Heh....
For those who don't get it....
Oren Hazan is a rather - interesting - Likud MK.
Last night, there was a fire at the headquarters of the 'human rights' organization,
BTselem.
Certain elements of the Israeli Left (not BTselem) rushed to condemn it as 'arson.'
Turns out it was
caused by an electrical short circuit.
Hazan says that he condemns the electrical short circuit and says that it's forbidden to issue blanket condemnations of all the electricity in the country.
Labels: B'Tselem, humor, Israeli Knesset, Likud party
Oh my: Benny Begin quits government UPDATED
Likud MK Benny Begin is a rarity in Israeli politics: an honest politician. It's a sad commentary on both Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government's prospects for survival that Netanyahu has in essence
forced Begin to resign from the government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Facebook post Friday that
while he would “make every effort to incorporate MK Benny Begin into
the cabinet later,” Likud’s coalition partners had objected to changing
the agreed-on number of portfolios per faction, making it impossible to
keep both Begin and Erdan.
Netanyahu’s Facebook post seemingly left Begin no choice but to announce his resignation from the cabinet.
“Over the past few days I have turned to my friends
and partners, the heads of the coalition, with a personal request to
leave our friend, Benny Begin, as an additional Likud minister in the
government,” Netanyahu wrote. However, the coalition partners would not
permit the number of ministers per faction to change and allow Likud to
have 13 ministers.
Netanyahu, who effusively praised Begin in the post,
also wrote that “there is not a shred of truth to the claim that he
[Begin] said he would refuse to resign from the cabinet.”
...
Begin was first appointed minister without portfolio, while Erdan,
who was number two on the Likud Knesset list, remained outside the
cabinet after turning down an offer to become public security minister.
Erdan wanted the Foreign Ministry portfolio, which Netanyahu insists on
holding himself, or a ministerial portfolio that included elements of
both the interior and public security ministries.
When Erdan’s demands were not met, he refused to
join the cabinet. However, last week Erdan agreed to become minister of
public security, strategic affairs and public diplomacy.
Erdan’s appointment angered his fellow party member
MK Zeev Elkin, who was initially given the strategic affairs portfolio
along with immigrant absorption. He then demanded to be made Jerusalem
affairs minister and threatened that, otherwise, he would absent himself
from Knesset votes, which could put the coalition at risk considering
its razor-thin majority (61-59).
Netanyahu subsequently had to break his
commitment to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat that the Jerusalem Affairs
Ministry would be abolished and its powers absorbed into the Prime
Minister’s Office.
One MK having a temper tantrum is enough to bring down this government. Anyone want to take bets on how long it will last?
UPDATE 3:57 PM
Get a load of these two tweets from JPost Knesset correspondent Lahav Harkov.
Until the next crisis....
Labels: Benny Begin, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Israeli Knesset, Knesset elections 2015, Likud party, Ofir Akunis, Zeev Elkin
That racist Likud
There are no black MK's in the Labor party.
There are no black MK's in Meretz.
But there is one in the Likud.
Racist?
Labels: Likud party, racism
Labor party says it's going to opposition, Netanyahu may already have a coalition
More tweets from Israel Radio's Chico Menashe.
Translation: Former Labor party leader (and Israel Radio broadcaster) Shelly Yacimovich says that the people have spoken, that they want Netanyahu to be the leader, and that her party will be going to the opposition.
A similar announcement came this morning from Yair Lapid regarding his Yesh Atid party.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Netanyahu may already have enough MK's for a coalition.
Of course, he'd still have to get them all to agree on ministries....
In any event, it sounds like President Rivlin's push for a national unity government is already a failure. And that's good news for Israel.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, coalition government, Knesset elections 2015, Labor party, Likud party, Shelly Yacimovich, Yair Lapid
Sickening: Israel's 'charitable' Left taking election loss out on poor
Reeling from its election loss last week, Israel's 'charitable' Left has identified the enemy: Israel's poor. The Left has decided that since the poor vote for the Likud anyway,
the Left will no longer donate to charity.
