Leaders

Puncturing piffle

January 24, 2013 16:12
1 min read

As we go to press, we do not know the exact make-up of Israel's next coalition. But we do know that Tuesday's results were - leaving any political judgment out of it - simply delicious. For weeks we have been told by the know-it-all pundits that the country was about to swing to the "extreme right". It was the theme that dominated British coverage of the elections.

The Guardian's Middle East editor announced that Benjamin Netanyahu would lead "a more right-wing and uncompromising government than Israel has ever seen before". Another of its writers said that Israel would elect "the most right-wing government in its history".

In the Telegraph, Peter Oborne - the man who in 2009 presented a documentary attempting to show that wealthy Zionists have the government and media in their pockets - informed us that "moderate voices won't be heard" any longer.

All of which buttressed their fanatical anti-Israel positions. Just one small problem: it was utter nonsense. It must be disconcerting to have to reckon with real Israelis rather than the savage monsters of their caricatures. But whatever else these results achieve, they have perfectly punctured the pundits' piffle.

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