Israeli Elections 20261025

The Israeli Elections: A Cynic’s View

by with No Comment Behavioral SentimentEconomyExclusive ContentFeatured HighlightsInvestingIra SlomowitzRisk ManagementUncategorizedWorld

A Not So Clear Guide For The Perplexed

Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author. This article was first published the 25th of October via The Angry Demagogue.

We have taken a break from writing for a while due to technical reasons combined with way too much work, but it is a good thing our analysis of the Israeli election has waited until everyone has reverted to his natural attacks. As the only right of center reporter in the establishment and the only reporter in the country with a sense of humor, Amit Segel has stated – I paraphrase – that after months of thoughtful campaign planning the two camps have decided that what they have done for the past two decades is what they will continue to do: Anyone But Bibi on one side and Bibi or Palestine on the other.

Israeli Elections 20261025

The Israeli Elections: A Cynic’s View 

The Bibi camp has at least had success with their cliché while the anti-Bibi camp seems to think what didn’t work the previous dozen times will certainly work this time.

We would love to say this is left vs right, but since almost no one has stated what their policies will be that is difficult to do. The Likud is trying to scare us into voting for them because everyone else is “pro-Palestine” while the opposition candidates want change for the sake of change.

Gadi Eisenkot, the alleged leading opposition candidate has two main campaign billboards that tell us nothing and give us no reason to vote for him. The first is “This time – Eisenkot”, emphasizing that the last time it was Gantz, the time before that Lapid and the time before that Herzog, etc, etc. Why, “this time – Eisenkot” we are not told. The other big billboard is “Eisenkot – for change”. Now the opposition has emphasized one thing – we are not them and we need to change. The problem is that they have not said what they want to change besides personalities.

Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Leiberman, the two other pretenders to the throne on the opposition are, in their past votes at least, more right wing than the Likud. Bennett was an up and coming challenger to Netanyahu from the right until he made the political error of joining the “anyone but Bibi” camp. Lieberman even resigned as Defense Minister years ago after his scraps with Netanyahu as well as his fight with then IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot (yes, the current challenger) accusing him of being the representative of “Peace Now”.

On the government side, Netanyahu is doubling down on his opposition, not to the left but to a right of center party that has promised to support him in the coming Knesset – that is the party called “Amcha Yisrael” (your people, Israel) led by ex-brigadier general Ofer Winter). His number two is an Israeli Christian Arab, Yousef Haddad who is one of the most successful defenders of Israel in the foreign press. Ostensibly, the reason Netanyahu (and his poodle, Smotrich) are giving for their fierce campaign against him is that if he does not pass the minimum amount of votes needed (around 3.25% or 4 seats) then these right wing votes will have gone to waste. However, polls are split – giving Winter anywhere from 3-6 seats so logic would tell you that Netanyahu would encourage those last few to vote for him and get him an extra 4 or more seats in the Knesset.

But those who claim the above don’t really understand Netanyahu the politician (as opposed to Netanyahu the statesman). Netanyahu has three goals in this election and the one you would think is most important is not. A clear victory is his goal, but only on the condition that the other two goals are met. The first of these is that there not be anyone else on the right who is Prime Minister material and the second is that he will be able to continue with the ultra-orthodox Haredi parties and give them what they want regarding the draft (with minor changes). As for the first of these two, Netanyahu has managed to eliminate all those who could replace him as PM on the right and they include, Nir Barkat, Yuli Edelstein, Ayelet Shaked, Gilad Erdan and has sent Bennett to the opposition. Now there are two newcomers. Ofer Winter and Amir Avivi. The latter is the founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF or Bitchonistim in Hebrew) and he was promised a top spot in the Likud Knesset list. He is knowledgeable, serious and has connections abroad making him a possible successor to Netanyahu. Instead of being given a place on the Likud list though, he was promised to be a minister in the next government. Fair enough until you realize that only Members of the Knesset can become Prime Minister, and Netanyahu always fears that the Likud itself will get rid of him and replace him with someone else.

