Netanyahu's coalition to be a sacrifice for peace?
There are signs that Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition may be on its way to becoming a 'sacrifice for peace.' The first sign is this video of MK's supporting residents and construction in the Jordan Valley.
Let's go to the videotape.
Meanwhile, a group called the Rabbinical Congress for Peace is urging ministers to
prepare resignation letters rather than agreeing to give up land for a piece of paper.
RCP rabbis warned Tourism Minister Uzi Landau and Agriculture
Minister Yair Shamir that they sense a complacency similar that prior to
the "Disengagement" from Gush Katif.
"It’s not enough to verbally oppose the current negotiations or vote
against it, but you and all those ministers and coalition members who
share your views must announce that you have submitted a letter of
resignation from the government that will take effect the moment the
government agrees to territorial concessions," pressed the RCP rabbis.
“I have no doubt that once (Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu) will
feel that he is losing support of his right wing flank it will deter
him," reasoned Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, Executive Director of RCP.
"He won’t want to form a more left-wing coalition now especially when
the nation is furious over his release of arch-terrorists. Stop this madness now.”
...
The ministers tried to justify staying in the coalition saying they
can "minimize damage" from within, whereas leftist parties could replace
them if they left.
RCP Chairman Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky shot down their argument, saying
"every bad thing can ister Ofir Akunis be worse. Would you remain in the government if you
know it is ready to give up half of Eretz Israel out of fear that if
you leave they will give up all of Eretz Israel?"
"There must be a red line that will prevent you from being part of a
government that leads to bloodshed G-d forbid," added Rabbi Gerlitzky.
"What are you waiting for? That the Arabs should control the1967 borders
and then you’ll leave?! Won’t you find an excuse then to also say 'if
we leave it will be worse?'"
This sounds remarkably like the lead-up to Gush Katif where everyone stayed in the government until after the expulsion had been approved.
All of which leads Netanyahu confidante and deputy minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) to warn that there may be '
changes' to the coalition.
"The main problem threatening coalition unity is Kerry," claimed
Akunis. "The problem is only growing amid a one-sided agreement, which
harms the coalition's existence in its current formation, even after
concessions Israel would make."
Were the coalition to break apart, Shas Chairman MK Aryeh Deri has
said just this Thursday that his party would not step in as a "safety net"
to form a new coalition, enabling territorial withdrawals. Meanwhile a
Rabbinical Congress for Peace delegation met Knesset ministers
Wednesday, urging them to threaten resignation and a collapse of the coalition to thwart Israeli concessions.
Akunis reports that Kerry's proposed deal "expresses an assertive
American position." His comments come as Kerry is set to launch a
January diplomatic "offensive" to force Israeli concessions.
"For whatever reason (US President) Barack Obama and Kerry don't
understand that precisely things done under the strongest American
pressure, such as releasing murderers and ceding the (Jordan) Valley,
leads to the exact opposite results of what was expected by the State
Department," declared Akunis.
Akunis stressed that there is a wide Israeli consensus concerning the
strategic necessity of maintaining a Jordan Valley presence.
Despite this, "the Americans are doing the exact opposite and hitting
the most sensitive points of the Israeli public," warned Akunis. "It's a
lack of understanding regarding Israeli society, and as I said, it puts
the current coalition formation in danger."
If Akunis is right, why is Netanyahu allowing this to continue?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Gaza expulsion, Gush Katif, John Kerry, Jordan Valley, Ofir Akunis, Uzi Landau
Cabinet approves Shalit deal
Israel Radio has just reported that after a five-hour meeting, the Israeli government has approved the Shalit deal 26-3.
Those voting against were Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Moshe "Boogie" Yaalon (Likud).
I'm surprised more Likud members did not vote against.
The picture is Uzi Landau.
