Netanyahu Expresses Alarm Over Strong Arab Voter Turnout
Source: New York Times
JERUSALEM Increasingly worried that he could lose Tuesdays elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel lashed out at the countrys Arab voters, expressing alarm that a large turnout by them could determine the outcome. Opponents accused him of baldfaced racism.
Mr. Netanyahus remarks, in a video posted via social media, were seen by critics as the most strident in a series of assertions he has made in recent days to rally right-wing supporters to his argument that he is the only Israeli leader who will save the country from its enemies.
On Monday, Mr. Netanyahu said if his Likud faction was returned to power, he would never allow the creation of a Palestinian state, reversing a stance he had taken six years earlier. His statement was seen not only as validating Palestinian suspicions, but also risked further alienation between Mr. Netanyahu and the Obama administration.
Mr. Netanyahu also openly acknowledged having promoted a settlement over the 1967 lines in southeast Jerusalem in order to block the expansion of the West Bank city of Bethlehem and its connection with Jerusalem, something that critics said harmed the contiguity of any future Palestinian state.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-elections-arabs.html?_r=0
What a racist piece of shit Netanyahu is. Israeli Arabs are citizens and they have every right to vote.
Netanyahu and his party are like the GOP. The resemblance is uncanny. They hate it when brown people vote.
No wonder why GOPers were falling over themselves trying to kiss his ring when he came to the US.
brooklynite
(94,588 posts)Point 2: scaremongering like this at the last minute suggests full-on panic...
Corey_Baker08
(2,157 posts)Please keep us posted...
blackspade
(10,056 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Did he learn nothing from his visit with Boner & Co.?
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)The usual Puke and Bagger tactics.
winstars
(4,220 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)1) Encouraging the extreme right to commit acts of violence against Arab citizens at or en route to polling places
2) Delegitimizing the result should he lose
Both are hallmarks of fascism.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I was thinking the same thing.
liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)more like a dictator than the leader of an alleged "democracy". His earlier speech in which he gave voice to his paranoia that "Scandinavians are spending millions" to "topple" him was very telling in his word choice. The use of "topple" usually refers more to dictators and despots than democratic leaders subject to the vote of the people. He reminds me of pubs here who seem to feel entitled to votes, who believe that they are OWED those votes, and how dare anyone vote against them and deny the greatness of their greatness to the nation. Gah.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)warmongering hater be any more fucking obvious? He reminds me of the pubs here who complain about "minority" voters costing them elections (I'm looking at YOU, Mitt!), refusing to recognize that those "minorities" are as much Americans, and have as much right to vote, as those they consider more "majority." Not that Bibi and his party even recognize the humanity of Arab-Israelis or any Arabs, for that matter, considering that their platform calls openly for the permanent "cleansing" of such "vermin". Gee, where have I heard THAT kind of talk before, Likud? I cannot believe they cannot even begin to see any irony in such openly racist statements. Because you and your people have suffered untold persecution and loss doesn't give you the right to do the same to others.
It was a terrible day, indeed, when the raving racist lunatic Meir Kahane types ("I want all Arabs out of Israel, I want THEM ALL OUT, I don't care how we do it as long as it's done" began to move from the fringe into the actual government and society. Sad, indeed.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Apparently, he's fucked.
And he did it to himself.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Wow, that is fucking depressing. I would have bet money that sort of desperation showed a sure loss.
dolphinsandtuna
(231 posts)You mean someone believed he'd allow a Palestinian state?
Yonx
(59 posts)Does he want them to just not participate?
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)"They hate it when brown people vote."
Mizrahim/Sephardic/Beta-Israel Jews (who make up most of the Jewish population in Israel 52.4%) have darker skins than most Arabs.
In fact, Beta-Israel (Jews from Ethiopia) would be called "black" in the USA.
There are many, many problems with what Bibi said, but nothing to do with melanin content of skin.
840high
(17,196 posts)educate some on DU.
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)They just keep repeated the same blood-libels even when corrected.
Such should not be tolerated among progressives.