The latest trend among leftists who were shocked by their defeat at
the polls Tuesday is an apparently spontaneous campaign called “Don't
Give,” which calls on people to stop donating to the poorer Israelis and
the socio-economically weaker regions known as “the periphery,” because
these Israelis insist on voting for Likud, in election after election.
The campaign's name in Hebrew, Lo Latet, is a reference to Latet (“To
Give”), a major charity group that collects donations for the needy.
The campaign started as a Facebook trend, which gathered steam after
it was reported about in the news, and has turned into a Facebook page
with over 3,000 likes.
"As the holiday of Pesach approaches, I would like to remind you that
there are hundreds of people who have no way of celebrating,” wrote one
Lo Latet poster. “It's important that you do not give them a single
shekel.”
He added sarcastically: “After all, elected a government that will
change their situation, so why interfere and ruin things? Happy
holiday!”
"From now on, I want peace of mind,” wrote another poster. “From now
on, it's every one for himself. Don't tell me about minimum wages and
people whose salary doesn't carry them through the month. I don't want
to hear about hungry children or single mothers in distress, about
distressed contract workers, or eroded pensions. Don't preach to me
about 'the people's choice and majority rule', I understand what
democracy is, but from now on, let every person take care of himself.”
Maybe the poor figured out that raising the minimum wage (which was part of Labor's platform) would put more of them out of work. Maybe they figured out that a nuclear Iran and a rocket-laden 'Palestinian state' within firing range of the center of the country would kill all our investments. And maybe - definitely - the Left has shown its true colors as the 'beautiful people' (
yefei ha'nefesh in Hebrew) who couldn't care less about anyone but themselves.
Labels: charity, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli economy, Israeli Left, Knesset elections 2015, Labor party, Likud party, Palestinian state
Israelis to Obama: 'The hell you'll tell us whom to vote for'
President Hussein Obama's efforts to influence Israel's upcoming election may be backfiring. This is Anshel Pfeffer, one of Haaretz's more Leftist writers.
Haaretz - for those who have forgotten - is Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily, probably the most Leftist rag among Israel's better known Leftist rags. (By the way, only about 5% of Israelis read Haaretz - they have a much wider audience among the elites in the US and Europe).
Here's the
weepy news about the latest polls.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud would win 25 seats and the Labor Camp would secure only 23 if elections were held today, a new poll conducted by Haaretz-Dialog found on Monday.
The poll, which was conducted under the supervision
of Professor Camil Fuchs with a representative sample of 514
respondents, showed Netanyahu gaining three more seats than what his
party was predicted to win in the last poll conducted in January. The
margin of error in the poll was 4.2 percent.
Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi weakened in this poll to receive 14 seats, compared to 16 in the last survey.
The Joint List (Hadash and Arab parties) strengthened, predicted to win
12 seats, while Yesh Atid weakened from 12 to nine seats.
Kulanu and United Torah Judaism were both slated
for eight seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas were predicted to
receive six seats. Respondents gave Meretz five seats and Yachad was
predicted to get four.
That would put the Right at 25+14+8+6+6+4 = 63, the Left at 23+9+5 = 37, the Arabs (who have never been in any coalition at 12 and Kulanu (which really could go either way) at 8.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jewish Home party, Knesset elections 2015, Labor party, Likud party, Meretz, Shas, Tzipi Livni, United Torah Judaism party, V-2015, Yesh Atid party, Yitzchak Herzog
Tzipi and Buzi sing something stupid
With apologies to the Hebrew-impaired, this was too good not to share.
Let's go to the videotape.
Heh.
