Welcome to the Commentary Magazine Daily podcast today is Tuesday April seventh, twenty twenty, I'm John Paul words. Of commentary with me, as always associate I don't know Rossman hello, Noah Hygiene, senior editor a Green waldheim, I jump Senor writer Christine rose high, Christine done and joining us today: Jerusalem, Post, communist jewish, do service columnist

Ruthie, Bloom, author of Helen, a hand basket and Dear Ruthie, a compendium of her advice, coms and, coincidentally, my sister from television, I Ruthie high time so He is joining us to tell us we're going to talk about the immensely complex is really. Political system, which looked last night as though a new coalition government had been form finally, after the third election and weeks after the third election, only to be tripped up yet again by internal israeli top politics before we get to that I wanted to read a letter that I got yesterday from a gentleman who works as a loan officer

at a bank, because, if you remember, we were listening yesterday, I talked about how it appeared as though he fears that the paycheck. Protection act in the loans that were going to go out to small businesses were going to be like Obamacare website to had not been had not turned out to be. The case and that and then a lot of loans have been processed and that it looked like the harnessing of the private sector by by the by the legislation that had worked. But this list I wrote to me and said the following: I work as a mortgage underwrite or for the largest bank in my state and after listening to the podcast day, I thought you. I would appreciate some insider information, but had the SBA loans are being handled, I'm not saying anything that is in public information First shortly after the relief bill was passed and the SBA loans were announced, it was chaos, our recent trend, and

financial regulation. World has been to not give specific rules to lenders. But the assembly of guidelines and save the spare the law must be followed by the financial institutions. This bill took that to the next level and basically told the banks to make up their own policies regarding the SBA loans and after the fact of the SBA decided, you did not follow the Spirit of the law with your policies, they will penalized you neither say it has caused a lot of issues with our compliance department in communicating with our loan officers what they should be doing for the SBA loans at one thing that you that wrong, unfortunately, is it. The loan staff at banks right now do have a lot to do. Even before this S base up, we ve been overwhelmed of loan applications. Part partially do the fact that a lot of our loans demonstrate used to working from home, dealing with kids out sick partially, because the Federal Reserve cut interest rates base with zero by dissolve the started, causing many people who are financially savvy to refinance their mortgages. This is especially true for a large and complex borrowers,

who take much more time to underwrite and collect information. I worked on one such loans for six hours today, a normal own takes less than thirty minutes to underwrite whatever the We can we got thousands of SB applications a hundred times the volume we process on a normal day. We are only able to process incomplete ten less than ten percent of the ones. Hey man, and that, as with all our lot officers working twenty plus hours over the weekend and the applications are still piling up, we are diverting staff from all over the bank to try to have Massa matter requests, but we will not be able to process them fast enough. The seventeen thousand figure you talked when the Pakistani. That's the number announced by the SBA of the loans that had been processed on Monday or Friday suits me is most likely out of over two hundred and fifty thousand applications given enough time. I'm sure we can get through other requests, but the point is to get as much money out the door in the next week.

To the banks, will not be able to accomplish that. So this is a slightly darker perspective. I sent this information to a friend of mine who deals with this stuff. Also who responded follows. I imagine this is reasonably true. But there are some facts. We don't know mainly the technological sophistication of this gentlemen's bank, I'm talking to heads of highly progressive banks that are processing. Fifty percent of their volume, so remember so there's that and then another personally, a word to the hedge funds says it's a mess when they talk to the small the SBA, so they could give guidance to their friends. Nobody really knew what was going on and again. I think this is this fear of the after the fact, punishment that the banks are

exposing themselves to significant liability are now you mentioned bank and then suddenly the banks are evil and you get into Bernie. Sanders was with worn territory, but you know these are people who just don't wanna, subject themselves to you now that kind of help pursuit of villains after this is all over, which is horse politically incredibly convenient. So I I don't know, I don't know how to judge any of this. I just thought that I would. I would offer it up because it's a obviously this is a very interesting perspective, so you were impressed this morning by Ross Douthat column in which he effectively calls a halt to. He says one of the things that was taken. A terrible beating here is the cult of

expertise and that the envy, the experts from the World Health Organization downward have not shown themselves up to the task of handling both the processing of information and the explanation of what nothing at all about the way that the cult of expertise, which, of course is one of the slams against Trump, that he's a go conserves, don't care but expertise any more and they they think expertise. Is and I was a liberal conspiracy and all that well what are you? What do you make of it yeah? I thought it was a very dude column, and you know what one of them, things that he says. Courses he's he's careful to say that this, what while the confusion of the pandemic, exposes the limits of expertise, and

you still it. It doesn't mean that you need to dismiss it entirely, but there are, as he says, sometimes This is arm. Chair, epidemiology will sometimes reach truths. Sooner than officialdom. I think which is an interesting point because, as you said, We see we discuss on previous podcast that the projection hospitalizations and Death and illnesses are, we seem to have been seemed of widely, thankfully, of overshot the mark by by a lot, and that those figures were doubted by lay people for quite a while. Not just cranks, you know, just sort of you know back the envelope kind of thinking deeply about about this thing.

