The prime minister’s clout on the national level is in inverse proportion to his poor grip on his party, which holds its
In the past two weeks, Benjamin Netanyahu put on a nose plug, took an anti-nausea pill and dived deep into the murky waters of Likud party politics, which he abhors. A titanic battle has been underway for months between the prime minister and the chairman of the Likud convention, MK Danny Danon, over the agenda of the convention next Monday.
Seemingly, the brawl is purely procedural: over what the delegates will discuss and who bears the authority to convene party institutions. But in Likud, procedure is everything. And if there is anything Netanyahu, in his many years as party leader, has learned and internalized, it’s that whoever controls the procedure, decides the outcome.
Two motions for the agenda were submitted. One by the chairman of Likud, which is addresses just a few subjects and whose message to the delegates is: Get off my case and don’t interfere with my running of the country. The other, submitted by the chairman of the convention, is the exact opposite: crammed with more issues than you can shake a stick at – plus it sticks it to Netanyahu.
Danon, for example, is calling for a vote on the peace plan being put forward by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and also on the Likud merger with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party. He is also asking the delegates to amend the Likud’s constitution such that the convening of the convention or the Likud Central Committee will henceforth be done “in consultation” with the party chair – but not be subject to his agreement.
In short, Danon, who is already the strongman in Likud institutions, is out to inject content into the titles he holds. By doing so he may turn Netanyahu into his peon, his doormat.
No wonder Bibi is stressed. He is skittering frenetically between hundreds of phone calls, nighttime meetings in the Prime Minister’s Residence and below-the-radar meetings with party activists. (This week he took part in two of those encounters, in Be’er Sheva and Rehovot, in a effort to make up for three years of neglect.)
The repertoire is pretty much the same each time. The prime minister opens the gatherings with security issues: Iran, Middle East, Palestinians and the “Jewish state.” Then he apologizes for having been out of touch with the grass roots and promises that he is now “coming home” and will be in contact with the activists on a regular basis and not only when he needs them.
What follows is the veiled threat: “There is someone who wants to undercut my powers, to push Likud over the edge of the cliff …” He then adds: “But there aren’t two drivers. You know what happens when there are two pilots in the cockpit … I have to lead. You chose me in order to lead you. Let me lead, so you won’t be led into the abyss.”
The result if the other guy – that Danon – gets what he wants will be “chaos” and “suicide,” Netanyahu tells the activists none too subtly. But the Likud chair is not going the extra mile and threatening to resign if Danon prevails. Still, political figures in his milieu are not above reminding people what happened the last time a leader of the party was slapped around at a convention: Two months later, that person left Likud and established Kadima, and his ghost almost killed his former party in the subsequent election.
Netanyahu, however, is not eager to bolt and establish a party of his own. In contrast to Ariel Sharon, who was borne on the wings of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip but still hesitated and agonized before deciding to act – Bibi suffers from reverse abandonment anxiety. His electoral base is not broad and solid, the way Sharon’s was. Netanyahu without Likud and without a breakthrough political process that will bring him the centrist votes would be without a political lifeline.
Shalom’s cruel dilemma
Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom undoubtedly hoped that by this weekend, it would all be behind him. But the decision by the attorney general to pursue an investigation against him, due to allegations of sexual offenses, because it “has not run its course,” will give him more long, tormented, sleepless nights. Why go on looking into a matter that falls under the statute of limitations and will most likely end without an indictment? Only the heads of the state prosecution and the top brass at the police know the answer to that question.
Shalom has been a player in the big leagues of Israeli politics since 1992, holding a long list of portfolios, some of them very important. And he has played well, it should be said. With skill and talent. Never has he been accused of anything improper. He hasn’t even been the subject of “rumors” (though rumors are not necessarily a guarantee of truth; indeed, sometimes they are the opposite of the truth).
On the assumption that no additional complaints will be added to the one filed by M., who worked in Shalom’s bureau when he was science minister in 1998, and that the case will be closed – nothing need prevent Shalom from continuing to serve in this and future governments.
But the question of running for president of Israel is something else entirely. Here he faces a dilemma, even a cruel trap: If he pulls out of the race (or, more accurately, doesn’t enter it officially), he will have to explain why he is taking that step. After all, Shalom’s confidants and family members – notably Nimrod Nir, his son from his marriage to Judy Nir Shalom Mozes – explicitly blamed political rivals for trying to frame him in a Facebook post. Of carrying out a “targeted assassination” against him on his way to the President’s Residence.
Logic, then, says that after the case is closed, Shalom will have to run as he had planned, and to project self-confidence and belief in his innocence. He will want to demonstrate that the malicious conspiracy didn’t work, so that the wicked shall not rejoice, so that the would-be assassins will be hoisted by their own petard, and so forth. His running in that case will even have a sort of educational value.
This coin, though, has another side. Let’s say Shalom is elected president by the Knesset. The dark cloud will always be hovering there, above the new leader and above the institution, both of which must be of irreproachable character, certainly after the Moshe Katsav trauma. A presidential term lasts seven years. Whoever has an eye on this lofty post would do well to examine his closet thoroughly for ghosts, skeletons and cans of worms, in order to obviate unnecessary shame and scandal in the future.