Labels: Balad, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jewish Home party, Knesset elections 2015, Labor party, Likud party, Meretz, Naftali Bennett, Tzipi Livni, Yitzchak Herzog
I quit the Likud
I have just sent an email to my bank officer asking to cancel the standing order to withdraw dues to the Likud every month from my account. Moshe Feiglin has
called on all his followers to do the same (link in Hebrew). And while I did not realize I was following Feiglin when I joined the Likud (the person who signed me up neglected to tell me), the corrupt and unfair treatment he has received are more than enough for me.
Enough is enough.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Likud party, Moshe Feiglin
Well, I'd vote for him!
Tired of the corruption in the party, Moshe Feiglin is leaving the Likud and
starting a party of his own.
"There is no leader in Israel, except the people here, who knows and
can turn Israel into a Jewish state - one of real freedom, a state which
is not 'all of its citizens and its Zoabis," he began, referring to
virulent anti-Israel MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad). "There is no leader in
Israel, except the people here, who knows and is able to cope with a
rock attack in Tiva, with a knife in Jerusalem, with a rocket from Gaza
and the Iranian nuclear program."
"There is no leader in Israel, except the people here, who knows and
can lower the prices of housing and food," he continued. "There is no
political leader in Israel, except the people here, who is not willing
to be eaten up by the 'peace factory' here, subject to Oslo [Accords]
consciousness and language, there is no leader who talks about: one
country, one nation, one Israel."
"There is no leader in Israel, except the people here, a democratic
leader really, who knows and is able to build a true state based on
freedom, personal and political freedom that comes from Judaism
instead of in place [of Judaism], of identity, a freedom that comes
from understanding that we are all children of our Father our King,
slaves to the Creator alone," he said.
"I was hoping that Likud could bring those of us who are
straightforward to the prime minister's seat, but little by little I
understood that we could not," he added. "The more the creation of a new
life, a new birth is required here, a time of growing her own and
hopefully soon - a faith-based leadership, leadership of freedom to the
people of Israel."
As many of you know, I'm a big Feiglin fan. I'm not really surprised he's doing this - Netanyahu left him no choice after the primary results. I just hope his party wins enough seats in the Knesset to have a significant impact.
Feiglin's full speech from tonight's meeting may be found
here.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, corruption, Likud party, Moshe Feiglin
Netanyahu makes post-election deal with Herzog and Livni?
This is sole-sourced from DEBKA, so take it with a grain of salt, but I would not put this past him. DEBKA is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu is already cutting a deal to
share power with the Labor party after the elections.
The opinion samplings taken privately by party strategists indicate a
close run in the March 17 general election between Binyamin Netanyahu’s
Lilkud and Yitzhak Herzog’s opposition Labor, since he formed a
partnership with Tzipi Livni and her small Hatnuah. , Likud stays
marginally ahead with 23-24 (out of 120) Knesset seats compared with
Labor’s 20-22.
Instead of engaging in the excruciating, separate horse-trading for a
government coalition after the elections with a bunch of small factions,
Netanyahu and Herzog appear to have found common ground on the broad
lines of a power-sharing partnership.
Most significantly, this partnership would enable them to disempower
Naftali Bennett’s hard-line Jewish Home (16-17), Avigdor Lieberman’s
Yisrael Beitenu (sinking to 7-10), Kahlon’s new Kulanu (8-9) and Yair
Lapid’s Future (plunging to 6-7). It would also reduce the bargaining
power of the ultra-religious bloc.
Netanyahu has avowed an ambition to reduce Israel’s fragmented political scene to major blocs.
The backdoor negotiations between the prime minister and opposition
leader are not face-to-face, but through a mutually trusted go-between,
revealed here by debkafile as the Labor leader’s brother, Brig.-Gen (res.) Michael Herzog.
...
From May 2009 to March 2010, M. Herzog acted as special envoy in the
efforts of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak to
resuscitate peace negotiations with the Palestinians. The prime minister
also attached him to his personal envoy Yitzak Molcho with the US team
that held talks with Syria from December 2010 until the onset of the
civil war in March 2011.
