public has a generally low opinion about how their government has handled what they call "Hamastan" - Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Until it started talking tough, the hawkish opposition leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, was leading in the polls. Now the gap has narrowed.

Indiscriminately killing lots of people makes you blind but gets you votes in Israel. As Glenn Greenwald points out, our own politicians suppose that encouraging American taxpayers to pay nearly $3 billion a year for this insanity is good politics here at home, too.

That has to change. If Israel wants to persist in plucking out its own eyes, at a minimum we shouldn't be paying for it.

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