Strongest, weakest
The anxiety and sense of emergency that have gripped Netanyahu ahead of the party test that awaits him illustrate well what everyone already knows: His clout and stability, and the fact that he has no competition – almost on a Ben-Gurion-like scale – are in inverse proportion to his weakness and his loose, effectively nonexistent grip on his party. So far he has been a leader without an external alternative and without internal authority. The second part of that equation will be put to the test next week.
This is a critical period in regard to the negotiations with the Palestinians. The fourth round of prisoner releases was scheduled to take place by the end of this week, or on Sunday at the latest. Even if agreement is reached on extending the negotiations – without which the prime minister will not fulfill his commitment to free the remaining prisoners – there is no way they will be released before the voting in the Likud convention ends. Photos of exultant freed terrorists, interspersed with those of Likud delegates waiting in line to vote, are just what Danon – who is threatening to resign as deputy defense minister if the prisoners are released – needs to ensure and seal his victory.
I asked Danon whether he didn’t think he was overdoing it. After all, Netanyahu is Likud’s prime asset, having brought the party into power three times.
“I am trying to keep the struggle on a substantive rather than a personal basis,” Danon said. “But you mustn’t forget that Likud is in regression. In the last election, we shrank from 27 to 20 Knesset seats. We didn’t do our homework. The movement is demoralized. What’s happened in the past two weeks is actually a good thing: The prime minister has returned to the grass roots.”
You’re flexing a muscle and in the end you will force him out. What then? Will your situation improve?
“No one is trying to force Bibi out. I want him to come to meetings more, to listen to the party members. He’s doing that now, but I am telling them, ‘Be careful, you are only his prop.’ The problem is that he looks to his right and sees Yvet [Lieberman], and to his left and sees [Yair] Lapid, and he envies their one-man rule in their parties.”
Necessary narrative
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is in charge of the negotiations with the Palestinians, has gone underground and vanished from public view. The moment of truth for the talks, which seem to be taking their last breath and in need of urgent resuscitation, is also her own private moment of truth. She is in despair, says someone who converses with her often about these issues. Simply in despair over everything that is happening.
Livni ran in the election and entered the government on a one-point agenda: negotiations with the Palestinians. There is a partner to talk to, she maintained. There’s a chance to achieve a final agreement, she declared. Just let me be in the room with them, she insisted. Bibi isn’t the same Bibi, she explained, this time he’s different. He means business.
If the negotiations fail, her conception will collapse with them, along with her political raison d’etre. He presence in the government will become superfluous. She will have to justify, first to herself and then to her constituency, her decision to continue to serve alongside Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel. What will she say – that there is no partner? The skies will fall on her.
Based on what Livni said last week, at the Negev Conference, to the effect that the key for the implementation of the fourth round of prisoner releases is in the hands of the Palestinian president – she appears to be adopting a narrative that will leave her in the government: casting the blame for the failure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Americans will undoubtedly throw her a lifebelt. They will not declare the death of peace, but rather, play what is going on as a temporary setback. The effort to achieve an agreement will continue as long as Barack Obama occupies the White House and John Kerry is secretary of state, they will say.
If Livni wants to go on believing that prattle, that’s her business. But she will be the only one.
Q and some A
The following story consists of facts and queries. Not all the queries have answers, unfortunately.
First, the facts: 1. The pro-settler newspaper Makor Rishon, owned by Shlomo Ben-Zvi, will be sold to casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who also owns the freebie Israel Hayom, for 14 million shekels (about $4 million).
2. Adelson is saliently right-wing in his politics. Above and beyond that, he is Netanyahu’s man and Netanyahu is his man – as anyone who reads the “Bibipaper” can see.
3. Adelson never before took an interest in buying Makor Rishon, even when it was up for sale in the past. This time he made an offer that was originally three times as high as the second-best offer, but only after it was learned that the publisher of the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth, Noni Mozes, was also considering submitting a bid to the court-appointed trustee. Mozes did indeed contemplate this, but then thought better of it.
4. In the last election, Makor Rishon avidly supported Naftali Bennett, the leader of Habayit Hayehudi, who is loathed by Bibi and his wife Sara, who are beloved by Sheldon. Bennett was and remains a bitter rival of Netanyahu and a target for political annihilation by the prime minister.
5. Bennett is one of Yedioth’s favorite politicians, and generally gets favorable coverage in that paper – which automatically makes him a preferred candidate for annihilation by Israel Hayom.
Those are the facts. Now for the queries. An informed source in the right-wing media claims that in the wake of Ben-Zvi’s collapse, it was Bennett who asked Mozes to buy Makor Rishon. When Adelson heard about that, he moved fast and placed a fistful of chips – err, sorry, shekels – on the table.
Question 1. Is Bennett the person who with his own hands inflicted Adelson and Netanyahu on Makor Rishon – “his” newspaper, his ideological stronghold? Bennett’s aides deny this. His confidants say that they heard only after the fact about the interest shown by Mozes and hurried to dissuade him, precisely for this reason: so as not to wake sleeping tycoons. However, they failed.
