Israel Matzav

Kadima MK's angry Mofaz went along with housing

MK's from Shaul Mofaz's Kadima party are angry with him because he did not object to the construction of 851 new Jewish housing units in Judea and Samaria. They are particularly peeved that he did not object to the construction of homes in the Jewish stronghold of Kiryat Arba, outside of Hebron.

When the plan to build 851 housing units in the West Bank was announced Wednesday night, Mofaz objected to the plan to build in Kiryat Arba while acquiescing to build in the [settlement] blocs [near the green line]. Netanyahu initially removed Kiryat Arba from the list of building projects at Mofaz’s request, but the prime minister put it back on the list later that night after protests from the Right.

Mofaz faced criticism for not torpedoing the move not only from rebel MKs who want to leave Kadima and those who backed Mofaz’s rival Tzipi Livni in the March 27 leadership race but also from legislators who backed him.

“I support Mofaz but his silence on Kiryat Arba is very grave,” MK Shai Hermesh said.

“Kadima should have been criticizing this decision all day. Instead of getting credit as a moderate prime minister for abiding by the court’s decision on the Ulpana outpost, by building in Kiryat Arba, Bibi is once again absorbing international criticism on an issue that not only does the international community oppose but also his coalition partners.”

MK Shlomo Molla, who is eager to split from Kadima, went further. He said that he and other Kadima MKs would demand explanations from Mofaz at Monday’s Kadima faction meeting.

“Mofaz should have urged the prime minister to cancel the plan,” Molla said. “I am so angry at my party that no one is protesting. It is sad how irrelevant Kadima has become on such an important issue. It is intolerable that we have become spare change in a right-wing coalition.”

Yeah. After all, they were just so effective in three years in the opposition....

Looking forward to the next election, and the end of Kadima. It cannot come too soon.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Judea and Samaria construction, Kadima, Kiryat Arba, Shaul Mofaz

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:43 PM