You can come to some sense of what the experts are saying doesn't seem quite right. I mean, I think, people got that sense by the way, almost intuitively, about masks as well, when we were being told by experts that masks R r don't providing protection at all. There seem to be this doubling up sensitive How can that entirely true will and can I can I add, that there's a common denominator they're, both with the mistrust of some of the official statistics it in the projections that were made from them and the mask issue in that that was widely promoted by the World Health Organization. They were very kantime asked if they were all so, you know complete. Incredulously accepting the numbers that China was feeding to it about the seriousness of of the virus in and speaking to this issue of right wing cranks, not trusting expertise Sometimes they are correct not to trust expertise of its coming from an organization like those like like the who, which has proven itself to be completely

trustworthy and which I hope will timidly face a real reckoning once once things calm down with a pandemic. The important revelation here is that it's not a grand nefarious conspiracy theory right is that this is the result of expertise and reliance on what you presume to be falsify able data, but that was just simply flawed data and the reliance on rat and past experience yielded to a kind of tunnel vision that that still characterizes the current situation in February. There is television towards it's, not gonna, be a big deal in March. It was tunnel vision toward this is gonna, be apocalyptic, were now approaching a tunnel vision toward me all the networks have to maintain this. This current posture for the foreseeable future for the next eighteen months, which I can guarantee you will not happen broken when that day comes up and there will be a new tunnel vision. Now I mention that we have a piece in the upcoming issue

commentary by by Jim MEG's about this disastrous earthquake in nineteen. Sixty four in Alaska Andy phenomenon that he details known as elite panic, in which The great fear, at a moment of social disorder caused by anyone know circumstance is that Roy Polloi are going to miss behave and that what you mostly need to do in talking about this in public is you sure them com them, narcotize them, so they're, not gonna, they're, not gonna, go bananas and that this is a and that, in fact, in case after case after case the public not only rallies but does innovative things that improve the situation. Far more than look officials do or

are able to do because they are responding to different incentives from actual ordinary people who are just trying to get through the hours or the day, Ruthie they're in TEL Aviv, so you're in a Israel. Is fundamentally an entire country where it will be as of tomorrow under actual lockdown right. The entire was yes. Actually in less than two hours. We are going to be incomplete luck down in the sense that nobody will be allowed to leave his or her city. There is gonna, be no traffic on highways anywhere and you're not allowed to leave your neighborhood tomorrow, we're gonna be income. It in a different kind. We're gonna be under curfew, so that as of I think, it's six p m.

On the eve of pass over we're not allowed to leave our houses at all. There will be nothing open and There will be no nowhere to go and so until the next morning. But this lock down of the whole country is going to be until it's gonna last until Saturday night, where no there's no coming and going between cities and towns etc. So, basically is rules been very has an increasingly draconian over pretty much the same period of time as New York City, maybe even a little earlier opening a little earlier. Judging by your and my conversations on this, we started a little earlier out and now we also got a new directive that from Sunday, we have to wear masks in public or we will get find so,

that's it yet another. A new directive for Israel's a country. Eight million people it you know the size of Rhode Island if a little more area depending on what what you want included or not include inside. This report presents an interesting kind of test case in whether or not such measures can effectively kill off the virus that the death toll is astonishingly low. I think right, sick as events these, people have died and a hundred and something I don't know, hundred nine or something our on ventilators and the number of people on and two leaders is the number that everyone is watching, because the idea you can't get the number of people needing ventilators to exceed the equipment, and so far

doing very well on that score and and A lot of Israelis have been comparing are looking at Sweden see whether we're doing the right thing, because Sweden's policy would you are similar to Britain's originally able is too low. All the young people out and about and go to school and people go to work. Other then, let's say the high risk group, the elderly or people with pre existing serious medical conditions, and now it seems that Sweden is experiencing a higher death toll and more infections then it had anticipated weed what's gonna happen with that, yet Ruby yeah. This is this is a by. I have a question. I've been thinking about that ever since some Israel became part of the covert story, which is it

you know, you know when you think of Israelis, you think of people who are should become accustomed to a kind of threat and that then they their vigilant, while also getting on with their lives, which is certainly what what what that culture is famous for. In a sense, how does this what's them in terms of mood, how does this? What effect this? Having on Israelis as compare to say our entire yeah sirens and or and Iraq Arabia right away First of all, it has led, as it has the rest of the world, but it has led to a lot of funny means and jokes about it about how you know the way fight the enemy is by sitting on our couch and watching Netflix in them, and that the idea of soldiers are all out telling people to go home and bringing

the elderly care package So it is a kind of funny, it's a funny situation, but because the Israelis bit because an affair because Israelis are you still wore terrorism and all that and getting back to their lives as soon as possible. Even after a suicide bombing. The problems here. That was the reason the government had to keep increasing the risk, corrections. Because Israelis were not abiding by them. You know they sort of thought it applied to everybody else, so they took listen, don't go anywhere unless you absolutely have to was a pretty simple instruction, issue. If you're a place, if you're still working go to work and if you have to go to the supermarket, go to the supermarket, but everything else just stay in your house and of course the body was out of the house, because it would like one

vacation I'll grey or not at work or London school. What are we gonna do take the kids to the beach, so every day there was another directive and another directive in another directive, because Israelis kept thinking that these rules apply to other people not themselves and so high. And we are now in a situation where we're being fine than we have police and army and soldiers distributing tickets and forcing us back inside. So you know it's, of course, as is true in New York, there was a proportionate infection rates in Israel among oraibi alter orthodox jewish populations, largely because the the demand that people serve. You know safe home and self isolate. It goes against third likely the dna of these of these communities.