Question 2. Is it correct that, according to the same source, the person who urged Adelson to make a high offer was none other than Netanyahu? When the prime minister heard that Mozes – his great enemy, whom he believes, and with no little justification, is persecuting him with his highly popular paper and website – might become the owner of the right-wing paper, he almost had a fit and rushed to seek succor from the munificent old guy from Vegas.
Aides to Netanyahu did not reply directly to the question of whether the prime minister was behind the move. One of them recalled Netanyahu’s remark in his affable appearance on the “State of the Nation” TV show: “I am against the closure of newspapers.”
Question 3. This one has to do with timing. Adelson’s generous offer was made the day after the report (by Amit Segal, on Channel 2) about the party- and political camp-crossing bill that aims to prevent Israel Hayom from being given away for free. One of the bill’s signatories is MK Ayelet Shaked, the chairwoman of Habayit Hayehudi, who is close to Bennett. Is there a connection or not?
Adelson has meanwhile promised the court to retain, for a year at least, 90 percent of the Makor Rishon staff, regulars and freelancers alike. What about the content? Will the paper’s talented and opinionated journalists be able to write whatever they want about the prime minister, or are we now witnessing the emergence of Bibipaper II – this time with skullcap, checkered shirt and sandals?
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
What I TOTALLY cannot understand, is HOW is this allowed to go on by the simple amcha…
The six degrees of separation in Israel must be down to three, four max…
The population is intelligent. People talk.
And with all that…. NOTHING! Klum, zip, nada…
The man is still happily puffing on his cigar….
That just does not make any sense.
In the book I mentioned to you in the past (code blue, cod kahol) it describes a takeover of the country by the right….
While granted, that was a work of fiction, (many of the fictional characters could be easily identified) I remember wondering…hmmmm could it really happen?
The way things look now… I’d say no need for such ponderings……
@ bernard ross:
Thank you Bernard Ross. My credentials are also part of books published by the UTA and others. I can send you a copy if you wish. Boring. Only about special electronic display devices. Due to distance from the centers I am an inactive member of the Jabo guard.
Knowing how Netanyahu and his gang work, it is easy to pinpoint shills, Aesop frog like creatures he sends about. While I was in that cesspool, we observed roaming prattlers used as “reinforcements for Netanyahu from the right”… 🙂
Meridor was brought in from his joint pre packed political venture with Begin the son, Lipkin Shahak,(if I recall correctly), as well as others to join Netanyahu’s entourage. Gone they are. They tried to sell out the Negev in chunks to the Bedouin.
Facts,
Iran. Iran either has or soon will have nuclear weapons because Netanyahu and his co criminals allowed it. Knowingly Netanyahu allowed Iran to complete their plan.
Construction. Every time a new betrayal is about to happen, Netanyahu asks his peons to release over and over again the same or similar “tenders” and then freezes them. E-1 STILL has enemy’s structures in place.
Netanyahu’s own former Security Adviser yesterday defined the item as worse than Rabin. Personally I believe Rabin was a simple chump, not bent on harming, but Peres, as he usually does, used him and…
Netanyahu is worse than Peres would be accurate. Not an easy achievement since Faust II is poison on legs.
Anyway lets sit back and enjoy the day after…
@ bernard ross:
It may be distrust and it may be a cover for BB. As I wrote, the pressure is immense. No one can be sure where BB’s breaking point will be. Did anyone expect Begin to cave in and go against everything he stood for? Taking the precautions to prevent BB from following through, should he break down, is just a smart thing to do. It also strengthens the Likud at the same time. And for all we know, BB is behind it all in case the pressure overwhelms him. He has already come out with a statement that his coalition will fall apart if he releases the last batch of terrorists. This may be exactly what Obama and Kerry hope for, but Netanyahu will not hand it them on a silver platter.
@ bernard ross:
Sources of discreet information usually remain as discreet as the information. You can agree with what I write or disagree and it makes no difference to me. Things will play out as they are intended to play out and they may support all I write, most of what I write or maybe none of what I have written. Shmuel prefers to see me as a BB fan. I am not. I see his shortcomings and live with them. As I wrote, there is no better leader today than him that has a chance of getting elected. I do not agree with all of BB’s moves but I do understand that he is under immense pressure and acknowledge that under the same pressure, everyone on this comment list would cave in no less than Netanyahu, probably even more then him. Armchair quarterbacks? A dime a dozen. Maybe even 2 dozen. Let me approach your questions from a different angle altogether, knowing that it will leave you totally unsatisfied. There is a God, a God that chose the Jewish people for a mission. That God wants Netanyahu to be Prime Minister, not anyone else. The Jewish people get the leader they deserve. If the people are lacking in faith and committment, we get bad leaders. As the nation gets wiser, the leaders get wiser. Israel has shifted from being a left wing, socialist, anti-religious and anti-sfaradi to a nation that is equalitarian, capatalist, God fearing and right of center. The direction is clear for anyone that wants to see. Our future leaders will only get better from here on. On the other hand, don’t expect to see a Republican president in the USA for the next 15 years. They are heading in the exact opposite direction as we are. And no, I do not believe that every Republican is automatically better than every Democrat.
The “regional plan” already being implemented?
