Labor and Kadima MKs said that Netanyahu was "too much of a Republican" to get along with Democrat Obama. They warned that electing Netanyahu in the February 10 general election would be a recipe for deteriorating ties between Israel and its closest ally in the world.This is exactly wrong. The PA has not been exactly dovish concerning the "peace process" by any objective measure; only compared to Hamas and the other "extremists." Nevertheless, the US sends Condoleeza Rice every couple of months to genuflect before Abbas, even though he has made no concessions on fundamental issues - and the PA leadership has made very clear they have no intention on any real compromise in the future.
Kadima leader Tzipi Livni hinted at Netanyahu when she warned that "if Israel puts itself in a corner and is seen as rejecting diplomatic processes, we could enter an era that is worse than the current one."
The reason that the US pressures Israel is because Israeli leadership sends signals that it is ready to keep conceding more and more for an illusory "peace." Instead of pointing to Gaza as an object lesson of the futility of concessions, Olmert and his people tell the US with their actions and words that they are prepared to keep on giving in exchange for worthless and unenforceable promises.
Israel's leaders have co-opted the positions of their extreme Left of ten years ago. There is no way that Yitzchak Rabin would have countenanced someone from his party saying this:
"It would be a missed opportunity if we elect Netanyahu," Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines said. "Netanyahu's English is fluent, but they still won't understand each other. Obama will try to advance the peace process from day one, and he can do it, because he has more trust from the Arab world than his predecessor.One cannot find a better argument against Labor/Kadima than that highlighted sentence. Labor/Kadima says "yes" to every concession and every threat to Israel's existence, and they ridicule those who think that being surrounded by Iranian proxies within short rocket distance from the entire population of Israel is a bad thing. In addition, Labor/Kadima is eager to divest the Jewish State from historical Jewish land and every major Jewish shrine.
"Then Netanyahu would say no to the Saudi peace plan, no to dividing Jerusalem, no to withdrawing from the Golan. That's why it's so important that the center-Left bloc win our election."
Bibi and Likud are far from perfect, but experience shows that standing up for your rights gains you more respect in the West, not less.