Winter is new to politics, but has been popular on the right since he was a colonel leading his brigade (Givati) in the Tzuk Eitan (Gaza) war in 2014. He then became persona-non-grata on the left for two reasons – he was tactically superior to and more aggressive than the other brigade commanders, and when he spoke to his troops before they went into Gaza in 2014 he mentioned the “God of Israel”. While generals and other commanders have mentioned God to their soldiers for 3,000 years or more, it was taboo in the Israeli general staff which doubles as the country’s defender of progressive values. So Winter is a clear possible successor to Netanyahu (not now – but after a few years of political experience) and Netanyahu is convinced that he will lead for foreseeable future.

It seems that Netanyahu does not fear Eisenkot, Lieberman and Bennet per se, and as none of these three have gone beyond slogans and cliché there is really not much to argue against besides the Eisenkot promise that he will form a minority government with outside support of the Arab parties. That has become the center of the Netanyahu campaign and it is a strong argument which is why the other two opposition party leaders with PM ambitions – Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett have promised not to support that effort.

On the far left and far right we have opposite sides of the same coin. Itamar Ben-Gvir, who, after four years as head of the police and failing to stop crime stemming from Arab cities and villages is still campaigning to stop crime stemming from Arab cities and villages. Failure does not seem to bother voters as long as he “says the right thing”. The Ben-Gvir of the left, Yair Golan seems to be adopting the global woke left’s agenda by threatening to censor right wing news sites and stations while not having met an anti-Jewish cause he does not support. He runs, as the woke always do as the last defender of “our democracy”. Without endorsing anyone, we will say that a government with neither of these two would be a welcome one.

When all the votes are cast and the quest for power begins in earnest, we will know who is really controlling the candidates. Bennett seems to be more independent than his rivals as he does not come from the security establishment and is independently wealthy. The fear about Eisenkot is that he is a puppet controlled by the Israeli security establishment that has not given up its ideas of appeasement as the way to the “good life” (See anything by Tamir Heyman of the INSS). Leiberman on the other hand has been rumored to be under the thumb of the prosecution – explaining how this man who was considered as right wing as Ben-Gvir is so virulently anti-Netanyahu.

So, what will be?

Only fools can predict an Israeli election. Since we qualify, we will say that no one will know who will be the next prime minister until 4-8 weeks after the election due to all the horse trading and egos. There is no consensus in the opposition as to who is “the one” – in spite of the security establishments efforts to crown Eisenkot so, short of a rout by Eisenkot, the others will not easily give in.

When all is said and done, we feel that Winter and the other new party headed by Yoaz Hendel, a right of center ex-academic and politician who is in the anti-Bibi camp but not a fan of the left at all, will both get in, giving 8-10 seats to those who are against any appeasement of the enemy, who support a more equal draft and who were not involved in October 7 at all. Amit Segel wrote last week that this might be the last election for this generation of “leaders”. If both get in – that might be beginning of the end for the septuagenarians and octogenarians.

Therefore, we predict that after many weeks of back and forth, (55 year old) Naftali Bennett will be the next Prime Minister of Israel.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.

Follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/

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Western Leaders 20260814

Standing on the Precipice: Western Leaders Continue to Fiddle

by with No Comment Behavioral SentimentExclusive ContentFeatured HighlightsIra SlomowitzUncategorizedWorld

Will The West Stay Awake and Become Alert?

Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author. This article was first published the 14th of August via The Angry Demagogue.

In February 2022 the Russian member of the Axis invaded Ukraine. In October 2023, less than two years later, the Iranian proxy Hamas invaded Israel and their proxy Hezbollah joined the fight the next day. North Korea and China the other members of the axis did not, probably, coordinate either attack, but nor did they discourage it or help to end it. In the period of less than two years, the free countries of the world were given a wake-up call to what historians may end up writing was the start of a new world war.

Sweden and Finland were spooked enough to take a bold move and join NATO and the existing European members of NATO seem to realize that they need to start worrying about their own defense – at least against Russia, if not the rest of the Axis. In Ukraine, they put together a bold defense and created a drone force that is, if not winning, at least is not losing the war of attrition that the conflict has “settled” into. Ukraine may have convinced itself that it can win this war on the battlefield and Russia is counting on its Axis allies to help it overcome their own military incompetence. North Korean troops are dying in Ukraine and there are rumors that 50,000 more North Korean troops are on the way. Iran and China are supplying weapons. The Axis is not only keeping the war going for Russia, it is arguably, along with its nuclear weapons, a path to victory.