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-sees-potential-for-arab-israeli-security-cooperation/
einkerem Said:
the problem is that BB has made annoncements of settlements everytime there was some bitter pill he was giving to israel(eg terror release) The US already lied to Israel re Pollard release through clinton. Perhaps this is a trial balloon to see if polls can show Israeli acceptance if Pollard is released. If indications point to acceptance then perhaps it will be given with the bitter pill. I am not saying that BB may have an appropriate reason for what he is doing and might even have agreements which will benefit Israel as a result. I am saying that the show is BS and that the likelihood is that it is a pre arranged drama that dovetails with other events in the region. Even the faux pal state was a way to give nothing and make it appear as an advance and accomplishment. When Abbas threatens and Israel complies it feeds the ego of the arab street and makes him appear a hero to them. When nothing but a bit of area C around Jericho and a temporary limited settlement freeze occur his only success are the releases. the releases are, to me, the best indication of an expectation by all that the talks are not meant to go far but are an agreement to stall and waste time. Talk must be evaluated next to facts. Everyone prefers the status quo re the pals and gaza; however I think there are moves afoot to give gaza to abbas or to bring gaza into line with the regional plan.
einkerem Said:
Perhaps you would be wise to not jump to conclusions which degrade others without first checking and reading. you still have not given your name and evidence regarding your position on the committee as he has done. Neither have you given one shred of info that i did not already know from reading from the other side of the world, unlike Shmuel. Does the rest of your information have the same level of evidence?
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
einkerem Said:
Give your evidence, or a path to verification as Shmuel has done, that you are a lifetime member of the Likud central committee.
einkerem Said:
This states your political and religious position but gives no factual basis for your opinion regarding BB and his agenda. I would leave this assertion, re Kach and Kahane,for Yamit82 to evaluate.
So far, from you, I see little more than opinion and speculation without any support offered. Even though I might agree with some of your opinions I still see no basis for them coming from you.
@ einkerem:
Does not work einkerm: You cannot shill for and hide Netanyahu any longer.
I long ago dumped Sharon, Livni, Olmert and your liege. Netanyahu was one with them then and he still has Livni as a principal on his “cabinet”. Also Netanyahu managed to have a new Lapid as Sharon and him had the old Lapid during “disengagement”.
Netanyahu never did intend to deal with Iran, nor will he ever do a true job.
As to others being able and willing? Certainly many. You do not need to know specifics.
I worked for some projects connected to Sandia National Labs and trained at China Lake Naval Weapons Center with fellows from Lawrence Livermore. Assembly requirements for one time electronic systems used on, well you guess…
The US DoD invited me and two associate from the Corp. the 4th of July, 1990 to visit Trinity Site. White Sands Test Range, Alamogordo, NM. They knew why the invite…
I do not know much but know enough about nuclear programs.
Netanyhau cannot do the job now. His character is unfit and the time to do it is past.
He failed to confront a most critical danger for us all. Failed. As he fails on much else.
einkerem Said:
Based on BB’s actual factual accomplishments the same might be said of him. He may commission Levy for election purposes but never implemented it; he may announce E1 development for election purposes but never implemented it; did he appoint Levy as justice minister to thwart the settlement movement, I am suspicious.
einkerem Said:
I do not disagree with this statement but not the rest. I am aware, as everyone else here, of the Israeli advances.
einkerem Said:
You shed no light on this motivation regarding your defenses of BB. You are speculating in the same manner that I speculate. You give no evidence or support for your conclusions and how your privileged position as a “lifetime” member of the Likud central Committee affords you special info. You criticize Shmuel’s opinion but he has well given the reasons for his conclusions and they are based on direct and privileged info. I do not believe that your opinion is better than Shmuel’s or that you enjoy a special privilege in a position on the Likud central committee.
einkerem Said:
I believe he plays the charade for specific reasons which are never mentioned rather than the generic reasons you give which I read daily in every newspaper. where is your privileged info, what does that say regarding this charade?
einkerem Said:
this may happen, but there are many motivations for this upon which yo and I can speculate. The real motivations are revealed if one is a fly on the wall of BB’s office. E.G. The EU may want to continue relations but may have a need to cater to their street. If this were the case then their moves would appear major to appease their “street” but the reality would be minor. I am not saying this is the case but when one can only speculate by reading the details, like me, one must compare rhetoric with outcome to see where reality points. However, you are a lifetime member who should be able to give me some real facts. the peace charade outcome and progression are in my opinion a pre agreed charade with all the ups and downs of a US TV wrestling match to give drama to the street. I do not know the exact outcome but I am convinced that it was pre arranged to unfold as it is now unfolding. I view these talks against the background of other ME developments as demonstrated in Libya, Egypt, Gaza, Turkey, Syria and even Crimea plus oil/gas pipelines and investments in the areas.
@ bernard ross:
central committee members are not privy to this kind of information. I do not use my connections for every rumor or story in the news. I have heard that this is happening and I would not be surprised if it goes down. The Jews in Israel want Pollard free. It would be a feather in Bibi’s cap to bring him home. Personally I hope it doesn’t happen even though I too want Pollard free.
@ bernard ross:
Not sure where Shmuel posted his credentials, but talk is cheap. I could write a bunch of lies about myself and you would never know if it is true or not. What I can verify, if you need it, is that I was a Kach supporter and still consider Rabbi Kahane my teacher.
