Avigdor Lieberman: "a classical ....Leftist"!

The leader of Israels Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, has been in the news due to his recent inclusion in the Israeli coalition government. Lieberman is a controversial figure, with his advocacy of the idea of ‘transfer’, AKA ethnic cleansing. This isn’t exactly a new idea as it was the core idea of various other Israeli politicians such as Meir Kahane and Rehavam Zeevi. But Lieberman has added his own touch of insane originality to the position with his advocacy of other fascinating ideas such as drowning all Palestinian prisoners, bombing the Aswan Dam in Egypt, executing Arab-Israeli MKs, bombing all Palestinian fuel stations, shopping centres and the like, and now advocates turning Gaza into another Chechnya (and maybe they decided to take his advice after all).

I think everyone agrees that he is a man of extreme views.

Did I say everyone? No, not everyone.

Many of our forum fanatics think he’s just great,

Anyone who opposes the defeated, corrupt, anti-Zionist government of Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz should be encouraged with the rise of Avigdor Lieberman
– Newsguy

Though apparently he is a little too starry-eyed,

Lieberman's plan is not realistic. His plant calls for a negociated agreement between Israel and the Arabs. That's not going to happen. Certainly not with Hamas in power. The best we can hope for is a civil war among the "Palestinians," which would kill off most of the current leadership…………
– Kettlewhistle.

Who goes on to make this astounding assertion about Liebermans political leanings,

Although he is a classical, as opposed to a modern, Leftist, he is a Zionist….

As incredible as it seems, I’ve discovered that not only do our forum fanatics think Lieberman is just fine, here’s one who thinks his views are too accommodating. What can you say to this?

He seems to be doing a lot of talking - and there could be a chance that he could flip-flop Ariel Sharon style…….. He proposes a transfer of land. . ……..Any proposal which promotes handing over parts of Israel to form a "Palestinian" state is not only immoral and illegal but also places the entire nation in mortal danger
- Leon

What I’ve noticed is that this kind of extreme, too-much-is-not-enough cheerleading comes not from Israeli Jews, but mostly from American Jews. Maybe it’s the ‘armchair Zionist’ syndrome? They loudly champion Zionism, but quite like their comfy lives in New York etc, and have no intention of swapping their latte sipping lifestyles for the heat and uncertainty of Tel Aviv. Hence they overcompensate out of guilt, happily cheering on Israeli excesses in the name of the Zionism that they repudiate in practice, knowing that it’s Palestinians and Israeli Jews (but mostly Palestinians) who pay the price in blood.