Nachman Shai says he knows highlighting Israel's diverse coalition alone won't win over progressives, but insists that improved government social media presence is essential
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man speaks with then-Economy Minister Naftali Bennett following a discussion about drafting ultra-Orthodox men to service in the Israeli army in the Yad Sara building in Jerusalem, on June 11, 2013. (Zuzana Janku/Flash 90)
JTA When Israel’s current government managed to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, it did so by the narrowest of majorities and with the most ideologically diverse coalition in history.
Now that the government has turned to governing, it’s unclear what it can accomplish. The coalition, which includes right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties, as well as an Islamist party, is divided on the future of the West Bank, Arab-Jewish relations within Israel, domestic spending and even marijuana legalization.
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NEW YORK In 2017, Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer gave a speech to a new organization formed to bolster Jewish support for the Democratic Party.
Addressing the fledgling group, the envoy stressed the importance of initiatives that strengthen both Republicans’ and Democrats’ solidarity with the Jewish state, ensuring that the US-Israel relationship can remain a matter of bipartisan consensus.
Dermer told the crowd he needed the support of both parties to effectively pilot the US-Israel relationship.
“You cannot fly a plane with one wing,” he said.
For over seven years as ambassador, Dermer, 49, helped steer the US-Israel relationship through the turbulence of Democratic President Barack Obama’s second term followed by the friendlier skies of Republican Donald Trump’s administration, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found a partner in Washington with whom he was politically aligned.