@ bernard ross:
Sharon was never a real Likudnik. He came from the left. The fact that he was a military hero, made it easy for him to gravitate to the right. When the Likud stopped him from going forward with the disenagement, he left the Likud and started Kadima. And took the other lefties in the Likud with him.
Politicians can be as bad as lawyers. Anything to make a buck or some power. When the lefties see the Likud gaining power they run there. As soon as there is trouble they run away. None of those lefties are in the Likud any more except for HaNegbi. The others are gone, never to return.
einkerem Said:
Shmuel has given his name, his credentials and information which comes from more than reading the news and has given a path to the verification of his claims whereas you have only made claims with no name and no information that is more than reading the news.
@ bernard ross:
Bernard,
The charade goes on because the USA has tired of it’s friendship with Israel and the Jews and they are out to force Israel to commit suicide. Obama being the last to be determined to make it happen under his watch.
It’s Mazen and Netanyahu that make it a charade. Trying to make it look like they really want to settle this when Mazen is very clear that he will never settle for any peace agreement that is short of suicide and Netanyahu is clear that he will never offer that deal to Mazen. In the meantime, both continue to receive aid and information, and especially Israel gets the US veto in the UN which although it seems important to Netanyahu, if it were up to me, I’d pull Israel out of the UN and tell them all to go ____ themselves. But because world opinion matters, Netanyahu plays the charade. Part of this unfortunate charade is that Obama squeezes Israel into some concessions each time talks begin. I am sure that Netanyahu hates to release murderers, but that is the price of the charade. Unfortunately, since Obama is out to get Israel to commit suicide and not the PA, we are the only ones paying a price. Look for Obama and the EU to actually start some kind of sanctions against Israel when the talks fall apart. The bottom line? It’s all about that old problem of hating the Jews. One can only imagine how much they hate us now. Just visit Israel and you see what this small country has done in 65 years and if you did not like Jews to begin with, you will hate us now. Read Start-up Nation to understand that without our technology, we would be in the dark ages again. The USA hates that they need Israel because militarily we make them look like the French. Anti-semitism around the world is out of control. In central america, latin america, Europe and many parts of Asia. It’s getting worse in the USA and if you live there, now is as good as any to get you butt out of there. It will happen there too. I guarantee it.
einkerem Said:
this appears to be a reflection of distrust within Likud for BB?
einkerem Said:
I will go with the narrative of blackmail considering sharon’s whole family was about to go to Jail with him. Yamit also had a better narrative regarding Sharon’s casino connections and a casino project in the north gaza strip. Your narrative regarding sharon’s motives read more like an outsider of the party rather than an insider.
from your position on the central committee can you tell me if this is true?
(I thought that upon 30 years there is some sort of automatic release or mandatory parole evaluation)
No Jerry, he is not trying to give away any land. He is merely playing word games with Kerry as Abu Mazen has absolutely no desire for any peace agreement with Israel. The fools in this charade are plenty. Obama and Kerry to start with because they believe, like many US presidents before them,that Abu Mazen can be forced into an agreement. Sharon, Olmert, Livni and the entire left who still believe that giving away all the land will do the trick, when it won’t. So yes, you are crazy to think that Netanyahu wants to give away any land. The Likud is about to pass some laws to its constitution that will not even allow Netanyahu to agree to land give aways without a majority of Likud members voting in favor. In case you don’t know, the majority of Likud members are way to the right of Netayahu. If you look at the top 10 elected to the Likud list you would know this. Even the top 15!! And no, Shmuel does not have more expertise on this matter than I do. If he did, he would not write the things he does. BTW, the disengagement from Gaza was not about Sharon giving away land. It was about Sharon trying to go down in history as a man of peace and not war, AND it was also about God testing the Jews in Israel to see whether they would fight with their lives to keep the land. Unfortunately, the Jews in Israel are not ready to die for our land, do not have red lines, and still lack faith. So until they get their act together, God is not going to let anyone give away any land. That is why we will not see a lefty PM again. BTW, Netanyahu appointed Livni to negotiate because no one could then claim he was not serious about negotiating. I know Livni very well. She will do almost anything to reach an agreement. Her only red line has been not allowing the return of “refugees”. She will give away all of Jerusalem, har habayit and more. She basically makes sure that no one can accuse Netanyahu of not being serious about a peace deal. But given that Abu Mazen will never agree, there is nothing to fear by having her there. And the best part, is that when the talks fail, Livni will be political history as will her party. Thank you God!!
einkerem Said:
this is an odd logic as you appear to be defending BB as the best of the worst? The fact that there may be no promising leaders does not change the facts regarding BB. The US overtly threatening Israel is too important to keep to himself. I think that the charade has not to do with US weakness but rather with under the table complicity with the US which drives the “peace process” charade, the GCC/Israel relationship, under the table agreements related to the war on Irans proxies. My belief is that the terrorists are given because all already knew the outcome and abbas cannot enter an outcome that gives little or even walk away from it with nothing. It is the freed terrorists that he can wave to his constituents if he negotiates and gets nothing or little.
