Morning Reading - Giving "Winning Ugly" A Bad Name

We don't intend to dwell much longer on the impacts of the recent Israeli elections;  those impacts will play out in the months and years ahead, and not (in our view) in a way that enhances the security or prosperity of Israel.  Two op/eds in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle are likely all that needs to be said at this point.

First, E.J. Dionne, Jr., on what Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's victory means as far as the formerly bipartisan policy on the two-state solution:

Liberal friends of Israel are not going to abandon their commitment to the survival of a democratic Jewish state because of one extremely troubling election campaign. Yet neither will they give up on the idea that recognizing the right of Palestinians to their own state — a view advanced by George W. Bush no less than by Barack Obama — is in the interest both of justice and, over the long run, of Israel itself. 

Netanyahu has played fast and loose not only with those loyalties but also with the moral commitments of a large share of his own people. He will not easily live down the way he chose to win.  (our emphasis)

Harold Meyerson writes about Netanyahu's "fear and loathing" campaign and its echoes of Republican race-baiting and voter suppression:

Until the final days of the Israeli campaign, there were leaders of parties to Likud’s right — Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett — who, when it came to their pronouncements on Palestinians, clearly out-race-baited Netanyahu. But in a closing rush, Bibi — henceforth, the Jewish George Wallace — closed the gap. His success in wooing the fearful and the bigoted to Likud was such that all the other far-right parties saw their results drop from their previous levels. Netanyahu’s apprehensions about high levels of Arab voting echoed not only such old-guard segregationists as Wallace but also our present-day Republican Party. The GOP’s war on minority voting, waged through voter ID laws and other obstacles to expanding the franchise, could offer Netanyahu lessons in winnowing the electorate in future contests. Perhaps Likud and the Republicans can open an Institute for the Prevention of Dark-Skinned People Voting. [snip] 

It’s hard to think of a campaign that has done so much damage, or brought such disgrace upon the victor, as Netanyahu’s. He’s given “winning ugly” a bad name. (our emphasis)

It's always good to remember: right-wingers share the same paranoid tribalism and ugly prejudice no matter where they live.  The stakes in this election were great, as will be the fallout.