Western Leaders 20260814

Standing on the Precipice: Western Leaders Continue to Fiddle

Europe and parts of the United States did not take the hint that in October 2023 that the Putin’s Russia is not the only country threatening their security. The Iranian piece of the Axis also aims to dismantle Western freedoms and religion via direct military threats, terrorism and unchecked immigration.

Has the Middle East changed after the Ukraine invasion and more specifically, October 7? Asking different people will get you different answers. For Israeli PM Netanyahu it has been a strategic victory for Israel as both Hezbollah and Hamas are on their heals and Iran’s nuclear and missile forces have been severely damaged. For Israel’s opposition, the last three years have brought no positive change for Israel in the Middle East since Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran still exist.

For Iranian Islamists it has changed by showing that they can stand up to their own people and to the United States so that any attempt to topple them will end in failure. For the Islamic Republic, a non-total-defeat shows the world that they can continue their quest for regional and global control despite the hiccups caused by Israel and the United States. The same holds for Hamas and Hezbollah who believe that Israel has been isolated in the world and that the UN, the Hague and the EU – along with America’s DSA – will make being Jewish and Israeli so illegitimate that they will soon be able to chose their apartments in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

According to Erdogan’s Turkey, the Middle East is their playground as they have managed to maintain positive relations with both Hamas and the United States. They have troops in Qatar, a new alignment with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and have so many forces in northern and sub-Saharan Africa that an expanded Ottoman Empire lies in the not too distant future. Greece will be overcome and where Iran failed to destroy Israel, they will succeed.

President Trump believes, or states, that the United States has scored a decisive victory over Iran, is bringing peace to Lebanon and Gaza via Israeli concessions and the disarmament of Hamas and Hezbollah and the future in the middle east goes through Washington. The President also states that the Abraham Accords will be expanded and that Israel, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia are all strong and reliable allies of the United States and that all these countries are moving towards a more peaceful and economically vibrant Middle East.

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s when there were two regional Moslem states that were friendly to Israel, Turkey and Iran. During that cold war period, the only Gulf state that counted was Saudi Arabia. Syria and Egypt were Israel’s existential enemies and the Hashemites of Jordan were more concerned with survival than fighting (at least after 1967). Lebanon was a non-threat to Israel (as a matter of fact Israel supplied arms to the Shiite villagers in the south during the civil war of the late 1970’s at the request of the Shah of Iran).

Currently Iran is Israel’s main enemy, although Turkey is pushing to move ahead of them as the main existential threat to Israel. Israel faces a “Sunni Vise” that includes Turkey and Syria in the north and Egypt in the South. We can add to that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan although that alliance (which now includes Turkey) seems to be more a showpiece than a defense treaty. Or, in the words of Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, “In the Middle East, the vocabulary of collective defense is often detached from the activity of defending. The announcement is the whole of the content”.

Regarding the United States presence in the Middle East, only the details have changed. The Cold War is over but the U.S still has the challenge of controlling oil flow out of the region as its new main enemy, China, depends on it. As for the United States and Israel, that relationship has moved from dependent to almost partner on defense and technology but Israel is still the same steady, reliable, democratic presence it has been for the past few decades. The U.S is certainly closer to the other Gulf states, notably Qatar, but their money has simply replaced (or actually supplemented) Saudi money, although they are much more cynical and effective with it.

The Arab world has barely changed even though the UAE and others have jointed the Abaraham Accords and have a relatively strong relationship with Israel. However, the real issue in the middle east has never been Israel-Palestine but has been and still is the intra-Arab and intra-Moslem rivalry and mistrust. Even when ostensibly on the same side, like the Saudis and UAE are in Yemen, there are separate armies fighting and last month the Saudis bombed the UAE forces – even though both were fighting the Houthis.

Egypt and Turkey, the two largest Sunni states in the region by population and military force are at opposite ends of the Moslem Brotherhood fight. Egypt is more suspicious of Turkey’s support for the Brotherhood, arch enemies of the Al-Sisi government, than they are of Israel’s moves in Gaza. Syria too, while pretending to act as a unified country is at war with the Kurd citizens in the north, Druze in the south and Alawites in the northwest. Their inclusion of ISIS and al-Qaeda fighters in their army – even foreign fighters – means that even within the Sunni majority, there is distrust and fighting.

And Libya is a proxy war if there ever was one with Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Russia involved.

So where do we stand in Europe and the Middle East today?