They will kick the can down the road again, with minor concessions, and for this they must give Abbas what he needs to avoid assassination or deposing. The question is why does US and israel need this “charade”? Perhaps you can enlighten us from your lifetime position on the central committee?
einkerem Said:
does the fate of Israel rest on BB’s shoulders? Perhaps this is part of the problem, is he a monarch?. Israel’s fate should not rest on one mans shoulders, especially a man who operates secretly where secrecy is unnecessary. If the US is threatening Israel and this is the only threat then this should be disclosed to the Israel public as it is too important to keep secret. However, the nondisclosure regarding US threats reinforces the idea that the threats are personal, especially when considering the long list of corrupt bought leaders.
einkerem Said:
No one knows what is on the line and what BB stands for and what he is capable of because he reveals nothing. Perhaps you can add some inside info that would better inform us that cannot be read in the news?
einkerem Said:
apparently both you and Shmuel were privy to inside info from the likud central committee. It would help your credibility here is you gave your real name. As you are a lifetime member of the central committee perhaps you can inform us as to what BB land BB intends to give up in a peace agreement, if any? Shmuel has given us inside info from direct experience but your claims appear generic and opinions without any actual info or facts. If you are a lifetime member then your name and some inside facts would authenticate your claims.
einkerem Said:
In answer to your question do I see Netanyahu trading land. No, not yet, but obviously he is trying to.Isn’t this what the so called peace process is all about? Or am I crazy? No I don’t live in Israel but I do read the papers. Wasn’t the position of the Likud and Netanyahu no to a two state solution? That is until he was elected for the second time.I agree wholeheartedly with Shmuel Halevi who certainly has more expertise on the whole matter than I and I’m sure you also.
Shmuel, your bitterness is not just skin deep, it goes to your bones. If you were blind to Sharon, Olmert and Livni, then you are probably blind to many other things as well. Sharon, Livni and Olmert were so easy to read that falling for their BS does little to help your case of being politically smart. So now that we know you are not, and since I did not vote for Sharon, fought against Olmert and belittled Livni in an article I wrote in Yisrael HaYom, and since I am a life term central committee member, I can tell you that Netanyahu is the best leader this country has for now. If you care to differ, please name anyone better that has a chance of being elected PM. Name just 1 person. I know, you can’t. And we all know, if you were PM you would have attacked Iran long ago. Forget the risks and consequences, you are fearless! Or is it stupid? Israel may yet attack Iran, but if they don’t it is not because Netanyahu does not want to. It’s a very difficult mission and has the ability to cause Israel great damage. I would not want to be the one making this call, as much as I want Israel to blow Iran to pieces. And do you think Yachamovitz or Livni or Lapid would have attacked Iran if they were PM? Do you think Lieberman would have attacked? I am not sure Bennett would have attacked and you probably like him a lot. But it’s easy to call Bibi a sleaze, especially since you would have been the same sleaze if you were in his shoes. Israel is not sinking to the depths of disaster by the day. Not sure where you live that you say this, but I see a rose garden. Other than a high cost of living, what is lacking? You prefer 3rd world living? Move to detroit or cleveland or a number of other cities in the USA. As for Katzav, the man is innocent. Peres set him up to get elected President. Yes, there are still bad guys out there and many in politics, but the Israeli left is slowly dying and you can forget about the Labor government ever leading the country again. Maariv is history, HaAretz soon to be history. I hope to see the IBA history in the near future. Then we will have the Supreme Court chosen by the PM and you will have to find new ways to depress yourself.
@ einkerem:
Correct you are einkerem. I thank the Lord I resigned from that cesspool three plus years ago after many years of being exposed to its miasma and as a member of its central committee. I even wasted years working as regional Chairman for Sharon’s original election. Imagine how blind one can be.
I dumped the likud also because during the perverted deviant Sharon – Netanyahu – Livni and Olmert era, two specimens in uniform tried to murder me for opposing that treasonous gang’s “disengagement” plans. (Documentation available locally from me, legal counsel and at the Zevulun Police Station, local and regional courts and supreme court). Ah, tes they stonewalled the investigation of course.
My old pals… the now defunct Ezra and the still sneaking about Mofaz, also received copies of the demand for police action at that time. By far I am not finished with that little escapade by the operatives working for that gang.
By the way einkerem, some of them creeps attended my kid’s weddings… Add Hanegbi and Meridor as well.
Of the above Sharon and family are gone, Ezra is gone, Meridor faded, Olmert is gone. Mofaz is somewhere sneaking about very quietly. (Remember his famous letter to the Central folk while he was moving on with Sharon?)
Netanyhau-Livni will soon follow. Netanyahu was booted out on his first soiling of the PM’s office and by all rights he should have remained done. But you now how it works there in the sewers. He got some “speaking tours” cash flow and guidance to sneak back and do more harm.
Oh. I forgot. I am a decorated former idf soldier, also a former Invited Consultant to the IMoD and retired Senior-Fellow Engineer Military Avionics. Also a Professor.
If that element is the best Israel can produce no wonder we sink to the depths of disaster by the day. Your liege is soon going to run out of Islamic murderers to let free and perverted construction lies to tell. Iran will have its bombs thank to that sleaze of yours also. Because you do not honestly believe the item will actually act for effect against Iran, do you?
Then what einkerem?
