Israel Matzav

Who will stand up to Netanyahu?

There are some ministers and deputy ministers who are going to vote to legalize the outposts on Wednesday despite threats to fire them. One party - HaBayit HaYehudi (Jewish Home) appears to be on its way out of the coalition. And one Likud minister and three deputy ministers have said that they will vote for the bill, and let Netanyahu dare to fire them.

Habayit Hayehudi's leader, Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz, vowed to vote in favor of the bills despite Netanyahu's threat. Sources close to him left open a small possibility that he could back down at the last minute, but they said the most likely scenario would be that he would quit and take his party out of the coalition with him before Netanyahu got a chance to fire him.

"I am choosing between bad options, not good ones," he said in a meeting late Tuesday with his loyalists who tried to persuade him not to quit.

While a dozen Likud ministers expressed support for the bills in the past, it appeared Tuesday night that the only minister from the party ready to be fired over the issue was Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, who is the only Likud minister who lives over the Green Line.

"Yuli has not changed his mind that he will not vote against bills that could save the Ulpana neighborhood from destruction," a source close to him said.

Along with Edelstein, three Likud deputies will be fired for voting for the bill: Deputy Regional Development Minister Ayoub Kara, Deputy Pensioners Affairs Minister Lea Ness, and Gila Gamliel, who is in charge of women's issues in the Prime Minister's Office.

"I was not born to be a deputy minister," Kara said. 'I am voting on principle. I have a path and I will stick to it. I don't believe that destroying Jewish homes is the way to solve the conflict with the Palestinians."

Gamliel said she was 'loyal to the prime minister but even more loyal to her conscience.'

Coalition chairman Ze'ev Elkin could also be fired for pushing for the legislation. Elkin said that rather than threaten ministers, Netanyahu should adopt policies that would prevent "a tsunami of destruction."

Shas ministers intend to leave the room to avoid getting fired but the party's MKs who are not ministers will vote in favor. Yisrael Beytenu is expected to do the same, but a party spokesman said no decision would be made until an official ruling about the Ulpana outpost is given by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.

Can we tag Bibi as a Leftist yet?

Meanwhile, if the Jewish residents are expelled from the Ulpana, they apparently have no intention of going quietly.

The residents of Ulpana are already preparing for their expected evacuation. A few days ago a truck delivered dozens of tires to the neighborhood. The tires may be used by those who oppose the eviction if and when security forces arrive in the neighborhood.

The locals did not say who was responsible for the delivery.

The extent of the opposition on the day of the evacuation will apparently be determined by local rabbis, but extremists may resort to violence regardless of the community leaders' directives.

Matan Fishman of Rishon Lezion, who attended the demonstration in Jerusalem, said "it appears that Ulpana will be evacuated. If it does, we'll travel to the neighborhood and lie on the ground. We'll prove that we are not suckers."

What could go wrong?

Labels: Beit El, Binyamin Netanyahu, outposts, Supreme Court

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:57 AM