Labels: Avigdor Lieberman, Gilad Shalit, Moshe Yaalon, Uzi Landau
Knesset finding its junk
The Knesset is finding its junk (as in "don't touch my junk"). Two bills are being prepared in the Knesset in response to the possibility of a unilateral declaration of 'statehood' by the 'Palestinians.' One would annex all or major parts of Judea and Samaria. The other would
annul the Oslo Accords.
Landau and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein will be featured speakers at a rally in favor of annexing Judea and Samaria at the Knesset next month. Top right-wing academics and former foreign minister Moshe Arens are also expected to speak at the event, which is being organized by Likud MK Danny Danon.
“A Palestinian declaration of statehood would officially bury the Oslo Accords, which state that final borders will be decided via negotiations and that unilateral actions constitute violation of the accords,” Danon said. “The Palestinians declaring a state would free us of all the diplomatic, security, and economic commitments we made in the Oslo Accords.”
Danon favors responding to a Palestinian declaration of statehood by annexing all of Area C, which includes all the West Bank’s Jewish settlements and empty land. He said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should follow the example of his predecessors Levi Eshkol, who annexed eastern Jerusalem, and Menachem Begin, who annexed the Golan Heights.
A source close to the prime minister said that Netanyahu has kept his cards close to his chest as to how he would respond to Palestinian unilateral action, but that he has said in the past that Israel has its own unilateral options.
Danon said he hoped the threat of annexation could help Netanyahu persuade European leaders to stop the United Nations from voting on Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September.
Danon is working on two bills: One in favor of annexing the West Bank and another that would repeal the Oslo Accords.
He said he believed that if annexation would be brought to a vote in the Likud it would pass.
Habayit Hayehudi leader Daniel Herschkowitz said he backed the initiative. An Israel Beiteinu spokesman said that beyond Landau, his faction is undecided, but it is possible that it would back the initiative as well.
The key here is that if you really want to convince the Europeans to vote against the 'Palestinians,' you have to get Kadima to say that it will vote to annex Judea and Samaria and annul the Oslo Accords.
I doubt Kadima leader Tzipi Livni would agree to that. In a best case scenario, she might free her MK's from party discipline.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Danny Danon, Kadima, Likud party, Tzipi Livni, Uzi Landau
Ron Nachman blames the Left
Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, a former Knesset member, blamed Leftist and 'Palestinian'
delegitimization of the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria for Friday night's murder of five Israelis in the town of Itamar.
Nachman stated that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad calling for a boycott of goods manufactured in the settlements as well as Israeli newspapers "separating settlers from Israelis living on the other side of the Green Line" were responsible for inciting the terrorists to carry out the attack in Itamar.
National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau on Saturday said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was responsible for Friday's terror attack in Itamar because he allowed incitement to violence against Israel in the PA's educational system.
"Behind the murderer of the family in Itamar stands Abu Mazen [Abbas], the "peace partner," who founded the official educational system in the Palestinian Authority, which teaches hatred of Jews and presents child killers as role models," Landau said in a statement.
Landau called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to stop presenting Abbas as a peace partner and to demand from the PA and the US that peaceful education in the Palestinian Authority be a precondition to any peace process.
Netanyahu also demanded that the Palestinian Authority "halt the incitement in the mosques and via the Palestinian Authority-controlled media."
A statement from Netanyahu added that "a society that permits such wild incitement is one that eventually brings about the murder of children."
Landau told Israel Radio the same thing Sunday morning, adding that Abu Bluff is responsible for establishing the 'Palestinian education system' that teaches 'Palestinian' children to murder Jews and we should stop portraying him as a 'moderate' and as a 'peace partner.'
Even MK Haim Oron of the Leftist Meretz party has called for the 'Palestinian Authority' to unequivocally condemn Friday night's attack, although he claims that we have 'no choice' but to continue cooperation with the 'Palestinian Authority.'
Nachman isn't entirely correct. The reason why the 'Palestinians' strike in Samaria is because they are able to strike there. If they were able to commit murder within the 'green line' - in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities, they would do that too. They don't need the Left or anyone else to delegitimize Israel (and not just the 'settlements' but Israel as a whole) for them. None of us who live in Israel's major cities - or anywhere else in the country - should think that we are immune from 'Palestinian' terror.
