If you are keeping score at home, you have surely noticed that the two most important defense officials in Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the former military chief of staff Benny Gantz — warned last week that Netanyahu is leading Israel into a disastrous abyss by refusing to present any plan for non-Hamas Palestinians to govern Gaza and appears to be contemplating a long-term Israeli military occupation of Gaza instead. Gantz said he would leave the government if there was no plan by June 8.
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“Netanyahu’s acquiescence to the extreme right, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, has generally been seen as motivated out of his need to keep his coalition together and himself out of jail,” Friedman told me. “Now it seems that he has willingly sold his soul to the extreme right. One explanation is that the extreme religious right projects a Messianic image onto him that corresponds with his own sense of having been called to save Israel and the Jewish people. He has a plan for the day after and it’s very clear to anyone who listens: ‘Total victory’ — and eventually the return of Jewish settlement there. Israel is on the way to reoccupying Gaza.”
If that happens, Israel will become an international pariah and Jewish institutions everywhere will be torn between Jews who will feel the need to defend Israel — right or wrong — and those who, with their kids, will find it indefensible.
There is division within the ranks of the right as well. There are protest votes upwards near 20% in the Republican primary in some states, even when there is nobody running against Trump. I understand things are dire, but the Democratic party can win this election. I am far further to the left than the Democrats are, but will still vote for them in the elections to buy time. We must believe in ourselves, and I think lashing out against the far left is detrimental to the cause. It is fair to confront those who are adamant about sitting out elections, but the conversation to mobilize the far left pragmatically must be tactful and not full of hate.
We’ve been buying time my entire adult life, short of first term Obama, I voted for him because I thought he would do good.
When are they going to start doing something other than pretending to listen?
The hard truth is that to get a leftist government we, you and I, and others, have to do more than vote. We still need to vote because it is an avenue given to us. A free lever. But we need to become active locally. In tenant unions, in local leftist groups. We have to organize and this takes time. Do not vote and pray, vote and then act.
I’ve done shit like that, I’ve called representatives, fuck sake I have tried multiple times to get a union started in a red state.
I still am, but damn it I am almost completely burnt out
You have to be a reliable constituent and help them get elected. Young people, progressives, leftists, whatever aren’t reliable enough and don’t vote in numbers significant enough to shift the Overton window significantly in a short time frame. Since they aren’t reliable voters the candidate has to go farther to the right to get the votes they need to get elected.
Slow progress is the best you can hope for when you’re hoping for extreme change to a system, and you can’t stop because if you do a single Republican win can undo years of progress (e.g. Trump with the supreme court nominee and Roe).
Another issue is progressives are really spread thin on issues from civil rights, to economics, to foreign relations, to gun rights, you get the picture. This big tent brings in a lot of people, but some people get pushed out when you bring them in. For example many Latino voters are Catholic and are anti-LGBTQ and anti abortion. They have to decide if they care more about the inclusion the Democratic party brings, or the abortion restrictions the Republicans bring.
All of that to say progressives a often single issue abstainers; they will abstain from voting over a single trigger issue. The more issues a candidate has to support the less likely it is the candidate will support that voters trigger issue to the degree the voter wants. Now that voter is staying home and not voting, which leads to the point I made earlier.
Also we have made a lot of progress. Gay marriage is legal now, people are much more aware of racism and other discrimination and we’re taking active steps to combat it, the ACA has helped with medical coverage a ton, the general population are aware Palestinians exist and Israel isn’t the good guy, we’ve installed an amazing amount of green electricity power plants, bike and public transportation are things people want now, and many other incremental improvements.
Things aren’t perfect, and some things are still fucked, but we’re getting better. We can’t stop because it isn’t going exactly the way we want it to.