Who live ugh live a call it a communal life, but you could call it a community area in life and they have in families and their multi generational child care, be no connections, and things like that and the men pray study together and learn together and all of that and and and telling in em Everything you know. Every social event is aid is a mass gathering. If there's a funeral, there are hundreds of people. If there's a wedding, there are hundreds of people if there's any kind of religious observance there are. Hundreds of people are more, and you know it is. Has been extraordinarily difficult to get this community of people too. Form to this rule, because not conforming to not only Does it seem like it's? You know a violation of their deepest beliefs, but it's it's a kind of living death

to suddenly be denied your daily. Personal communion covenant with real growth, ritual without when you don't know what to do with yourself and people. Doing I don't know I just as people donors, then jewish prayer is, by definition, communal. There have to be ten men or people depending on how where, where you are on the dream of Galea Right, but you are you're not you are really not Supposed to pray alone in the at that at the designated, the three days made a daily times a prayer. There need to be at least ten people praying at the same time

I'm so you can actually see. Unlike about you can pray, I mean you things and people do pray do will dude. Do warning observances in their house and stuff like that, but they're, not we do not really supposed to, and so this is eight. This is the nature of the the Jewish religion is that it is a communitarianism communal face and so about women. Remarkable piece coming out coming out again in the next issue by chick are arduous commentary com. This too, is the rabbi of the oldest synagogue in in the United States Sheriff Israel, the spanish and portuguese synagogue.

On the extreme peculiarity of telling people not to come to shore and and at what it means and how what what what the existence is like so worthy it. How? How has the government been trying to speak too and handle this specific population that man is in? That is simply because its adhering to its own deep leaves sought way of life You know not being able to serve live according to the structures well with deep sensitivity and with what many secular Israelis, consider over sympathy, pray Minister Netanyahu has been really genius about his handling of this whole crisis, which is why, in part

The news has very little about the coalition building and everything about the corona virus crisis. We after all, is what most of us care about right now, the The sensitivity came for it was twofold. Israel. Israelis are used to having to make exceptions for the altar orthodox, It comes to getting drafted into the army when it comes to the education system and everything else, but to make me There is more complicated. Our health minister is a guerre placid he's an ultra orator acts he's a member of an orthe outdoors Iraq sect. That's very Oh sure, religious, so he now. He is ad hoc. He and his wife just contract the corona.

And this was after it turned out that while he and that's were telling everybody to stay away from synagogues, gatherings because of the huge outbreak that happened over. The last couple of weeks came from pouring celebrations, it turns out that our health minister was at a synagogue, praying without With- I don't know, a hundred other people all Crampton together. This caused a huge scanned. And if you hadn't gotten the ill with Corona it, and then people, to say what we hope he gets better soon and all that there was he would have been orthodox would have been lynched. I think, yeah, that's right in the end but Netanyahu has said. Please do not Treat all ultra orthodox as though

oh they're, your enemy. You know he basically is saying this is, don't be anti Semites, you know he's saying they're, not all the same and his right. By the way they really are not all the same, and in fact it's already people who have been tattling and there neighbors and others who are violating the rules, because these are people who don't wanna get ill and our realizing that its crisis also don't forget a lot of the horrific communities are very insulated in the sense that they don't have smartphones. They have telephoned, but not smartphones, many don't use the internet and they don't watch television. So whereas you know I'm sitting and hearing every word, that Netanyahu has to say at any given moment of the day. And I know what the rules are. Most of these people have any heard of it, so they had heard of it in rabbis were asking about who you know, there's a pandemic, and they said I won't heard of a pandemic.

So you know I'm appear only where there is already in the jewish religious tradition, the prophetic tradition which, as you know, this is what this is. What the We of this community are concerned with almost exclusively, for example, saying to them you be learning together. Being you shouldn't be sitting in studying atomic together, they

leave or a bunch of them believe that the that the literal fate of the earth is dependent on their studying that their studying will bring about that the age of the Messiah. That is a deeply held religious belief right, so they they they don't. You are asking them in essence to not to do what they are doing to save the earth, and the prophetic tradition also assigns blame to Jews for worldly circumstances, right that that fall of the first Temple was the result of jewish wicked. And sent off, that's the prophet Jeremiah and that you know basically expatiating the sin is the only way to restore to restore