Maybe after Katzav returns and Shalom helps him, things will be better there? I know, Hirsheson will do it.
Israel is not doomed Jerry. Your comment leads me to believe you don’t even live in Israel. Do you see Netanyahu trading any land? You may accuse him of freezing building or releasing terrorists but he is not trading any land with any arabs. The whole peace process has become a charade to please the USA. Both Abu Mazen and Netanyahu know it. Each side gets what it wants from the USA but we do not get any closer to any deal. Today more than ever, we can see that the USA has almost completely lost it’s standing of a world power among the rest of the world. Obama has helped turn the USA into a bad joke with everyone laughing behind his back. Once the moral and ethical “policeman of the world” today the US cannot stop or make any country do anything. Obama can set all the red lines he wants because none of them are real. Doomed? If anyone is doomed, it’s the USA. Israel is in better shape than ever in every possible way. We are on the upswing, the USA is heading into an abyss. If you live there, time to get out.
einkerem Said:
If Netanyahu is the best leader Israel has at the moment then Israel is doomed.The insanity of trading any portion of Israel to Arab terrorists for a worthless piece of paper is beyond belief.
@ Joseph Rapaport:
Feiglin is going no where fast, so forget about him leading anything except for the few that go up to har habayit (did Bibi ban him from going up there again?)and maybe nature hikes in the shomron. Bennett has at least 10 years before he is PM material, so don’t hold your breath on him either. Most of those who comment on this site are ignorant of what politics is all about. What the EU and the USA have on Netanyahu is simple. The threat to isolate Israel economically through sanctions and boycotts, to make sure Israel does not attack Iran (They already leaked information more than once), and to use their powers to sabotage and deny Israel any cover in case of attack. Most of you are thinking, let them, we are not afraid of their threats. That is very nice and easy for for all of you to think because none of you have the responsibility of the welfare of the State of Israel on your soldiers. You don’t, but Netanyahu does. If you were in his shoes, or trying to fall asleep in his bed, every one of you would be craping in your pants. Yes every one of you big shots who think you know it all. Your BS is more than all the BS in Israeli politics because none of you have anything on the line.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Shmuel, you are obviously not a likud member, nor do you have any idea what the Likud is about. Netanyahu is not leaving the Likud or even leaving his leadership position. He is the best leader this country has at the moment, and there is no one close to taking this leadership from him. So get used to him.
@ jerrylaury:
Netanyahu had a close call when he was booted out the first time and they were suspected of trying to spirit out a bunch of goodies from the PM residence. He probable learnt the lesson, or not… I believe like many of my betters in this blog, that he is being worked hard by specialists from the US who are using dirt collected on him to that end.
What is remarkable is that Livni, always in the midst of miasma manages to slide out untouched.
It took a long time but finally former Prime Minister Olmert will be put where he belongs. I hope Netanyahu will follow.
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
From your lips to G-d.
the phoenix Said:
same in the US and elsewhere. I think the basic idea is to identify, support, fund, and groom opportunists willing to play ball and like a drug habit ensnare them into bigger and bigger corruption until it is too late to get out. at that point it is a choice between doing what one is told and reaping fame and fortune or destroying ones life and family. Along the way one is told who to appoint to various positions and those appointees likewise are ball players. It is not so much a specific conspiracy but a network of the corrupt. the network in the media supports your rise and maintenance and the judicial system does the same. this is the same story as obama. People dont understand the notion that it is best to start out with someone who already has dirt: dirt is good when it comes to choosing the politicians to be funded and supported. this is also why the NSA revelations are important as they make it much easier to broaden the network with new players and get rid of opposition early. Lets keep in mind the Bush family connections to the CIA going back to its beginnings. Information and dirt are the greatest currency. What is the dirt on BB that the US has, he plays his cards too close to his chest?
We really need a leader with principles and Jewish Values. My first choice is Moshe Feiglin, second Naftali Bennett.
@ bernard ross:
Chamish has been saying this all along.
The guy was groomed from the get go!
SHmuel HaLevi 2 Said:
The question is what is the US holding over BB’s head of a personal nature involving corruption. Extortion and blackmail of a politician is the best explanation of strange, inconsistent and conflicting behavior. I expect it starts in the US with the CFR. The record of scandalized PM’s is consistent and therefore so would be the continuing extortion that Israel pays for those corrupt leaders. Dead Jews are the result of corrupt leaders and the deceptions they are willing to play.
@ bernard ross:
Precisely. Corruption bribery is not just due to greed for money for its own sake.
Bribes are only at times for lucre. Most times involve “political” considerations. Foreign governments operate a grid of money dispensing NGO’s here, the NIF being a Soros linked one. There are many others. huge sums flow in and vanish…
For reasons of his own Netanyahu systematically blocked far reaching legislation in that respect.
@ yamit82:
Seems I was correct!!! https://www.israpundit.org/archives/63595074/comment-page-1#comment-63356000125175
PA: Talks can go on if Israel frees 1,000 prisoners
Abbas also demands settlement freeze and transfer of some Area C regions to the Palestinian control
The Palestinian leadership presented an offer to American mediators – that Israel release 1,000 more prisoners, of the Palestinian Authority’s choosing and in exchange, peace talks would be extended until the end of 2014. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also demanded that Israel freeze settlement construction and transfer some Area C regions to the Palestinian Authority’s control.