...
Towards the end of last year, Netanyahu, who was then building up to
calling a snap election, again added Mike Herzog as a secret envoy to
Molcho’s quiet contacts with the Americans and Palestinians. He was also
involved in diplomacy on behalf of the prime minister on other
strategic matters, including the Iranian nuclear issue.
Read the whole thing. It's all too plausible, and why no one on the Right should vote for Likud.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset elections 2015, Labor party, Likud party, Michael Herzog, Tzipi Livni, Yitzchak Herzog
Netanyahu targets Feiglin
Prime Minister Netanyahu's big 'accomplishment' in Wednesday's Likud primary was to
drive Moshe Feiglin to an unrealistic position in the slate.
According to Yedioth Aharonoth, the main hand behind
Feiglin's primaries failure was none other than Haim Bibas, director of
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's elections headquarters, mayor of
Modi'in and director of the regional authority of the city.
Bibas held a campaign to convince Likud activists in Judea and Samaria not to support Feiglin, according to the paper.
"We wiped him out below the radar," a senior Likud source was quoted
as saying. "It took Likudniks time to understand that he causes us
damage. This is Netanyahu's greatest success in these primaries."
Another opponent of Feiglin who acted for his downfall according to
the report is his neighbor in Karnei Shomron in Samaria, Asi Levi, who
is a member of the Karnei Shomron Regional Council.
"All these years we helped Feiglin succeed, but he had delusions of
grandeur. I came to the conclusion that he isn't a Likudnik but rather
acts to crush the Likud," Levi was quoted as saying. He then admitted
"we did a 'targeted killing' on Feiglin."
The accusations that Feiglin acted against Likud may reference the
criticism Feiglin frequently leveled at his party for taking actions
against its nationalist and Zionist platform.
God Forbid anyone should remind the Likud of what it's supposed to stand for.
They've lost my vote.
This is from
Shmuel Sackett, Moshe Feiglin's longtime partner in politics.
I must state that Moshe was not the only good, solid Knesset member that Likud members rejected; Tzippy Hotoveli - a Deputy Minister in the current government - won just one spot before Moshe (#26), which is ALSO considered very unrealistic.
To understand what happened to Moshe, please read this quote from the Maariv (NRG) website:
"Two weeks ago, we reported about a deal being worked on against Feiglin. The goal of this deal was to insure that Feiglin receive an unrealistic spot on the Likud list and it succeeded exactly as planned. The deal was orchestrated by Prime Minister Netanyahu and implemented via Knesset members Chaim Katz, Yariv Levine, Zev Elkin and Danny Danon"
How nice...
While we understand the system and realize that every candidate has to worry and push him/herself, we will never understand why candidates actively work AGAINST others in the same party. Thanks to the hard work of these politicians, the current Likud list contains two former members of Kadima and SIX people who SUPPORTED the Gaza Expulsion Plan. Do the members of Likud really prefer these people to Feiglin and Hotoveli?
The membership of the Likud does not. But Netanyahu and his cronies whom he has kept in power in the unchanged central committee (there hasn't been an election since Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister) in 2009 do prefer the leftists who are above Feiglin on the list.
Shabbat Shalom everyone.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset elections 2015, Likud party, Moshe Feiglin
'Unacceptable and ugly'
The title of this post doesn't just describe Tzipi Livni. It
describes some comments she made on a satirical television show on Saturday night.
Writing on Facebook, [former Shin Bet chief and Netanyahu critic Yuval] Diskin said that Livni’s remarks were “unacceptable and ugly”.
“I normally have a great appreciation for Livni’s attitudes and
values, but in this case I'm coming out against her in the most
aggressive manner,” he said.
“It is permissible and even desirable to criticize,” stressed Diskin.