you know that the proper jewish life, after with Jews in exile, and so what you have a pandemic happening. It is natural, though horrible, when you hear about it in the modern context, for these four rabbis in these leaders and self to say will. Obviously this is happening because we are being punished and we're being punished for wicked. Behind here I d, idolatrous behaviour, and so, if you behave properly, if you are the sort of person who stays on the path properly should be immune from the disease right there. Now rabbis. How long what's interesting about it is that national, religious, orthodox rabbis, of their leaders and Israel have been pointing to their issues, points of religion in relations

this pandemic, one being the eerie resemblance in the, The story of the exit is that weird that we're all gonna celebrate tomorrow evening in this overall zoom or by ourselves is, I do not have to paraphrase, because I don't have in front of me, but is the directive to Jews too, go in their homes were so that the plagues can can hit the Egyptians so its interest, there other religious leaders are saying that were preventing the Messiah from coming, but on the contrary that we not to mention the the tenet that life? You know that life and health effects in every other rule and Judaism. So in it

depends which religion, even if your orthodox it depends which orthodox you are not just whether your can conservative and it'll warm room. So can we look let's? Let's talk a little about the political situation in Israel because, like I said at the beginning, there was some last week the is a line in a great and a great american comic play the man who came to dinner, which is about a so Broadway sophisticate, who ends up with a broken leg living in the end, a house in a small town in Ohio, because he can't leave the house in the serve the world ends up coming to the house and spent fantastic since we all have all this time go find it there's a movie with Betty Davis Monti, woolly version. Unbelievably Polaris the man who came to dinner anyway, that he hid a desperate

he doesn't want his assistant of many years to marry the small town Newspaper editor and leave him because he depends on her, and he said as you know, I have twenty four hours to pull the God damnedest rabbit out of a hat anybody's ever seen. That's the curtain, that's the first that current line- and it appeared as though be Netanyahu under indictment. You know with three you know with three key enough in elections with no proper resulted could lead him to make coalition Finally pulled this goddamn rabbit out of a hat and had not only pulled together a coalition but had essentially killed off his rival party, the blue and white, or some vat, which was gonna, call read into his government and that he was going to end up with a coalition government at with seventy seven. Seventy eight seats out of sixty two c coalition that he had

juggling for years, and that was the news last week, but apparently that is, has hit many roads it sure has, and the public will. I think, riot in the streets if we have to go to a fourth election. To tell you the truth, especially not when have at least quarter more than a quarter of the country is now unemployed by the way oh, you know because of the virus because of the virus. I've come because get viruses in the last Three weeks we went from three percent unemployment to twenty five or twenty six percent and with no hope in the foreseeable future to shift that, unless you know, there's a dramatic shift when this is all over whatever? That means. This is all over ok in any

so people are really concerned about where other gonna pay their rent or their mortgage, and all this and There are just furious with the the. Local echelon now, Netanyahu. Oh, you know that enemies love to accuse him of being a magician who pulls rabbits out of his hat, but in fairness, its I'm exactly magic, its skill, its skill, and actual more of the country is conservative. Then Lib, to use american terms. We would just call it left and right, but that so the fact is now actually won, that election, the first round of elections, he one, but in the sense that one of his coat his natural coalition part partners on the right of big door Liebermann

was counted in the number of mandates he should have received, but Liebermann pulled a fast one because he hates Nathaniel, and decided not to join and that of our livestock. There's two scarlet research to explain to their a hundred and twenty seats in the israeli parliament. You need sixty one. You have to build a coalition of sixty one to form the government. The bee ebonite now's party, ITALY, is easily. Could we could itself has scored what thirty seven If we have something like that, it's I can't remember. You were already in the pre each of these three elections. We could have gotten somewhere between thirty two and thirty seven seeds and therefore has to get another twenty four to twenty five

to form a government, and there is a former minister of his own eleven year term of indoor Liebermann. Who is eight? who is a Russia, Moldova, a russian immigrant, Israel who represents who is the leader of the Party of the Russians, and he got and he's got weird interesting politics. They are secular, but very right wing where their bare thereby surrender their friendly to their friendly to the idea of an exiting the West Bank, but they don't like they don't like religious structures. And all this, and so he had eight seats. So if you add those eight seats to him, the building various coalitions Netanyahu should be in government easily, but because Liebermann means political position is based in part on being anti religious.

