On left and right – Gideon Levy in Haaretz:

‘This is a phenomenon that's virtually unknown elsewhere in the world. In Israel, the left has a conservative spirit – calcified, hesitant, deceptive and cowardly. And the right is the revolutionary movement, with no restraints, a movement that means exactly what it says.
Usually, radicalization on the right sparks radicalization on the left. But in Israel, the opposite has occurred. As the right grew more extreme, the left moved to the center. It shrouded its positions in fog, chased after the right, tried to imitate it and ended up with the worst of all worlds.’

(…)

‘When the Netanyahu government submitted a bill rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, the other bloc largely backed it. When the Knesset voted on instituting the death penalty for terrorists – one of the most racist and fascist bills ever submitted here – the opposing bloc skipped the vote. The response to the Kahanist spirit has been lame.’

(…)

‘There are no longer any far-right positions that are illegitimate. And there are no longer any leftist positions that are legitimate. Every semi-leftist muttering is treason. Just listen to the television stations. You won't hear any subversive voices there.
This situation was jointly created by the left and the media. Propose any war crime, from ethnic cleansing to annihilation, and it will be deemed legitimate. Propose something that is moral, democratic, humane or in compliance with international law, and you'll be silenced. The left and the center, which should have radicalized as they did in America, are instead stuttering in fear.
The right is in favor of genocide and population transfer. But what does the left propose? The atrocities Hamas committed in southern Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip gave a tailwind to every crazy fascist whim – settling Gaza, expelling Palestinians to Sudan, executing them, torturing them, beating them, wreaking destruction.’

(…)

‘A war like the one just past should have produced a conversation that would touch on the big issues rather than focusing on trivialities. It should have produced a bloc that would say "we've tried the right's way and it led us to the brink of the abyss."
"Here's the alternative: Leave Gaza immediately. Help rebuild it. Stop the pogroms in the West Bank, grant its residents freedom of movement and let them work in Israel. Open up Gaza too. We're proposing a plan to end the occupation and we'll talk with anyone who is willing to talk, starting with Barghouti. We're proposing a path that's different from Kahanism and we'll fight for it."
But relegitimizing moral positions and proposing a real alternative will apparently only happen when the Messiah comes.
And he'll undoubtedly be right-wing, too.’

Read the article here.

Of course, the Messiah will be rightwing. The false Messiah that is.

The only thing that Gideon Levy is not right about it that this just happened in Israel. It happened everywhere. The left gave in almost everywhere.
And don't blame only the politicians.
You can blame the voters as well.
Except the consequences in Israel are a bit graver than elsewhere.