“This is in part the essence of democracy. Personally, I too have
criticism over the conduct of the Prime Minister and his leadership
style and his lack of personal example. But there is a fine line in my
opinion, that once people cross it, they become what Netanyahu and his
friends were when they ignored the incitement of their supporters
against Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.”
“I call on Tzipi Livni, as well as on many of my friends, to immediately apologize for her remarks,” said Diskin.
Livni, who appeared on the “Matzav HaUma” (State of the Union) satirical program on Channel 2 on Saturday night, took satire to a different level and was perceived to have gone beyond the realms of political correctness.
"Two potential Prime Ministers are better than an impotent Prime Minister,” Livni said of her unity pact with Labor leader MK Yitzhak Herzog.
"Yitzhak and I decided to take out the garbage together," Livni said,
hinting at Netanyahu. She later said, “The truth is that Bibi said that
we’re going to elections because of the 0% VAT. I thought there is a
zero in this story, but it’s not the VAT.”
The comments were criticized by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz
(Likud), who said, "Since we cut off ties with [Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas she has simply become unbalanced. She's addicted
to talks with the Palestinians and can't quit."
Coalition chairman MK Ze’ev Elkin denounced the derogatory comments as well, telling Arutz Sheva that Livni had “completely lost it” in her appearance on the show.
“What we saw last night is beyond who we saw during the previous
Knesset term. Even in terms of style and expression level it seems that
she completely lost it,” said Elkin, who added, “I want to see all the
reporters who attacked me for calling [Livni and Herzog] ‘the beauty and
the geek who will not pass the threshold’ speaking out against Livni
now. I used parliamentary expressions but she stooped to a new low. But I
guess the left is allowed to lash out using such crude expressions.
This is probably part of the rules of the game.”
I wonder
which one Elkin was calling the beauty and which the geek.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, incitement, Labor party, Likud party, Tzipi Livni, Yisrael Katz, Yitzchak Herzog, Zeev Elkin
Deri for Finance Minister?
Prime Minister Netanyahu was so desperate to avoid elections that on Saturday night he offered Shas' Aryeh Deri the finance ministry and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman a
one-year rotation as Prime Minister, according to Maariv's Ben Caspit (link in Hebrew).
Netanyahu had good reason for avoiding elections.
While the Right continues to lead in every poll of Right v. Left, polls have also shown that Netanyahu has become extremely unpopular with roughly 65% of Israeli voters hoping to see him replaced.
On Wednesday night, Labor party leader Yitzchak Herzog and egomaniac Tzipi Livni agreed to join forces in the Labor party and to rotate (two years each) as Prime Minister if they win.
The Right's victory in terms of numbers is not a sure thing. Haredi publications have indicated that they would prefer to go into a coalition with Labor over a coalition with Jewish Home party's Naftali Bennett, with whom they say they will not set. This would make it much harder for Prime Minister Netanyahu to form a coalition even if his party is the largest party in the election (which the polls indicate it may not be).
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has spent this week trying to advance the Likud primary from its scheduled January 6 date to
December 31 in order to avoid a challenge from former Education Minister Gidon Saar. Netanyahu will still be facing Moshe Feiglin and Danny Danon, both of whom are to his right. Saar is ideologically closer to Netanyahu.
Hmmm.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon, Gidon Saar, Knesset elections 2015, Likud party, Moshe Feiglin, Tzipi Livni, Yitzchak Herzog
Stop the fearmongering: A Likud led by Feiglin would do as well as or better than one led by Netanyahu
There is no one that Prime Minister Netanyahu fears more than Likud MK Moshe Feiglin. Netanyahu so fears Feiglin,
he won't even be photographed with him.
Netanyahu and his cohorts have worked very hard to convince the Likud membership that a ticket headed by Feiglin would fare worse - much worse - than one headed by Netanyahu. Now, a new poll debunks that claim.
The Likud led by Feiglin would do no worse in the upcoming elections than the Likud led by Netanyahu. Even Haaretz says so. Feiglin might even do better.