Forming a government with him and he hates baby forming around that about a fortnight. Drawing up, ok anyway, just just answer lay out out there, but in any case, in any case, And now even his worst enemies have Grudgingly admit that he's been handling the corona situation, brilliantly. I mean he gets on television regularly and addresses the nation, and he has this. Canny ability to say today the that he's about to you now squish us even more and keep us even more at home and at this Time leave for optimism. It's really miraculous the way he does it, and you know so there's a lot of yeah murmuring about him. But in fact I don't think it's really feel that there's no government in charge is the point and the the these in the coalition talks there with last night, it appeared yesterday,

afternoon or evening it appeared that they were about to say, I am a coalition agreement and then it exploded and there were two main issues that that had to be resolved in its They were resolved than what they were one had to do with the Trump plan, and the other had to do with which party foresees the appointment of judges. So knit anyhow conceded here blue and white throat. His main rival have the judges. In exchange was bought by required, by which I mean, by which I mean the blue and white to join. The coalition. Blue and white has been the main rival in these elections. And it is essentially an anti men, personal anti Netanyahu Party at all, it says it Hasn'T- have needed. It doesn't have a governing algae accepted its basically centre right right, but it's

it's not well. Now that was actually kind of love book. Actually more or less, but it now has who can up any internet and hard to tell what it is, get as in any way, Philip so shares with any Ask Yahoo party. So the judges thing has to do with a commission that will be formed to appoint judges, which is a very complicated at? Is that always does exactly that oil? This internet share that committee chair, I committee, it was agreed, would be a member, blue and white meat is very important that religious Jews who were not positively could but part of the other smaller parties and bloom is looked at, is not as not particularly friendly to the religious that now it was important two secular right wingers, because we have added, but the June with the judges determining they they stick their noses.

Doesn't belong where the connection is the legislature, and here you know better. And turned our life by rulers of the universe right side. American terms it would be like drawback is, will agree to have the American BAR Association pick the judgments like it's. Ok, so that's one thing and then the Trump plan is, of course, the plan announced by the president that paying out the map that also would permit is really annexation of certain long standing areas. Ass, the green line, that's the wine that deem that was the demarcation point Israel and Jordan before that, sixty seven war settlements, some of them built you now fifty years ago that

would be it would be a Israel be allowed to annex them pretty much at will and then various other things that the that the. Then the plan anyway? You don't know about the plan, but that's that's so. Annexation is the big issue there right right. Annexation is the big issue and in a way, in a way, it's kind of ridiculous. Just that this particular corona virus moment, and the reason is that, right before all this happened in January, there was great celebration, men fanfare over the fact that the Trumpet administration, basically gave a message. I mean it when two interpretation but basically gave the message to Israel and Palestine. Gave a message to the Palestinians that you know taken believe it Israel, has a right to sovereignty over these.

Particular areas, and you know if you are with us and you agreed to a great you get this state and if you don't well, that's your problem, so who is himself the Netanyahu administration? You don't interpreted that to mean ok, let's get to work because the Palestinians didn't agree, and they never would agree, because their goal is to eliminate Israel not to come to a peace agreement with Israel. So in any case, Then you know so, as these maps were being determined and the? U S ambassador to Israel, David Friedmann and others. Were busily busily working on what the maps then, The virus happened and trumped was busy. As he should be with the United States, and what's going on with that now, here's the trouble Netanyahu's supporters and those to the right of

tell me I'll have been pressuring him not to concede on the issue of annexation, because They now think that, because the corona virus, and because the crashed economy in the United States Trump easily lose the election in November. So we're in big hurry. We'd better! Do this, because the minute the Democrats or in the White House, it's finished for us now. It's kind of mistake on their part to even think this, because but they're doing, is sending a message. I think to trump that he's gonna lose, and I don't think trumpet, like that very much hearing rat message of hope. By the Israelis toppling skinned at all. None of you have pointed out in four Ruthie about. I think it's a really intriguing point. You ve laid out here that you know the kind of the job king for power. That's going on right now in israeli politics. Nevertheless, the israeli people,

our listening to what Netanyahu saying about the pandemic and have a lot of confidence. In him as a leader, whereas here and in the United States. Obviously that's that's not really be the perception of how Trump is handled the crisis and I'm wondering if from from what, You understand about faith in institutions and Israel versus in the: U Dot S is it does this have to do with the fact that that it's a parliamentary systems that have to do with with a greater faith in government citizens and Israel versus scepticism and erosion of that failure? In the? U S, what are you we talk a lot imperfectly. Noah has pointed out consistently the Quarantining the shelter and place orders can't continue indefinitely. People will simply start rebelling. Do you feel that that's likely to have, in Israel, or is there a different kind of approached institutions into government leadership there that might prevent that kind of unrest? Well, should have to answer to that is. On the one hand, it is true that Israelis are way more used to having the government in our business

way more than americans- ok I mean. I know John and I have these arguments. These ongoing arguments raises sorry. You can't do that. It's not in our constitution. Here, you know, is Please have a socialist mentality that you know the government is in charge of you, even though Israelis may hate the government they think another government has to bail out the government. Is your bid, your mammy enough? so. On the one hand, your right- and it's not because of the institution's it's because of a mentality left over from the earliest days of the state. The reason that Israelis have faith at the moment has nothing to do with this. It has to do with the fact that it somehow- is a genius and the way he talks to the nation, is persuasive.

