Zionist Union Still Looking For Way To Show Hurricane Matthew Bibi’s Fault

“If Herzog and Livni are serious about standing a chance in the next election, they had better agree exactly which loony anti-Bibi conspiracy theory to promote.”

Tel Aviv, October 7 – Leaders of the opposition Zionist Union faction in the Knesset have yet to develop a coherent approach to blaming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the devastation of Hurricane Matthew, sources within the political alliance reported today.

Aides who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters that Labour Party chief Isaac Herzog, who formally leads the Opposition, and the number two seat in the Zionist Union, HaTnuah leader Tzippi Livni, remained at odds over how to best accuse Netanyahu of either fomenting the category-four storm or of allowing it to occur through negligence. The disagreement has hamstrung officials in the ranks of both parties who cannot formulate a consistent line on how to blame Bibi for Matthew.

A late-night session at Zionist Union headquarters ended with no resolution on what specific actions or inactions Netanyahu has adopted that led to Hurricane Matthew, which is currently striking Florida and has already wrought devastation in Haiti and killed hundreds. Herzog reportedly prefers to accuse Netanyahu of neglecting infrastructure in Florida and Georgia, whereas Livni and several others believe more effective political hay can be made of directly charging that Netanyahu created the maelstrom as a way of punishing the US for the Obama administration’s attitude and rhetoric on the Israeli presence beyond the Green Line.

A third option proposed by Labor MK Shelly Yechimovich was rejected by a quick faction vote. Yechimovich wanted the Zionist Union party line to accuse the prime minister of hiring freelance climate engineers to create the storm, instead of having the government handle the task directly, which would have preserved Israeli public sector jobs. Yechimovich’s proposal was voted down as unlikely to resonate with the voting public.

Analysts believe that further delays in adopting a coherent stance on how Netanyahu is responsible for Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath can only hurt the Zionist Union politically. “Indecisiveness never looks good,” explained Kol Israel radio political commentator Hanan Crystal. “If Herzog and Livni are serious about this alliance, and about standing a chance in the next elections, they had better agree exactly which loony anti-Bibi conspiracy theory to promote. Anything else will just turn the voters away, which is something the Zionist Union can ill afford to do, given that polls foresee a total electoral collapse as things currently stand.”

A different alliance in the Opposition, the Joint List of mostly Arab parties, had little difficulty reaching a consensus on the same issue. Joint List legislators unanimously charged that Netanyahu had engineered both Hurricane Matthew and the inadequate infrastructure in its path in order to distract the world from his abuse of Palestinian rights.