An internal Likud poll projects that if right-wing Likud Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin were to win the party’s leadership contest and lead the party in the upcoming Knesset election, Likud would get 18 seats in the 120-seat legislature, a showing identical to what the party has today, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The survey, which was conducted by the Ma'agar Mochot polling agency
among a representative sample of 501 Jewish Israelis, was commissioned
by party activists to gauge the prospects of Netanyahu’s rivals as heads
of the party in the upcoming Knesset election. At this point Feiglin,
who is on the right of the Likud spectrum, and Likud central committee
chairman Danny Danon are the only two declared challengers to Netanyahu
for the post of party leader.
...
“Today Likudniks understand that anyone can garner the seats that
Bibi does for the party,” one party member said in reaction to the
polling results, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
“According to
the [survey] results, Netanyahu’s ceiling could turn into Feiglin’s
floor,” another Likud activist said in connection to the possible
support for the two in the election. “From this point [Feiglin] could
collect additional Knesset seats.”
The survey indicates that if Feiglin were to lead the party, some
traditional Likud voters would drift to other parties while Likud would
garner its support from more right-wing and religious voters. Feiglin
would draw voters from the Habayit Hayehudi and Yisrael Beiteinu
parties, while the voters that Likud would lose would go primarily to
Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid and a party expected to be established by
former Likud MK Moshe Kahlon.
"The results of the poll aren't surprising," Feiglin said. "But they
certainly highlight the most important question in these elections: Who
can bring back the votes that have migrated to Habayit Hayehudi and
Yisrael Beiteinu.
"My leadership and the path that I represent" will draw voters back to Likud, he said.
Maybe that's why Netanyahu is
desperately trying to avoid new elections.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset elections 2015, Likud party, Likudniks, Moshe Feiglin
Obama may yet long for the current Netanyahu government
As much as President Hussein Obama may loathe Prime Minister Netanyahu and his current government, one day soon Obama may actually look back on it nostalgically.
There's a new poll out, and while it shows that Netanyahu would likely remain Prime Minister if he chose to call elections today, he would do so with a much more Right leaning government. While today, the Right and religious parties hold 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats, this poll indicates that
they would hold 70 were elections to be held today.
The poll gives Likud 28 seats (up from 19), the Jewish Home 19 (up
from 12), Yisrael Beytenu 9 (down from 12), Shas 7 (down from 11),
United Torah Judaism (UTJ) is unchanged at 7.
All in all, the nationalist-religious bloc is at 70 seats – up 9 from
its current 61 seats, which gives it a bare majority in the Knesset.
Also in the poll, Yesh Atid is clipped down to 11 seats from the
current 19, Hatnua is at 4 seats, down from the current six, Meretz has
10 (up from 6) and Labor remains at 15. Kadima is wiped off the
political map.
Israelis continue to favor Binyamin Netanyahu for prime minister.
Thirty percent see him as the politician best suited for the role.
Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett is in second place with 16%. Labor
head Yitzchak Herzog has 11%, whereas ministers Avigdor Liberman and
Tzipi Livni each enjoy 6% support. Yair Lapid is at a meager 3%, along
with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.
The Jewish Home party has finished in second place in five of the
six polls conducted since the start of Operation Protective Edge
(Dialog, Smith, Midgam and Panels).
We're going to see a much more hostile Obama after November. This is only going to get worse. Today (the missile shipment hold-up) was just the opening shot across the bow.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli polls, Jewish Home party, Likud party, Naftali Bennett, Yesh Atid party
Jewish Home to quit government?
Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett is
threatening to quit the government (and take his party with him) in the event that it approves the release of hundreds of terrorists - including 'Israeli Arabs' - and a 'settlement freeze' in exchange for continuing 'talks' and the release of Jonathan Pollard.
"Israel has been facing a new situation in recent days with the
Palestinian appeal to the UN which flagrantly violated all the
agreements with them since the Oslo Accords until today,” said Bennett.