You know and that's that I think it is actually a personal thing, not its and by the way use you mentioned. The trumpet is not there's. You know a lack of faith in but on the other hand his the poem members. I understood we're going up, even though they were they were, but them and then right as we must do all we don't. I wouldn't know actually, right. We don't really going Israel what we always that Netanyahu as much as he's love tee is loathed in that's than similar to tromp I mean oh, is that men can now can cause people apoplexy. Now it's not that he's this great, and everybody just loves him. I know the right wing also hates I'm, because they think he's a sell out. You know and now they're really mad at him because they say he gave in to

who his rivals demands for all kinds of portfolios that are crucial to right, wingers but here's the reason. The whole thing exploded as I understand and who knows, what's gonna happen. It exploded this afternoon, as in particular, is that, apparently the wording. You know these contracts are arena, legal ease and wording, according Anyhow, he didn't He did agree to give blue and white, though the Judges committee, but with some kind of veto power, and blue and white denies that in says no, you have no beetle power, so he said well, then nothing doing because as you know, you use these judges. They are so Ethical leftist, these judge and that it's like not funny. I mean, I think they put american judges to shame in that respect too. My movie outdo them

so so that's what the current explosion is now hit. The thing, though, is that it's hard me to believe that they won't try to overcome this, because the the other alternative at the moment, while there are two one, is another election: The other will also lead to another election in the. This second alternative is that the Labour Party which has done I did to join this now large coalition in the making the than the Labour Party used to be the main israeli party, and now it's down to nothing the lead, Your party and blue and white were in some kind of collusion behind the scenes to try two they said they're gonna threaten to pass. Distillation, listen who prevent a sitting, Prime Minister, from being in is job Prime minister under indictment

baby is under indictment, BBC is ongoing. Madrina his trial was was to begin on March seventeen, but it was posts. On because of corona, so because, because the court It had to be shut down the whole so every Is it a big mess, but I just you know even but I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I also don't see how any of these politicians are gonna be able to tell the public. We gotta go back to the polls again for a fourth time. It also cos should have money and all these good, the whole countries unemployed right now, so it means name actually. You know, as I don't know what's going to happen, I hope I hope I'm right that someone's gonna give and I hope what doesn't get now. The thing about annexation, though, is that I think that the right wing that

I think the right wing- and I am a member of the right wing- but I think there their living in their little bubble, because I don't know why they imagine that annexation is some kind of top. Priority right now for tat, or any of us as it happens, So again I went up with, I think it's kind of the opposite right. I mean Trump side that the deal agrees to annexation, but the clear signal was. Yeah? Maybe not don't. Do let's wait a minute I said I was learning get in. There were brought him, you did there, but you know, but- and this is the thing about personal politics- Trump is broken the mole on how America deals with Israel and the Palestinians. But it is his mould and he is quixotic and and and mercurial, and so, if he gets personally offended, ah

That's gonna, be bad news exactly and there's nothing like telling him he's. Gonna lose and before and now we don't care if he loses, we just want to quickly get in another benefit for another gift from him before he goes into the dustbin of history. Is not the way to get him to keep him on your side were so dear, so guys do we have any that you know this is thrilling to me, because we just spend twenty minutes, though the virus came up, was not the dominant topic and every now and then I have this feeling that were wherein were performing no exit. Bye, bye, sergeant Having said that rotation over and over again, but do we everything else we should out. You know here's an interesting thing so sore virus elated. So I have to write about this later

the Wisconsin primary election after a bunch of tussling yesterday is now back on largely as a result of the intervention of the. U S Supreme Court and its form a fascinating story about how this happened and how the Democrats wanted a kind of semi permanent extension. Absentee male voting for like a week or weaken a half and then down Republicans didn't want that, and one judge said that the election should be suspended. Another job said it should be Sven inquired said, while the others no consistent rule here, so we're gonna, we're gonna have forced the election go through, and this is gonna be some kind of weird twice a trial run for what the country might be like in November, although of course you know

in other words, that the board disastrous. This is and the more possible it is that we will have parts of the country that will be uncomfortable. Owing to the polls in November, has terrifying as it is to even contemplate that this will be the case in November anybody. You know this of course, then oh, of course, neatly along Parson lines them Ratzinger. Republicans, though one account votes and republican thing. Democrats, just wanna keep account going until they decide that they ve gotten enough votes to win in there. Probably a judicial election was consulates. What everybody is really concerned about? Why we really need a primary, since you know who the hell cares of Bide nor Santer spins anyway, anybody have any yeah high office. Have you thought some southerners a tweet this morning from the lieutenant governor of Wisconsin Mandela, Barnes and

Give me for the language, but I'm going to read it for bade him good morning and welcome to the shit. Shall today's episode has been produced by the Supreme Court and directed by the incomparable speaker and Senate Majority Leader Duo buckle up this one is sure to disappoint, and this is a rather bold statement

considering that this issue? This order to postpone the election today was issued yesterday afternoon by the governor after weeks of paralysis is, was the only state that declined to postpone the election into June, just about every other state? Has done so and did so weeks ago. The paralysis was a big national story. It was a huge storing was constant. It's not like you to get around it, and this last minute effort now to blame the majority opinion in the Supreme Court, which held that it would fundamentally alter the nature of this election to do to postpone it for another six weeks now, given hours of preparation for that affect an essentially dilute existing votes by keeping the poles open for six consecutive weeks, that was the ruling that held justice. Ginsburg had a big problem with it, but the name. The attempt to blame a republican Supreme Court and the republican legislature for what was essentially the

