Perhaps it is not a matter of elites vs the will of the people. Perhaps the crux of the issue is that there is no real difference between the beliefs, vision, goals, etc. of the political parties, right or left. Perhaps the stances they take vis a vis each other's policies are political posturing only. "It matters not what you say as I am opposed to anything you say." However, once in power their true colors show. Seriously, what is Kadima? It is a merger of Likud and Labor. So, we have three parties that are essentially the same. In order to differentiate themselves they oppose each other's policies.

So now Israel is run by a bunch of 'elites' who control all the levers of power to the detriment of a 'true believers' like the aiuthor. Poor baby. Secular law doesn't matter, international law doesn't matter as long as Mr. Sherman and his ilk can blame someone wlse for all what they perceive are the ills of their cock-eyed vision of Israel. First, it was the Arabs, who Mr. Sherman, in his usual racist rant, are collectively to be punished because they are somehow less human than Jews. Therefore, they 'deserve' the injustice daily meted out to them. Now it is the 'elites' who, once in power, deliberately coddle the same 'Arabs' and thereby 'sell out' Mr. Sherman's vision. Perhaps Sharon, the Oslo negotiators, Rabin et al, realized that the path Mr. Sherman espouses is a dead end. That in protecting oneself against racism, i.e. antisemitism, they have created a racist state. And that such a racist state implicitly contains the seeds of its own destruction. Yet, someone as intellectually dishonest as Mr. Sherman refuses to look in the mirror and see how much this idea of 'Juden uber alles' has lead Israel into the quandary it faces today. Instead he will rail against 'leftists' or 'elites' or 'Arabs' or anyone else because his vision is simply unworkable. His paranoia and faulty reasoning are never self-examined. Instead it must be a 'Fifth Column' composed of all those who disagree with him.

Mr. Sherman's article and your misunderstanding was used to begin your usual diatribe against the state of Israel. In essence, Mr. Sherman describes how all politics are run through the gristmill of the established legal fraternity and all the weight which it plays in the political life of Israel, the media and how convincing it is in determining how Knesset factions construct their respective policies as well as academia which puts their scholarly imprimataur on the policies which they, in principle, advocate. Because all three are of the same mindset and are extremely well dug into official Israeli functioning and very influential, all Israeli politics, no matter who is in charge, appears to be of the same brand. Mr. Sherman was trying to get at the reasons for all governments, whether "liberal" or "conservative", to look the same no matter what they decried when running for election. He saw this kind of functioning as paradoxical and came up with a sociological principle for the source of the kind of non-conservative activity of the conservative governments, i.e., Likud. As noted in a previous post, Mike, I found his short essay to be "heuristic". He has not proved his point but his thesis engenders a good deal of consideration. What needs to be done, in my estimation, is to show the route in detail of just how the legal, media and academic entities influence the policies of government and how this influence is normally of a liberal, as opposed to conservative, kind.

It seems this man has been reading what Feiglin has been saying for the last 10 years. Feiglin had Bibi pegged way before the elections. Actions speak louder than words. Ie Wye and Chevron. Vote for the left in Israel, you get the left. Vote for the right you get the left again.

Time for Jews to reclaim Israel. We have let these cosmopolitan, condescending, paternalistic, theiving criminal assimilationists run Israel into the ground for much too long.

....your flake is prime, notwithstanding, Robert Haymond makes a lot more sense than you.

A Jew in Lodz is a miracle

...mine was censored by Ynet. It's amazing, they cannot root out the impostors, I guess they don't understand the easy to use technology, yet it's easy to censor reasoned analysis especially when it brings in outside information that is verboten for your average Israeli to be allowed to read. I am glad your analysis went through, it nearly mirrored mine. The few wingnuts left now are what Donald Rumsfeld used to call the "dead enders" - there is no where for Israel to really go now until it hits rock bottom, has the civil war over the colonists, and basically becomes so enmeshed in civil strife of Jew against Jew the state will be helpless, one side of the IDF against the other. The signs are already there and easy for all to see.

will survive you and your likes as well.

supreme court has the authority to annul any decision of the government which it deems "right" in respect of preferring Arab interest to Israel's security. This is only one example.

the child think that his father can do evrything .. i think israil sociaty is the child goverment take the role of father can not explain that there are many fathers to this child nation

Drag out the leftist "elite", place them on a public square and shoot them in the head. Maybe it is not very civilized but it is sure very practical...

Yes, Mr. Sherman there is a problem with the educated elites. They have gotten lost. Hover the a strong reason for the inconsistency between voting and policy is the inner conflict within us. Our fear, which we recognize as unhealthy leads to Likud, our sensitivities call on us to try and do the right thing, to do good. This leads us to try and fix this problem, which is not in our hands alone to fix. The frustration this engenders, is confusing and leads us to do the “peace” think half hearted, and to “shoot and cry” and to be ineffecient when trying to stop the terror.

who may be interested. Well said!