“The emerging deal, if it includes the release of murderers with
Israeli citizenship, harms Israeli sovereignty, and not only that - it
is done being when the Palestinians have not cancelled their requests to
join international organizations,” he added.
"Therefore, if a proposal for release of Israeli murderers comes
before the Cabinet, the Jewish Home will oppose it,” Bennett declared.
“If the proposal will pass - the Jewish Home will resign from the
government, which frees murderers with Israeli citizenship. Enough is
enough.
“On this evening of Passover, it is important to remember that we
went from slavery to freedom so we that we can have an Israeli legal
system which will protect the citizens of Israel - not a system that is
being blackmailed by a gang of terrorists and which releases murderers,”
said Bennett. “This is an act of extortion and surrender to terrorism
which we cannot accept.
“I wish the citizens of Israel a Happy Passover, and I hope that our
brother Jonathan Pollard will be released soon, but not in the immoral
way that is this currently being suggested,” he concluded.
The Jerusalem Post reported last week that
Bennett had issued similar threats to Netanyahu then but had purposely confined them to private conversations with the prime minister. When
talks became more serious on Thursday, Bennett upgraded his threat to a public warning.
Anonymous 'Likud officials' are telling Bennett to
go right ahead and leave.
"We are not keeping anybody in the government by force," the officials declared.
"This is a well-known method used by Bennett: to make threats when it
is clear to him that they are false threats that will not come to
fruition," they added.
But other Likud officials, who were speaking on the record, had
a very different take.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin warned Netanyahu on Thursday not
to return to a diplomatic deal that would involve the mass release of
terrorist murderers and restraining construction in Judea and Samaria,
if the Palestinians did not withdraw their petitions to join UN bodies.
Signing
such a deal under the current conditions could cause political shock
waves and lead to elections, the deputy minister said.
Elkin thus
became the first high-ranking Likud politician to warn of early
elections, four days after Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman
spoke at Sunday’s Jerusalem Post Conference in New York about the possibility of Israel going to the polls.
“Returning
to the deal would project weakness and give the Palestinians a reward
for their stubbornness,” Elkin said. “It would result in them attacking
Israel internationally even more. We cannot turn the other cheek when
they spit at us in the face. Surrendering to Palestinian hostility has
only brought upon us disasters.”
Deputy Defense Minister Danny
Danon (Likud) said he intends to resign from his post if a diplomatic
arrangement to extend the talks with the Palestinians is reached. But
other politicians are not expected to follow suit, because the deal
would be softened by the inclusion of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard.
According to a new poll, the Likud would gain in new elections... but so would
Jewish Home.
The Dialogue Institute survey, published in Friday morning's Haaretz,
shows that Jewish Home would tie with Labor as the second-biggest party
in the Israeli government, in the event that elections were held
today.
Likud-Beytenu would receive 37 seats - compared to 32 in a previous
poll, the survey reveals. Meanwhile Jewish Home would receive 15, as
opposed to 12 in the last poll. Likewise Labor would receive 15 seats,
down from 16 in the last poll.
Yesh Atid would remain stable from the last poll at 14 seats, and
both Shas and Meretz would drop a seat from the previous poll, from 10
to 9. United Torah Judaism would gain an extra seat, for a total of 7,
Hatnua would lose two seats and have only 3, instead of 5 in the last
poll, and Kadima would not pass the threshold.
All of the Arab parties would retain their previous projected number of seats: Raam-Taal - 5, Hadash - 4, and Balad - 3.
Yes, but if these were the results, Likud, Labor and Yesh Atid could make a coalition without anyone else (assuming that Likud's MK's were willing to stay on board)....
As for American hostage Jonathan Pollard, yes, he could be released over the weekend.
Well-placed sources involved in efforts to bring about Pollard’s
release said they were cautiously optimistic about the diplomatic
developments and were hoping to welcome him home to Jerusalem. His
medical condition required him to leave prison and seek urgent medical
care in Israel, they said.