On the one hand, everyone is correct – Israel is in a better spot strategically, yet has not finished the job. The United States has, with Israel, set back Iran’s plans for regional domination but that gain is one “agreement” away from being overturned. Turkey is extending its influence but does not have the wherewithal to create a new Ottoman Empire as not only Israel stands in the way but so too does Egypt and the rest of the Sunni-Arab world as they do not have fond memories of Ottoman control of Arab lands. The Arab countries, large and small, are fighting the same tribal wars they have fought for the past decades and even centuries. Israel has strong internal unity and morale while its leaders re-arrange their parliamentary chairs.

In Europe, Ukraine has stopped an army three times its size while Russia, against most predictions is able to absorb massive casualties and economic sanctions due to the help of its allies .

Before the invasions of Ukraine and Israel by members of the Axis in 2022 and 2023 the geopolitical situation consisted of four revisionist powers united only in their opposition to the international status quo and the free countries united in their wish to maintain the status quo and to concentrate on comfort to the neglect of all else -including freedom. The Western European powers had no real military power to speak of (with the possible exception of France) as even the UK’s glorious navy was reduced to the minimum number of ships necessary to still call it an ocean going Navy. Ukraine ignored Russian threats and Israel was convinced it could outsmart, deter and bribe its sworn enemies to give up all for a life of comfort.

In the United States, the military was organized as a Walmart or Target warehouse with “just in time inventory”, no long term armaments contracts and with nothing much done to create what won WWII and the Cold War – a strong economic and industrial base. Looking for cheap labor and products and piling debt upon debt, the America;s industrial and fiscal situations mirrored its military un-readiness into a game of catch up – which it is doing neither fiscally nor militarily. Although the current administration is pushing to increase its manufacturing might, the fact that the American shipbuilding industry is able to produce only 3 military ships a year means, one, two or three administrations won’t be enough to complete the task. It requires a seriousness of purpose lacking in a Democratic party fearful of the DSA and a Republican party not serious enough to create a national consensus that will require some sacrifice from citizens.

Although there is a lot of talk, the current leadership in all free countries are the same leaders that led us down this path where they are not ready to meet and defeat middling powers let alone powerful ones.

Just four years ago the late Henry Kissinger published a book called “Leadership” which focused on six leaders he thought were consequential to their countries and the world. You might disagree with his choice but one thing running through each of these leaders (Germany’s Adenauer, France’s de Gaulle, Sadat of Egypt, UK’s Thatcher, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew and Richard Nixon) is that they were patriots and they were willing to take risks to push their countries forward. We don’t seem to see Western leaders who are dedicated first and foremost to their country and its citizens and who recognize the ongoing (the never ending!) threat from tyrants.

Putin, Xi, Khamenei (or whomever is in charge) and Kim are tyrants who don’t need to concern themselves with their citizens and that is the one thing our uncreative and cowardly leaders do not seem to understand. The obsession of today’s western leaders with negotiations and deals and false human rights claims just feeds the tyrannical rule of its enemies and pushes their defeat further and further away. Eisenhauer famously refused to shake hands with the Nazi general who surrendered to him in spite of military custom because he realized that this was not a war of one country against another but a war by his country and their allies against evil.

This is not a call for war against all evil or perpetual conflict of power against power but rather a recognition that if one is not ready to face what tyrants want – your destruction – eventually they will defeat you. America was not prepared to fight WWII but it had an industrial and managerial base that could be transformed into a wartime asset no one has ever had. It also had the luxury of two oceans protecting their manufacturing plants from enemy attack. Finally, it had, admittedly only after Pearl Harbor, the understanding that the moral imperative was defeating the evil that was Nazism as well as Japanese militaristic barbarism and not in coming to some rapprochement with it.

The geopolitical situation has not changed even if there are small tactical advantages that one side has over the other in localized theatres. We are still in the same position where the Axis of revisionist states is using all its force and all the weaknesses of the western world to its advantage and a western world that is continuing to ignore that reality. The internal and external threats in free countries are now at crisis levels.