Robert Haymond is on the right track in asking for the detailed channels for how the Leftists in the media, academia, and law influence politicians. For if Martin Sherman did so, he would rediscover what an American-born political scientist discovered years ago and what the people in Israel need to internalize or they will continue to be disenfranchised. The reason the channels exist for legal, media, and academia, not to mention foreign entities such as NGOs, to influence Israeli politicians is because Israel has a grossly flawed political system missing crucial institutional checks and balances. For instance, of the 89 states classified as democracies that exist on this globe, Israel is the ONLY state where voters are compelled to vote for fixed party lists. This makes politicians unaccountable. James Madison, who is often called the Father of the U.S. Constitution, said: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Martin Sherman's thesis is great at explaining why Israeli politicians are not angels but does not explain why in the United States politicians, who are not any more angelic, are much more representative of the general populace [the Health Care bill was an outlier and the Democrats are going to pay for it in the next election] but there is similar Leftist dominance in the law, academia, and media. The differences prove the point. The fact that the U.S. has a marginal 5-4 conservative leaning Supreme Court seems to be explainable by the fact that the U.S. constitution gives the elected President sole power to nominate federal judges, not like in Israel where the Supreme Court is practically a self-appointed oligarchy. Similarly, the dominance of conservative talk radio from 1987 onward in America was made possible with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, but in Israel when legislation to legalize Arutz Sheva was duly passed in 1999 by the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned it. The only book worth its salt that explains the flaws in the Israeli political system is Jewish Statesmanship: Lest Israel Fall.

Why are discussions like this one so limited? What happens after this column disappears from view? This is an excellent analysis and there is a lot more that needs to be discussed. Just the issue of who exactly finances some Israeli leftist media and human rights organizations would be a real shock to some people. Israelis and Jews in general really want to share ideas and information. There are good talkbacks here. Do you have your own website, Mr Sherman? By the way, I have often suggested that patriotic Israeli intellectuals need to join forces in some kind of non-partisan organization or think tank in order to educate people and hopefully inspire effective activism and change. Israelis are being kept distracted, divided, confused and misinformed, dealing with one crisis after another, day after day. There seems to be little time to analyze what lies at the core of Israel's troubles and what is destroying the country from within. The left likes it that way.

Torah curse that the Hebrews would be returned on the road to slavery and then many other curses worse occur. We know they did by history. vile nations over us? Did we move into this curse of slavery and not become aware of it? I agree that a group "imposes, with great effectiveness, its views on elected politicians and the general public". It is visible to the naked eye. So who designed this anti Torah cult if it exists? Who made it illegal to say that a Jew is a slave when we see in Torah that Jews were sometimes slaves? Why would they care? Why can I not say a word contrary to the teachings of men who add to Torah? What are they trying to hide? What is the label of "Judasim" when it has deviated from Torah and is defined as maternal? What is the difference between Am Israel, Hebrews which are paternal and Jewish which is maternal? Just curious if we are missing something here in these labels? Judaism doesn't care that father is Jewish if the children are mothered by a goy, they become goy? Why would they discard clearly Hebrews male descendants? Only a maternal slave and her children cannot get her freedom from her owner according to the book the Levites created? Written by an unknown author? Something is strange about how the society shuts out outsiders to assure a claimed invisible souls pureness. Is this not just saying a distilled thought but using the word soul? Yes it "imposes, with great effectiveness, its views on elected politicians and the general public". Is that not what goes on? Is a descrimination because outsiders are being kept out or the Hebrews kept in confused and locked in a cult of control and brainwashing? No job, no social interaction, no spouse, no peace, if you don't bend? Think about it, as I am curious to what the real reason "why" is. Is there some outside hand pressure Jews into choose death so that our blessings and protection from G-d is reduced to make us weak in our hand to defend? A convert must either be a total haredi or shunned out of society? hmm? I have a feeling. It has to end. Let my people go!

"overriding objective to publicly expose those responsible for the dangerous distortions they impose on the nations political mechanisms, unveil their myopia and/or their malice, undermine their standing, and erode their status." Our hand will always be weak if we do it they way they imposed on us under the label "Its not Jewish". Read Moshe in Devarim. Its clear we have been friars. The curse of mind slavery can only be lifted if we are no longer choose the curses. Do it as it was written and love G-d, and these men will melt away. Watch and learn. The giants are no match when G-d is with us, lets run up the hill and plant a non-pagan flag on that hill where the giants reside. Read the Torah and you will know the story about the giants.

So Mr. Sherman, you've made some fairly serious and disturbing assertions here. I suggest that if you want to be taken seriously, you follow your own counsel, and begin the process of publicly exposing the conspirators whom you claim are blocking the constitutional process in Israel. Nothing happens until somebody has the courage to confront real people – instead of alleged anti-democratic ideologies. Make change happen – it’s time to step up, or quiet down.