Feb 1 1999

The word fascism made it into the headline of the second edition of Yedioth Ahoronoth this morning, after thirty two years (since the "Six Day War" put the mysticism into the nationalism, leading all the way to Rabin's assassination) of the term only appearing in the radical press trying to describe what was happening here.

A "Sephardi," Labor's Shlomo Ben Ami, was quoted as describing a Bibi campaign slogan calling for "A strong leader for a strong people," as "echoing of fascism." Ben Ami is not a typical "Sephardi" politician, since he's both a professor and a diplomat as well as a Moroccan who grew up in Kiryat Shmona. But David Levy has been hinting at the same fear in recent months, coming out strongly against the superstitions promoted by the Shas politicians.

Yes, Bibi Netanyahu has a Personist style; yes, it's the lumpen that is most screwed by the one they claim to love the most; and yes, the occupation (of the remainder of West Bank and the one-third of Gaza still held for a couple of hundred Jewish settlers) is morally corrupting to the democratic system because it is based on Jewish supremacism. And Bibi-ism is the dangerous combination of mystic nationalism, religious fundamentalism and the superstitions of mobs, led for the sake of the vanity of a TV celebrity who believes he is divinely inspired.

There mere fact that Yedioth, by far the most widely circulated newspaper in the country put the word fascism in its headline in a reference to Israel itself, is a sign that Bibi will lose the coming election.

The new liberal party started by ex-Likud police minister Ronni Milo, ex chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and ex-Likud justice and finance minister Dan Meridor, is headed by ex-Likud defense minister Yitzhak Mordechai, the first viable Sephardi candidate for prime minister in the 50 years of Israel's statehood. That list is the new Likud, and Bibi's Likud will hemmorage voters to it.

This campaign won't even climax on May 17, although Barak is trying with his One Israel campaign to create a united front with the liberal center just before the vote, in the hope to win the 50 percent + 1 vote he needs to become prime minister. There's a chance that the June 1 run-off could be Barak vs. Mordechai. I'm still waiting for a pollster to ask the question.