When it comes down to it, as much as we like to blame our leaders (and we certainly do), it is up to the citizens to demand and to choose brave, creative leaders who are not locked into what has brought us to the precipice of defeat. The leadership since the end of the Cold War has been lacking any sense of urgency no matter what happens. The disaster that was Afghanistan should have been a wake up call – instead it was ignored. The invasion of Ukraine should have put free countries on a war footing for the manufacture and supply of military hardware but instead of was treated as if no other wars would be fought until this one was over. October 7 and the subsequent fighting in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, the entire Persian Gulf should have told the west that terrorism and the immigration of real and potential terrorists into its borders will destroy what it loves best.

So far, the Axis leaders have not waited for the west to wake up, re-arm, control its borders and stop shooting itself in the foot and there is no reason to think it will wait before its next adventure.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.

Follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/

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Challenge Part 4 20260802

The Challenge of October 7: Part 4 – The Political and Legal System

by with No Comment Behavioral SentimentExclusive ContentFeatured HighlightsInvestingIra SlomowitzUncategorizedWorld

Towards a Convenantal Framework

Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author. This article was first published the 28th of July via The Angry Demagogue.

Israel’s political and legal systems are broken beyond repair. Created in 1948 in order to allow a smooth transition from the political format of the Jewish Agency, which represented pre-state Palestinian Jewry (as the Jewish population of the British Mandate was called) it has continued more due to the inertia and the comfort with which the faction leaders ruled than to any political efficiency. If the American founding fathers wanted to create a system which de-emphasized factions, Israel’s was specifically formed to retain and sharpen them.

Part of this had to do with the socialist and religious backgrounds of many of the country’s leaders, both of which emphasized a ruling elite. They were comfortable ruling and therefore leadership turned from public service to the rule of the few. Benjamin Netanyahu was not the first Prime Minster or party leader to not voluntarily step aside and under the current system, he won’t be the last.

Challenge Part 4 20260802

The Challenge of October 7: Part 4 -Towards a Convenantal Framework

Respect for intellect, expertise and rank formed the basis of the legal system, too. Only those that “know” should pick judges and prosecutors, being experts need have no oversight. The Israeli legal system does not allow any non-judicial oversight of the judicial system and does not allow any oversight of the persecutors besides the prosecutors themselves. At the start, the legal system was based on the British legal tradition and incorporated Ottoman law, too. However, the judges and law professors were almost all German origin. From the start it was a mess.

The current Israeli political system is a parliament, the Knesset, that has 120 members voted in either every 5 years or if the government falls. Voters vote for a party list that is determined before the election. There is strict proportional representation with one caveat – a party needs a minimum of 4 seats to get in. That is approximately 3.5% of the vote. All parties that do not pass the minimum threshold get nothing and their votes do not count. Once the final tallies are made one party needs to convince others to join in a coalition that needs to be at least 61 seats.

The legal system consists of a judiciary that is chosen by a committee that includes 3 sitting Supreme Court justices, two members of the Israeli bar association (selected by the head of the bar association), two cabinet members – one of which is the Justice Minister and chairman of the committee and two members of the Knesset who are not minsters, one of whom is in the opposition. Lower court judges need a simple majority of the committee while Supreme Court justices need 7 of the nine members. In practice, this means that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (who chooses the other two members from the Court) has veto power over future members of the Supreme Court. In other words, they choose their successors.

There is another anomaly to the justice system and that is the position of Legal Advisor to the Government. This is a position appointed by the government but who serves a set term so that any specific government does not get to choose their advisor. The Legal Advisor can veto any law and any appointment – and can be overruled only by the Supreme Court. The Legal Advisor also is in charge of the prosecution’s office and decides on whom to indict.

This in a nutshell is the Israeli system that has worked as long as there has been a bit of modesty on the part of all involved. Modesty though, not being the top virtue of politicians, judges and lawyers, is in short supply.

I am by nature a conservative. I don’t believe in radical or revolutionary changes but in slow amendments to what needs to be improved. However, the Israeli political and legal systems are so broken that they need radical overhauls.

Here is our (not so) modest proposal for a reformed political and legal system.

The Israeli political system, being Jewish and free ought to be established under the basis of the “covenant”. A covenantal system establishes sovereignty and reciprocity. A covenantal system is between the citizens and God, with sovereignty not in the hands of the unknowable divine but in the very real citizens. This is a religious concept but it is NOT a basis for a theocracy. Rather, it states forthrightly that sovereignty rests in neither the executive branch, nor the legislative branch nor in the judicial branch. The citizens of the country are sovereign since it is their covenant with God and not the State’s rulers and all decision making must make its way back to its citizens. (I would like to give credit to this idea to an old friend Alan Mittleman – who I have lost touch with – and his book The Scepter Shall not Depart from Judah”, although I may not be interpreting his idea as he stated).