it gets a frantic actions of Governor Everest is the height of political opportunism. Well, there we go so I asked with somebody had taken: no hesitating, that's exciting, but I ain't gonna, particularly strong Kate slept you can have middling take okay, so so imagine there so So its November, we go through this whole thing Biden, we, the nominee and you know sanders- is now being retrogressive jerk by keeping a contest going where people are going to feel like they're putting your life in their hands if they actually want to vote in a lot of places or whatever Oh there is, as I see it, we need to gear up for a year now for an election in which has a lot of voting by mail, a lot of states by those states at that time manner and place of elections. All this, a lot of states make it difficult to do absentee voting and mail in voting.

You have to have a reason after we to have two promulgated reason to get an attitude ballot, can't just do it by convenience. Those states that are male unlike Washington State it may be anywhere have ever change. Rules with a lot of states. We know we basically have legislatures vain to over two to change the election rules, whether legislatures convened so readily is also not clear, since legislations have to convene to allow themselves to vote remotely if they dont have remote voting already But let us not forget that in writing the absolutely nuts I'm so this is what we started talking about earlier. If this is the new normal expect people to treat it like normal and human beings adapt if this isn't a condition to which they have to adapt, they will

so if this prevails in two November, were in a whole host of problems. But among them won't be the fact that people aren't taking precautions. You people will show up at the polls with disinfectant wipes, masks and gloves and do as much as they can to mitigate the risk around them as possible. If you expect people to adapt to these conditions, as I hope public policymakers do, then give them the up, turn it to do so. You can't not trust people to engage in their environment forever. It is, it is the old technocratic. It is so condescending an obnoxious and most have most importantly, unfeasible, the people surviving a grip. Would you know you keep saying that? But the problem, the problem with the peoples need to get a grip. Is that if you have an election and ends up having twenty five percent turnout, as you know, a bad people are afraid to go to the polls. There's gonna be a legitimacy question about what happened and then election. We expect sixty percent of people. Why we know about primary has that turn out.

Lastly, the legitimacy of primaries. Religion is not determined by her turn out. I don't know that you can say that about primer, Is an internal political parties decisionmaking process and if it is right in his narrative of its not constitutional, not legal, well, yeah right, but it's a perception. I mean I mean honestly, you know Also, we don't even know what that is an interesting question about what that what the political dynamic would be, for example, just to give you a reduced to be totally ridiculous about this right. So we, though,

the laws, don't change from a lot of states that they dont labs and he wrote ex everybody has to vote to have this incredibly of a crash turn out, assuming that the virus doesn't burn out in July and doesn't recur right. So you would have very low turn out, which in theory was to benefit Republican supposedly, except Republicans, are disproportionately old and so and and and and the Trump base is, you know like sixty plus. So what then, why? What? If they can't go to the polls? And so on the one hand you have low dry, how helping helping Republicans and, on the other hand, a lot of republican voter. Wouldn't feel comfortable going to post that they be worried about getting sick and dying like that. This is an interesting also. How do you socially distance at a polling place? Anyone ever been to a polling place on election day, major oil. Actually we had experience with this our election in March A set up

on a virus. Tents for voters, said, the virus to go and they were IDA. Disinfected in the people at the polling stations were wearing hazmat suits and there was a whole proceed you're behind you know vinyl screen then inducing vexing envelopes. I mean really literally. We add that so here is a modest, smaller country, of course. So therefore, what we could do it right now you just where we're going again we like have now. We have no way and Jim. I don't care where I have a question for all of you to serious trump critics, however, and the question has to do with the economy, is it Given the crushing of the global economy and american economy, also,

would you really want a democratic president in the White House to be claiming that up? I would be hesitant, will first of all commentary is a five or one c, three non profit and we do not endorse or line up with specific parties. Organic, it's not our tax exempt status. So I get with that. Question cannot be answered, ok, I will do that. The answer to that question is this is a macro issue that involves you know: it's not a question of one's own personal views about this. The question is, and nobody knows the answer, and we keep talking about this kinnock in that classic way. They you talk about things with no answer It is well trompe blamed if the fur for the parlous condition of the economy, or will he be blamed simply because he was the income

at this moment and the moment was so painful that people are just knock on be reminded of the moment. You know by looking at him for that or or will they say it's not his fault and he did a good job as he possibly could have, and we don't. Ross, Joe Biden and we're having in that, and that you don't know, world leader right now is in danger of losing his deep because because his country's economy crash every single one, whether you like it or not,

while this aid as a little old, but but there was maybe two weeks ago that we saw a rather across the board bounced for just about every head of state. I was dealing with this crisis and are in a really pronounced fashioned, like Spain and ITALY and France, and I and the big boost and in job proven ratings in the president gotta boost, but it really was anemic compared to the double digits that was experienced by western european officials and now it seems to have settled back to up to a status quo and make made decline further, so that the president's sort of natural floors and ceilings are still evident in the polling. Despite these extraordinary conditions, I think it also depends on when and

degree. We turned a corner. You know nationally, like I could certainly see him getting another bounds fleet, another bans or or we could turn a corner and then there's a recurrence rights of temper in and get it thought that he gets blamed just that and then of course you have the other thing which is there. Is this gigantic package right this gigantic six trillion dollar, depending on how you wanna counted federal in our effort to bolster ballast and prevent the coming of a depression that, in theory, every politician? who voted for it. Ninety six senators voted for it when no one voted against in the Senate. Everybody Trump, the House, the senate- has their fingerprints all over this. So in theory neither trump should be, there be blamed for it, and