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon got a lot of things wrong toward the end of his career, but shortly before he went off the tracks he said one thing that was 100% correct. On April 23, 2002, Sharon said that
the fate of Netzarim - a Jewish town in Gaza - is the fate of Tel Aviv. Netzarim is no more, thanks to Sharon's 2005 'disengagement' and expulsion of Gaza's Jews. If we don't get back on the track and stop trying to gut our country, Tel Aviv really will - God forbid - share Netzarim's fate.
Labels: Ariel Sharon, Binyamin Netanyahu, Itamar, Palestinian terror, Ron Nachman, Uzi Landau
Landau: Obama wants more than freeze
Likud Minister Uzi Landau says that the United States is demanding
far more than a 'settlement freeze' extension in return for the package of goodies offered to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
According to Landau, the conditions for the deal are far different than those being portrayed in the Israeli media, which is telling Israelis that in exchange for a “small” Israeli gesture of an additional three month freeze, Jerusalem will receive a bundle of benefits, including additional advanced F-35 fighter jets, and an American guarantee to veto any anti-Israel proposals at the United Nations and other world bodies – and to similarly smash any attempt by the Palestinian Authority to seek U.N. approval for a declaration of independence for an Arab state in Judea and Samaria.
But the United States doesn't just want a three month extension, said Landau. When asked why he was opposed to so much benefit for “only” three more months of a building freeze, Landau responded, “Israel has failed to learn from the past. President Obama is ignoring previous promises, also written in a letter, that President Bush presented to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Those promises, too, were portrayed as a great diplomatic achievement.
"All the American promises share a similar characteristic – they lack specifics, and are not carried out if they are found to be damaging to American interests.” That was the case with the 2003 letter Bush presented Sharon, ostensibly recognizing Israel's right to retain the “settlement blocs” in the event of a deal with the PA; in the end, that American promise has been rescinded by President Barack Obama because he has decided it is in American interests to do so.
“Here too, with the Obama promises, we must see the structure of the deal – and you see that the Americans are demanding that we come to a full agreement with the PA in order for the benefits to kick in,"Landau explained. "You only get the benefits in the event of a final-status agreement – only when everything is over.” Given the history of Israel-PA negotiations, the likelihood of that happening is “very low,” he added.
Perhaps even worse, Landau said, the understandings between Israel and the United States – which included American opposition to a unilaterally declared PA state – are apparently no longer extant, and have instead been turned into a “sword of Damocles,” to be held over the head of Israel.
“Until now, it was understood that the U.S. would veto” sanctions against Israel, or a non-negotiated settlement of the Middle East conflict. Apparently that has changed, Landau said. “The veto was promised and taken as a matter of course, as long as progress was being made and negotiations were continuing. No 'gestures' were required to expect it. Now, the American veto is being used as a threat against our negotiators, pressuring them to surrender our positions. If in a year there is no deal – and it's unlikely there will be – the threat will descend like a sword on our heads, and the U.S. will blame us” and vote against Israel, Landau said.
“That's why the Likud is presenting this deal as a 'honey trap.' They are right, but we're much more likely to fall into the trap than to enjoy any honey,” Landau added.
Read the whole thing.
So far, Prime Minister Netanyahu is insisting on getting the offer in writing, and the United States is apparently having trouble producing it. Maybe there is still hope that this decree will be canceled. But I'm not optimistic. Our Prime Minister knows how to say "no" to Obama, but he apparently melts for Hillary Clinton.
What could go wrong?
Labels: F-35, honey trap, settlement freeze extension, Uzi Landau
Who will rally the opposition to Netanyahu?
Before I start this post, I want to update you on something I posted last night. Last night, I wrote the following in the name of Uzi Landau, one of the primary opponents to the 'settlement freeze' extension.
Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau has thrown cold water on comments by Defense Mnister Ehud Barak celebrating the U.S. “present” of 20 advanced fighter jets to Israel in exchange for implementing an additronal freeze. Landau clarified that the jets are not guaranteed to Israel and noted that they depend on reaching a final agreement with PA which most Israelis do not believe is possible.
I received the following clarification from Landau (via three intermediaries - Hat Tip:
David H).
What is quoted here in Israelmatzav is not exactly what he said. He did not say that the deal explicitly calls for Israel to settle on borders in order for the jets to be awarded. He said that there is nothing in this deal that obligates the US. They have in the past and could in the future just decline to fulfill obligations.
Lovely.
In the meantime, the Likud is still trying to drum up opposition to their own leader's disastrous path to concessions. The opponents are looking to
Benny Begin (pictured).
Although Minister-without-Portfolio Bennie Begin did not attend Monday’s Knesset meeting, he gave the freeze opponents a strong boost on Monday evening when he broke two days of silence to denounce the intended move.
“Government promises must be followed through,” said Begin, in reference to his own pledges and that of Netanyahu that the first freeze on new construction, which ended on September 26, was a onetime deal.
Begin, who is believed to be the man who can best rally the party’s right wing, told Channel 2, “One should have been able to anticipate the actions of recent days, and if they weren’t taken into consideration in advance, that is strange to me. Someone needs to offer some explanations.”
And Minister Yuli Edelstein has an answer for the inevitable accusation that it's only the 'Feiglin wing' that opposes the extension:
“I think that this is a very bad situation for the Likud,” Edelstein responded when asked if his party could split over a second freeze.
“The participants in the meeting aren’t some extreme elements that infiltrated the Likud. These are Likudniks. And if they remain bitter and disappointed, it would be very serious for the party. I would not want to be the one who has to organize and rally the faction around major issues after we go in to a freeze.”
And Knesset speaker Ruby Rivlin, who is a long-time Netanyahu rival, but who is currently out of the country, sent in his opposition from Germany:
“The freeze has created a serious argument in both the Knesset and the Israeli public. The possibility that Israel will stand alone before the UN Security Council without an American veto creates a new situation in the Middle East, and that must be examined in a long-term perspective,” Rivlin said.
“Israelis now wonder: What will happen next time that there is a disagreement with the Americans? From now on, will every step that Israel takes be measured against the threat of the Americans rescinding their veto?”
Israel Radio just reported that a vote on the 'settlement freeze' extension is being held up - by objections from the 'Palestinians.' But you'll have to wait for the next post (I'll have it up soon) for that.
Labels: Benny Begin, Marco Rubio, Ruby Rivlin, settlement freeze extension, Uzi Landau, Yuli Edelstein
Hmmm....
Remember that second squadron of F-35's, the 'gift' from the United States that was so
attractive to the IDF that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to go along with a 'settlement freeze' extension? I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that they come with a little
condition attached.
Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau has thrown cold water on comments by Defense Mnister Ehud Barak celebrating the U.S. “present” of 20 advanced fighter jets to Israel in exchange for implementing an additronal freeze. Landau clarified that the jets are not guaranteed to Israel and noted that they depend on reaching a final agreement with PA which most Israelis do not believe is possible.
Landau also reminded Barak that, during the retreat from Lebanon he ordered when he was Prime Minister ,he promised Israelis that the U.S. would give Israel $800 million in return for making the move. “Whatever happened to the money they promised us then?,” asked Landau.
Hmmm.
In other words, the only way we MIGHT have a chance of seeing these planes is reaching an agreement with the 'Palestinians' - which is VERY unlikely. And if we do reach an agreement with the 'Palestinians' - which is likely to be on their terms - we may not be around long enough to see those planes roll off the assembly line.
Thanks for the gift, Barack.
Labels: Ehud Barak, F-35, final status negotiations, Uzi Landau