Toward this end we would like to propose the following which keeps the Israeli proportional representation intact but adds stability, checks and balances and most importantly, the centrality of the citizen in the decision-making process. We will be working backwards in that we are not proposing a constitution but rather a form of government that can then decide on the rights and responsibilities that the citizens have and that the government has to its sovereign – the covenanted citizens.

Legislative Branch

Israel needs a bi-cameral legislature but not as it is in the U.S or the UK. In our proposal the Lower House would continue to be elected with proportional representation. They will select a government and the Prime Minister will be a member of the Lower House.

Lower House

The Lower House election would be scheduled every four years and the Knesset would elect the government from its own members as it does today. A simple majority would elect a government and a government would fall with a super-majority of 75 (out of 120). Unlike in most parliamentary democracies, in the structure we propose, a parliament that falls mid term would only serve until the original scheduled 4 year date. This would encourage stability, but still allow a change in government.

If a government falls and another is elected by the current Knesset, that government would also serve out the term of the original government. If a government falls and no government can be agreed upon by the current Knesset, elections for the Lower House would be held to serve out the original term only.

Upper House

The upper house will act as an overseer of the Lower House, the government, the bureaucracy and the Judicial branch. While the Lower House will continue with its 120 members, the upper house will have regional representatives. We suggest 30 districts, equalized in population and each with two representatives. Members will serve 4 year terms and be limited to three terms. There will be elections every two years for half the upper house, with each district always voting for one member every two years.

Members of the upper house would not be allowed to serve in the Lower House after their terms are up, but the opposite would be allowed. This will allow experienced legislators from the Lower House to run and sit in the upper house but they would have to give up their ambition to be Prime Minister as only members of the Lower House could hold that position. Members of the Upper House also cannot be government ministers.

The responsibilities of the Upper House will be legislative, constitutional and investigative. They will have to approve all laws from the Lower House with a simple majority and all “basic laws” – or constitutional laws – will originate in the upper house. These will be passed with at least 40 of the 60 members of the upper house and then sent to the Lower House for their approval

The Upper House will also have the responsibility of choosing lower court judges and Supreme Court justices. The former by a simple majority and the latter by at least 40 of the 60 votes. It will also have the power to remove judges with the same super-majority.

The Upper house will also have investigative and subpoena power – which the legislative branch does not now hold. The debate of the non-investigation of October 7 would have been solved statutorily by the Upper House. It will have total independence from the Lower House and therefore can debate issues and lead investigations without the undo influence of government or opposition.

As for checking and balancing the Upper House, we suggest a recall method that can be triggered by the citizens of the region they represent.

The Government/Executive Branch

One of the main problems with the executive branch is its bloat – too many ministries and too many bureaucrats. There needs to be a statutory limit of 10-15 ministries, appointed by the government and approved by the Lower House.

The Executive Branch also needs independence of action and ought to be able to appoint those who will further its policy goals. Senior bureaucratic and legal officials (in the government – not the Judicial branch) should be appointed by the government as a whole with only a special majority in the Upper House of 40 able to veto them. This should be true regarding the government’s Legal Advisor, Chief Prosecutor, Head of the General Staff and the Shabak (Shin Bet) and Mossad as well as Directors General of the various ministries.

The Prime Minister will be the commander in chief of the military and the internal and external intelligence services will report directly to him. The Prime Minister will have the right to fire ministers at will but can only appoint new ones with the approval of the Lower House.

The Judicial Branch and Legal System

There needs to be a delicate balance between the independence of the court and its being answerable to the citizens of the country. The abuse of power that an unsupervised court system is at least as dangerous to a free society as one that is not independent of the political branches. We try to solve that problem by giving the Upper House the power to appoint judges and justices, and if necessary, to remove judges with a supermajority.

Supreme Court justices should be appointed for one 25 year term irrespective of age. The justices should be able to review all laws except those passed by 2/3rds of the Upper and Lower Houses of parliament. In the case of a law passed by more than 2/3rds of both houses then judicial review should not be allowed.

