In an earlier post, I reported that Prime Minister Netayahu has threatened to fire Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon if Danon does not resign over the release next week of another 26 'Palestinian' terrorists. But Danon is not backing down and has issued another threat: He says that he will oust Netanyahu as head of the Likud if Netanyahu signs US Secretary of State John FN Kerry's 'framework agreement.'
Speaking Thursday in an interview with Army Radio, Danon said that US
Secretary of State John Kerry's yet-to-be publicly released framework
agreement can not be accepted by the head of the right-wing faction.
"This framework would mean the abandonment of the Jordan Valley, a
return to the 67 lines and the division of Jerusalem," Danon stated.
"We
are a democratic faction and their will be a race for the leadership
when we get to that point. However, as someone who knows the hearts of
Likud members, we will not support a framework that brings us in line
with the positions of [Justice Minister] Tzipi Livni."
If there were a fair vote of the Likud's membership, my guess is that in this case Danon would win. But Netanyahu has played dirtybefore. Danon should have been a minister and not just a deputy. And the younger generation is much more right wing than Netanyahu's generation.
Pass the popcorn. One of them could end up starting his own party.
Netanyahu claims he'll fire Danon if he doesn't resign
On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon threatened to resign if more 'Palestinian' terrorists are released on schedule next week. On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office says that Danon will be fired unless he resigns.
If Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon does not follow through with
his threat and resigns, he will be fired, sources close to Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening.
The comments came after Danon, who met with bereaved mothers earlier Wednesday, said he would resign unless the fourth tranche of the release of terrorist murderers is cancelled.
...
Responding to Danon’s threats, sources close to Netanyahu told Channel 2 News that “enough was enough”.
"We're tired of his cheap politics,” they said, adding, “You do not
threaten the prime minister. Danon is threatening to resign because he
has already received information about the letter of dismissal that the
prime minister is preparing for him."
Danon's associates, unfazed by Netanyahu’s threats, said in response,
"This is not the first time that we have been threatened with dismissal
over the past year.”
I'm really glad that threat came from Netanyahu's office and not from Netanyahu himself. You see, Netanyahu firing Danon would be a mistake of biblical proportions. Two weeks ago, Netanyahu himself admitted that he has lost control of the Likud. Dannon is one of the young, up and coming stars to whom Netanyahu has lost control. Danon is far more popular in the Likud than is Netanyahu. Danon is far more in line with the mainstream thinking of the Likud membership than is Netanyahu. Firing Danon would be a foolish act of hubris.
The Likud's MK's are sharpening their knives for the Prime Minister, because he has decided to leave the current Likud ministers in place even though many young MK's ranked far higher in the party's primary.
Meanwhile, the younger generation of Likud MKs, who ranked high in
the party primary - Ze'ev Elkin, Danny Danon, Tzipi Hotovely, Yariv
Levin and others - began to express frustration at reports that
Netanyahu does no plan to appoint any new ministers from within his
party.
Danon expressed careful optimism that he - ninth on the
party list - could get a ministry instead of MK Tzachi Hanegbi - 26th,
who Netanyahu promised a portfolio.
"I hope the prime minister
will consider the results of the primary," Danon said. "He needs to [go
by the party list], because the Likud is a democracy."
Danon also
called for Netanyahu to realize that there is a new generation of
lawmakers in the Likud, and that not all of the old guard should be left
in place.
"Netanyahu can't ignore what Likud voters want," Danon added.
MK
Tzipi Hotovely, the highest-ranking woman in the Likud, attacked
Netanyahu's intentions more directly, saying that he is making a
mistake.
"It's a mistake to go for old politics and recycling the
old list of ministers. At the end of the day, the public will look at
the Likud's list and say, if the government doesn't change, then why did
we vote in the primary? In a way, this shows lack of faith in the the
[primary] voting process," Hotovely told Galei Yisrael Radio.
Hotovely
specifically mentioned Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, 27th
on the party's 31-seat list, as someone who should no longer be part of
the government.
"Thousands of votes separate me and Limor Livnat," Hotovely pointed out.
I suppose we should be thankful he's given up on keeping Ehud Barak as Defense Minister. But Danny's Danon's phrase that I highlighted above is so wrong it's pathetic. Netanyahu pushed Moshe Feiglin down to an unrealistic slot after the 2009 primaries, he prevented a new central committee from being elected for years, and he is now trying to return the Likud to a system where the Central Committee - rather than party members - selects and ranks the candidates for MK positions.
As someone who spent more than three hours voting in the primary, I'm angry but not surprised. .The Likud a democracy? It's about as democratic as Egypt.
Minister Kahlon calls for annexing entire Judea and Samaria if 'Palestinians' unilaterally declare 'state'
Welfare and Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon has the right idea.
Welfare and Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud) at 28 April 2011 meeting of the Likud's young adult forum as reported on Israel Television Channel 2: "If they take steps, we will take steps -- I think that we need to immediately annex all of the territories on that same day. You declared statehood? No problem, We will also declare -- as children say: "you started it!""
Likud's young generation more thoughtful than the old one
I wish that Prime Minister Netanyahu would listen to out-of-the-box thinking like that of Likud's Young Generation's Eddie Yair Fraiman.
Israeli society has a duty to examine whether the moves made in the last two decades were correct, and through that reflection, to consider whether freezing the peace process is actually a negative turn of events, as the Israeli Left claims.
The Oslo Accords set a historical precedent. For the first time, the PLO received trappings of independence, such as self-regulating Palestinian police forces and full control over territory without a formal declaration of an independent state. In PA-controlled areas today, there are governmental institutions, judiciary and local enforcement. PLO leaders have international recognition, the organization has a representative in the United Nations, and only recently seven South American countries formally recognized the Palestinian state.
In fact, according to the terms of the 1933 Montevideo Treaty - a foundational document in international law - the PLO has de-facto political independence in area A's Palestinian controlled territory. Apparently, Palestinians-Arabs have already achieved most of their goals.
...
Possible solutions to the Jewish-Arab conflict can be similar to political arrangements involving other national minorities in the world. Formulas of a federal Israel, with a Jewish majority in Israel, while providing minority rights of cultural and civic autonomy, such as the Scots in Britain or the Basques in Spain, is a possible solution to the conflict.
Likud leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Menachem Begin believed that the solution to the Jewish-Arab conflict in the Land of Israel lies in providing autonomy to the Palestinian-Arabs. This belief is as relevant today as it was then.
The US government has to understand that even if it beats the heads of Israeli and Palestinian-Arab leaders together, still there will remain core issues for which a real solution simply does not exist. Not in this generation anyway.
If the US continues to believe in and push for a "two states for two peoples” solution it will fail, just as so many other previous rounds of negotiations have failed. The question is who will be brave enough to suggest other solutions - real ones this time.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