Credit for it is its literally, is the default position of the entire american political system, but he well one way or another if for summary, if but the public feels that the intervention was SL unwarranted. I think he will. He will be re elected on the basis of that and if it and if the, if it appears to have been somewhat ineffective we're not Eric that doesn't feel like it had this kind of effect, then he will be punished for it, whether he'll be punished. Than tat. He would lose the election. I don't know, look readout trouble, forty five point something percent of the vote? He won the electoral college, even Herbert Hoover in nineteen. Thirty two got forty one percent of the vote. I mean it's it out. The distinction it just said, Trump's about was extremely well distributed and proper

distributor, Corning the Electoral College Map he needs to better than that. We will keep saying he at he has to do better than that, because you know the victory was incredibly narrow, and so, but just now just up and everything there's is no. No Roadmap map rubbed by the way Israelis on getting better Christine's question. I think Israel is actually say about, Trumbull, even the ones who love trunk say about Trump, that he'd totally dropped. The ball the beginning of the crown a virus crisis, and that is why saying so many deaths in America and its end the thing that a lot most of the discussion that I read about it is whether he'll be blamed for being too draconian and his measures, not not

Another ratified by ok, but that that is that that is a species of the conversation that a lot of us participate in on the right. I really dont know that that is a more general conversation that Americans are participating in that you know the sorrow to haunt you know. I think it could be the leading edge of a conversation. That's a partially. What knows when talking about four forever is you know, they'll be a point at which the public says all you people we have wasted this nightmarish life on me, and you know this you I can't live like this, and we're gonna go. Take our chances in the wide world despite the danger and then you know Trump would in theory, then get some credit for having been a sceptic about the laws rather

then, being you know the leading edge of the you know where Andrew Cuomo and everyone's going to die unless everybody stays inside, you know or or Anthony Falchi saying you know, where did Deborah Brooks the Infectious disease I shall no, if you go to the supermarket, like everybody has two weeks worth of food before she says: no one should go to the supermarket rags. Well, it doesn't bombers. Johnson's condition have an effect oh and people all over the world thinks it is concerning the terrible I'm going with had any effect on me, yeah, I'm waiting. So it's been profound, You can't because he had the because his original in view of the pandemic. Was that what you want to do is develop, hurt him maybe by letting the younger people out and- and so it didn't seem the work or it he didn't.

He was unable to do it fully or something like that yeah. Well, I mean, I think so so there was that there was a theory that apparently demand they are right that the other, the herd immunity theory didn't play out, or the swedish theory didn't play out, which is a qualified, heard, immunity and The question is whether yet the interesting thing is so we so we drop the ball and that then we didn't drop the ball and there. That is. This question is like, if you missed it for a month or six weeks. Now, if you didn't like announce in January, the Qatar country was gonna, be locked, our start building the case for it? Will you be punished for that six week lag or will I September October? No one! You know it how people can't remember what happened last week exact. That's

Good point, I'm going back. I believe how actual Lou little time has passed, since all of us have been locked in its really extraordinary feel like a year, but it's only been three weeks. My consistent complaint for policymakers is that they want to have it both ways. They want to say this. This is extraordinary. These works ordinary times and they will not last but they're gonna last for at least eighteen months, so you have to make, but you can't make preparations, because these are extraordinary times since its Jen, its generally, it dissonant discordant message and its one. That is going to be counter productive in the near term, because people will adapt we're very adaptable species. That's one of our great evolutionary traits while we got to where we are, and you can't put on hold for eighteen months,

right so well. I mean that the reason that's one of the reasons that so many people in Israel and elsewhere are figuring out how to sell, masks and and build and create lacks a thing like that. The ingenuity we're so Ruthie I should mention so I will. We will be seeing you together at the zoom that the families doomed sailor into our hates my right, In the meantime, I can tell you that tomorrow evening, Israelis, are called upon to go out to their terraces and sing. The four questions the EP So so I have a heavy unfortunately my microphone died in some fashion. I'm on my airports right now talking to so I think we're gonna end this. I just wanted to mention before I am that we are not going to be podcasting on Thursday Friday in observance of the

has oversight or an good private. I got so we will be back to Morrow and be back on Monday, so for Ruthie. Thank you. So much look out. We didn't get into an argument and moving one way. Thank you all is great, saying you all over my over myself on great and for a bug Christine and Noah Jump upwards. Keep the camel Barney.