A total reform must be made of the Government Legal Advisor system. They essentially have veto power over all government decisions, discussions and appointments. They also control the prosecution and the Police’s internal affairs unit. Finally, they have no oversight besides when the government challenges their own legal advisor in the Supreme Court. (This reform needs to be substantial but we do not have room for it here).

This is a rough outline, sometimes detailed and sometimes not, of the changes that need to be made after October 7. The idolatrous rule of the experts brings with it hubris that has caused too many disasters – most especially, October 7. The Upper House of the parliament that we propose should balance the will of the people with the rule of the experts by making it answerable primarily to the citizens of the country.

This is not some utopian proposal that will solve all problems, but rather a framework where people can feel confident in the institutions that are supposed to serve them.

The move towards a covenantal government means that respect must flow from leaders to the citizens and authority from the citizens to the government. For most of the last few decades the reform of government in Israel was limited either to direct election of the Prime Minister or an increase in members of the Knesset. The first was tried and failed. The second is just a power grab by the parties so that they can add more friends to the public payroll.

Our suggestion on the other hand, gives the Prime Minister the authority needed to run the country and the citizens with a tool to keep the government, the legal system and the bureaucracy in line.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.

Follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/

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post234

New Alternatives for Regional Alliances & Global Effects?

by with No Comment Behavioral SentimentBusinessFeatured Highlights

New Alternatives for Regional Alliances & Global Effects?

post234

Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author. This article was first published the 14th of March, 2025 via The Angry Demagogue.

There is so much going on that it really is difficult to keep up. Israel is at the center of many of the regional developments, as would be expected. But it is not just Israel as Israel, but Israel as an ally of the United States that is interesting. The Syria problem we have written about and it is still not clear what the Trump administration’s policy is there as they look skeptically but hopefully at Al-Julani’s Syria. In our opinion that decision will be made for them, since the chances that Al-Julani has changed his stripes to a Western democrat is small and even if we are wrong there – the armed Jihadist groups that he needs to control seem more interested in ridding Syria of ‘heretics’ than stabilizing the country.

Lebanon has changed enough for the United States and Israel to take chances. While it is too bad that Israel did not do more in ridding the country of Hezbollah, the fact that Syria is no longer part of the Shiite crescent means that they are isolated and not able to get funding and arms from Iran with the same ease. What is important about the current Lebanese government is that Hezbollah is not a part of it. That does not leave them powerless, but it allows the government to act more independently. The Lebanese Shiites, under Hezbollah and the less but still militant Amal, will have to rethink their loyalty to these two organizations. At the least, it should move Amal away from their stronger partner.

Iran now has no land route to Hezbollah and will have a harder time arming the Houthis, too. But it is in Iraq that they are facing problems which could cause as much damage to their projection of power as did the loss of Syria. Due to US pressure, Iraq has stopped buying Iranian electricity although they can still buy gas. It seems that the US is giving Iraq some time to find alternatives to Iranian gas and the Iraqi government is moving away from Iran on other issues too and are trying to get rid of Iran’s Shiite militias.

But the most interesting thing to happen is Israel’s attempt to strengthen America’s relationship with Azerbaijan, a country that Israel is in close contact with regarding Iran. Israel has always been rumored to plan to use Azeri air force bases in a possible attack on Iran. The Azeri official responsible for regional development was in Israel last month and is trying to bridge differences between Israel and Turkey. The Azeri’s next stop after Israel was to Turkey. Steve Witkoff is reported to have stopped in Baku after his visit to Moscow.

An Azeri company has also bought rights to Israel’s Tamar gas field. Israel currently gets oil from Azerbaijan via a pipeline that goes through Turkey so the energy relationship is strong and longstanding between Israel and Azerbaijan. It seems that Turkey’s relationship with Azerbaijan is more important to them than their animosity towards Israel – probably because the Azeris and Armenians are enemies. It seems that sometimes not only friendships have to be ranked but enemies, too.

Trump’s game with Ukraine is not necessarily to my taste but it could be that there is something much bigger going on here and that is connecting Israel, Russia, Central Asia and Turkey to a grand alliance with the United States. I don’t think that Trump will succeed in pulling Russia away from Iran and China and that Erdogan’s Turkey will not give up their dream of destroying Israel. But what if the Iranian regime falls after a combination of harsh sanctions, economic collapse and Israeli military attacks? What if Iran is pulled away from the alliance leaving Russia with just China? What if a Russian base in Syria is dependent upon their moving away from China?

Last year the Axis held a near continuous land bridge from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. China was moving into Russia’s “sphere of influence” in the “Stans” of Central Asia with their economic bear hugs. This was something that the Biden administration ignored, but could be a bigger headache for Putin than a well armed but non-NATO Ukraine with American businessmen instead of soldiers as a tripwire.

Are we giving too much credit to Trump and his foreign policy team and to Israel’s influence in the expanded region that reaches beyond Syria? Is there more going on than we know or less?

On October 7 and the days that followed, the Biden Administration was sure that Israel was in such a panic that it would agree to anything, and they could force the Obama Middle East of a hegemonic Iran and a Palestinian state down Israel’s throats – and overthrow Netanyahu as an extra. None of those things happened.

Only a fool would predict what will be in a year, but what we have discussed above is one scenario no one would have considered even six months ago. The post WWII world looked nothing like the world of 1937, and the post WWIII world (the one we wrote about a year ago and may or may not have happened!) will look nothing like September 2023 – no matter how hard the UN yells and screams.

Could Israel and Azerbaijan be the keys to a realigned world?

It is against my nature to be optimistic, especially since Israel is still not done with Gaza, the hostages are not yet home and the internal politics are reaching levels that border on a soft coup.

However, while we don’t know where the aces are, we know that the Obama-Biden jokers are no longer in the deck.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.

You can follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/ 

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The Wigged and the Robed: All Hail the ICC in The Hague

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The Wigged and the Robed: All Hail the ICC in The Hague

Opinion: The following article is commentary and its views are solely those of the author.

There is an old saying that extreme cases make bad law and that is mostly the case. Regarding policy though, sometimes it takes a disaster to shake people out of their mindset. Regarding the absurdly named International Criminal Court, or The Hague, as we like to call it, we have to admit that the recent decision to issue arrest warrants to Israel’s Prime Minister and ex-Defense Minister should be one of those decisions that will push the civilized world to correct its self-righteous post-Holocaust decision to create that court. 

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What better way to make amends for the crimes of Europe, they thought way back when, than to judge, honestly and fairly all such “crimes against humanity” that happen in the world?

How much better the guilty Europeans will feel when they bring the less civilized to trial in their palatial courtrooms, especially as they will train the non-European judges themselves in the fineries of “human rights law”? The next Hitlers of the world will never be able to do their dastardly deeds since the civilized world will deter them with lawyers in fancy wigs and robes. Just look at all the tyrants and mass murderers who have been deterred over the past 70 years. The people of Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan and Biafra (remember that?) thank their betters in European capitals. The Bangladeshis, too. 

I am sure that those men, women and children in Darfur have an annual party celebrating the brave men and women in wigs who sit in the Hague, for saving their lives. We understand that the hundred’s of thousands of women and girls in the Congo who have been raped (many multiple times) give a prayer of thanks to the judges in the ICC for saving them from their next rape, since the rapists have certainly been deterred by the brilliant legal analysis done in the Hague.

With the issuing of arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the ICC has done a great deed for all the suffering women in Congo and families in Sudan, to say nothing of all those hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have been killed or made homeless by the Syrian regime and their Russian, Iranian and Lebanese helpers. The young Iranian women who have been jailed for showing their hair and the Uighurs in China who are right now in concentration camps are now in a better place since Netanyahu and Gallant will be hunted down and shackled to be judged by the robed and wigged in The Hague.

But most important, all those European Jew haters, those of Marxist, Jihadist, Aristocratic or Nazi bent no longer must feel guilty for killing Jews. They have learned the lessons of the Holocaust very well – the lessons taught by the enablers of the perpetrators in the universities, courtrooms and media outlets.

What can the civilized world do to make sure that the wonderful gains the ICC in The Hague don’t disappear? Make the ICC disappear. There is nothing so satisfying for those of us who love truth and justice than ridding the world of another symbol of global hypocrisy and self-righteousness. I can assure you that those that actually suffer from mass murder and rape will not be worse off.

Disclaimer: the views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of the author, and not necessarily the opinions reflected by angrymetatraders.com or its associated parties.

You can follow Ira Slomowitz via The Angry Demagogue on Substack https://iraslomowitz.substack.com/