Thursday, November 1, 2012

Why Are There So Many New Political Parties Being Suggested

If you read the Israeli news, you can't have missed the political craziness of the last few weeks. Almost daily the Israeli public is being told of the possible creation of a new political party - Olmert, Livni, Kahlon, Olmert-Livni, Livni-Kahlon, Kahlon-Amsalem etc. This is a continuation of some political rumors, which have left the theoretical and become a reality - Yair Lapid and the return of Deri.

So why are so many new parties coming into theoretical existence? The simple answer is that it shows how much Israelis are not content with their current political choice. This is most pronounced in the left, where there seems to be a consensus that there is no suitable leader to challenge Netanyahu. However, there might be another simple explanation. It has been 4 very stable years in Israel since the last election. This is quite a rare occurrence  in Israel. The norm for the last 20 years or so, has been merely 2 years between elections. As such many have been politicians, or newcomers have been waiting for this opportunity for quite awhile. Additionally, those who would normally have to wait for the next elections before "stepping up" are worried that they will have to wait, not two but four years before making their move, and have had to act quickly to join "the party".

No comments: