An honest MK quits in disgust
Labor MK Danny Yatom, who was a candidate for the party's leadership just thirteen months ago, has quit the Knesset in disgust over the corruption and sleaze that is causing the Knesset to rot at its core. "After five and a half years in the Knesset I have decided to resign and leave politics," Yatom told the faction. "For 43 years, I've served the people and the state in all of my positions in the IDF, Mossad, the Prime Minister's Office and the Knesset. I saw my work as a mission."I may not agree with his politics but Danny Yatom is a straight shooter. In November 2000, Yatom published a brutally honest 'white paper' on PA/PLO noncompliance with the Oslo accords. The Clinton Administration, which was then in its last days in power and trying to bring about a 'deal' between Yasser Arafat and the lame duck government of Ehud Barak, was furious over the publication of the white paper.
"It is not a secret," he continued "that in the past three years, since the Second Lebanon War, I have felt more uncomfortable. The leadership in Israel has made political survival its only goal. Moral and ethical codes that were once fundamental have been eroded."
Yatom criticized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, claiming that he was to blame for the deterioration of Israeli politics. Olmert, he said "failed in the task of leadership in war and did not succeed in moral and public tasks. [But] he is not alone, and corruption standards and improper behavior continue."
"As a member of Knesset in a coalition party I feel as though I am a partner in the deterioration when I vote in favor of the government," he continued. "I can no longer function in a reality in which political considerations fill the void of leadership and take precedence over basic values."
"I hope that my resignation will send a message that it is forbidden for the public to accept such a reality," Yatom concluded.
Senior U.S. officials yesterday sharply criticized a "white paper" released by the Israeli government on Monday, which contains a series of accusations against the Palestinian Authority and its chairman, Yasser Arafat. In private discussions with Israeli counterparts, the U.S. officials said that the document's main message is highly problematic. After perusing the White Paper, "it's hard to be persuaded that Israel remains interested in engaging the peace process with the Palestinians," they said.In 2000, I had my Matzav email list and sent an entire separate edition that included the 70-page long white paper. It is a damning indictment of 'Palestinian' noncompliance with signed agreements, and I urge all of you to peruse it. It is to Yatom's credit that he made sure that the white paper was brought before the public. And it is to Yatom's credit that he has the integrity to resign from a government and a Knesset that is rotten to the core.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:35 PM
2 Comments:
You know that Danny's brother, Ehud, had the right idea. If what he did in 1984 was applied more often, Mr. Kuntar would not be headed home.
Danny Yatom is one of the very few people in Israeli politics who is a genuine patriot. The rest of those in power have as their sole objective, not the welfare of the country, but staying in power at all costs. Its really sad.
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