Should Pollard be allowed to fly to
Israel in time for the Passover Seder, the last El Al flight that would
arrive in time departs from New York at 7 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Using a private plane or the government of Israel sending an airplane
are also possibilities.
Hmmm....
I sure hope Bennett doesn't leave the government before the seder. He'd ruin a lot of really good Torah for the seder if he did.... והמבין יבין.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli elections, Jewish Home party, Jonathan Pollard, Likud party, Middle East peace process, Naftali Bennett, Palestinian terrorists, settlement freeze, Yesh Atid party
Jewish Home party to leave coalition?
The JPost is reporting that seven of the Jewish Home party's 12 MK's want to leave the coalition if Israel trades
420 terrorists and a settlement freeze for Jonathan Pollard and prolonged talks.
A Bayit Yehudi party source said Tuesday that seven of the party's 12
MKs think the faction should leave the coalition if the government
agrees to free 400 prisoners, even if Pollard is also freed as party of
the deal.
A right-wing senior minister who was supposed to meet
with Almagor Terror Victims Organization chief Meir Indor on Tuesday
canceled the meeting citing a coalition crisis over the deal as the
reason.
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel of Bayit Yehudi said on Tuesday
he would oppose any such accord that would see Pollard go free in
exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, telling Army
Radio that Pollard himself was against being part of a prisoner
exchange.
"I was personally told he is against being released in
such a disgraceful deal," said Ariel, arguing that Pollard deserved
unconditional freedom and not to be swapped for Palestinian "murderers."
I doubt that the Jewish Home party will leave the coalition - Bennett and Shaked are too rooted to their government seats to allow that to happen. A faction of MK's - maybe even seven - could break off and form a new party outside the government (I think that's still allowed - you need at least a third of the faction).
But that wouldn't bring down the government. The real question here is how many Likud-Beiteinu MK's - if any - would leave the government over this. There are only two MK's from among the Likud who are on record as favoring a two-state solution: Binyamin Netanyahu and Tzachi HaNegbi. Will the others have the courage to jeopardize their careers by walking out?
Don't hold your breath.
Labels: Ayelet Shaked, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jewish Home party, Jonathan Pollard, Likud party, Naftali Bennett, Palestinian terrorists, settlement freeze
Danon fires right back at Netanyahu
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 dirty before. 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.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon, Likud Central Committee, Likud party, Likud Young Generation
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.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon, Likud party, Likud Young Generation, Palestinian terrorists
MK's apologize to Shapiro for recording and leaking meeting contents
A group of MK's had an 'off the record' meeting with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Tuesday. There were two small problems. First, at least one MK recorded the meeting. And second, several MK's
leaked the contents of the meeting to the media.
Knesset Land of Israel caucus chair-people Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu) and Orit Struck (Bayit Yehudi) expressed regret on Wednesday that a recording of the parliamentary group's closed meeting with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro was leaked to the press.
The meeting, which took place on Tuesday,
was closed to the press and was described by attendees as "charged,"
after MKs used harsh language in discussions of Israeli agent Jonathan
Pollard's treatment and accused the US of bias against Israel in talks
with Palestinians.
Shapiro spoke to Levin and Struck, saying that he was upset that the meeting was recorded.
Levin and Struck apologized and said that the participant did not realize the meeting was closed before recording it.
However, sources in the meeting were made aware that it was meant to be closed to press by The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, but still agreed to divulge extensive information about it.
Struck and Levin thanked Shapiro for taking part in the meeting.
Shapiro accepted their apology and said that, in his opinion, it was a successful and beneficial discussion.
But it's not likely to happen again anytime soon. Only in Israel....
Labels: Dan Shapiro, Israeli Knesset, Jewish Home party, Jonathan Pollard, Likud party, Yariv Levin, Yesh Atid party
