Wonderful news! I have the result of the Israeli elections now — a full week before they take place. Well, the truth is that it's not my confidence, but that of the Jewish Socialists' Group, who are so convinced that Binyamin Netanyahu is going to win that they've organised a public meeting on the back of it, a glorious-sounding hatefest of recrimination and self-congratulation. Timed for next Wednesday night — I do hope the weather gods are listening, it might even be cancelled due to snow — the line-up includes the army refusenik, Yishay Mor, academic and former PLO representative Karma Nabulsi, the JSG's own David Rosenberg, and best of all, Sir Gerald Kaufman. Kaufman has not enjoyed such a high personal profile since slagging off Israel in parliament the other week for...oh, months. Possibly even years. It's a worry, really, when the only thing that motivates a person is their snarling contempt for Israel. I don't know, it must have been all quiet at Kaufman Towers and then: Gevalt! Lights, camera, action! Hatred! That's the thing to get you up in the morning — fear and loathing. As the ineffable Claude Rains told Bogart in the immortal Casablanca, "Why, sir, I am shocked, shocked..."