Israel is said to be holding close to 5,000 Palestinian security prisoners.
bernard ross Said:
Edelson will support any candidate who will commit to killing on line gambling. $100 million from him and his wife is packet change written off his taxed income.
He owns the largest and most profitable casino in Macao. For that he is partnered with the Chinese Triads and the government of China. Olmert and Sharon had Austrian Jewish Gamling magnate Martin Schlap who was partnered with Arafat and Rajoub (Head of security for the PA in Y&S). It’s assumed Sharon and his Lawyer Dov Weisglass also had a financial interest. This group had plans for another Casino in North Gaza and that was why Sharon forced the settlers there to vacate. They wanted the land for a Casino resort catering to mostly gambling crazy Israelis. Peres had his money-bags a French Jew, Jon Friedman.
All of our politicians are owned by deep pocket supporters at home and abroad….Like Some heavy support from expat Israelis he made it big in Europe and America. Hollywood has a whole bunch. Then there is the radical leftist (Abrams) who owns Slim fast, a big supporter of all our leftist politicians and supporter of the Palis.
While there may certainly be some blackmail involved by America on our politicians it’s just as likely that our politicians are owned by those who supply the money to them for even in ISRAEL YOU NEED A LOT OF MONEY TO GET ELECTED TO ANYTHING.
Big difference between Israeli and American politicians is that for a lot less money you can own our top politicians and thus control Israel by remote control.
@ yamit82:
I understood that the release was conditional and set up in 4 stages on progress taking place. None has from inception and not only shouldn’t the last batch not therefor be released but neither should have the second and third. Moreover Israel never agreed to release any Israeli Arab convicts.
This is simply deplorable and morally bankrupt.
I hang my head in shame and disgust as a Jew. A “light unto the nations” no less!
Every minute there is a corruption scandal in Israel at the highest levels. I am convinced that this continuing epidemic of corruption in Israels leadership is the key main thread that allows the US to blackmail and extort Israeli leaders into endangering Israel and the Jews. Whenever one is mystified over the irrational behavior of a leader i wager the answer will be there. this extends to the institutions who decide when to prosecute and when not. Corruption is the glue that holds it all together,. Corruption is what enables leopards to mysteriously and suddenly change their spots. what leader will allow his family to be eternally disgraced and for himself to go to jail as opposed to the the perennially offered carrot of fame and fortune with that stick.
How many politicians named in this article alone have not been scandalized at the least.
Adelson appears to be one of those Jews who buys influence in Jewish circles but never funds anything that will really help the Jews like shurat ha din. didn’t he give Mitt Romney 100 million.
@ NormanF:
It is my understanding that within the Likud his status is gone and he knows it.
No sympathy from them or me either. He weaved the web himself with no little help from his wife. Still, vindictiveness can run deep there and he can do more damage.
yamit82 Said:
That’s exactly what it is – of his own making. And he gets no sympathy or empathy in regards to his situation from me as as well.
NormanF Said:
A Hobson’s Choice mostly of his own making. No sympathy or empathy from me.
Israel as a ‘crazy state’: A new definition for political science?
By LOUIS RENÉ BERES
No government on this earth has any legal right to free terrorists as a “gesture for peace.”
@ yamit82:
Israel is being subjected to Arab blackmail and Netanyahu is being squeezed between American pressure and an angry Israeli public that has had enough.
No wonder he looks stressed. No matter what he decides – he is not going to get any political benefit out of it – he will either be blamed by the Arabs and the Americans or be will be blamed by angry Israelis who rightly sees no point to continued unilateral Israeli concessions.
For a politician – its a Hobson’s Choice. Netanyahu might as well be told to pick his political poison.
@ the phoenix:
Quippe, with a large amount of license… 🙂
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
De gustibus non est disputandum
😉
@ the phoenix:
I prefer to leave it at that… According to sources she was posted in Paris. The rest one can find from sources other than standard ones.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Your last comment has piqued my curiosity.
I googled livni and Mossad and the related searches gave me “Mossad beauty” livni…..
I looked again.
I reached for another shot of cognac, to help me better understand….
…Mossad beauty…
…another glass…
Nope…. I really don’t get it…..
(Of course I REALIZE that ‘beauty’ is in the eyes of the beholder …. But sheeeesh…. How far can it be stretched???)
Sorry. I forgot to mention even a word about the Livni in my other comment.
Netanyahu is wiggling his final ones before either selling out or supper selling out.
And I’ll be darned but I did almost forget again… 🙂
She could possibly take back her old job with the Mosad? Was it the Mosad or just… a job?
Unofficial report says the PA is now demanding 1000 prisoners be released to contunue the negotiations and not go to the UN and International Criminal Court.
US: No Palestinian prisoner release is violation of terms of talks
WASHINGTON — Israel’s failure to release a final batch of Palestinian prisoners, scheduled for Saturday night, amounts to a violation of the terms of the original agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians at the start of talks nine months ago, brokered by the United States, US officials have told their Israeli counterparts.
The outline of that original agreement was never published in full. But Israel publicly acknowledged its commitment to four prisoner releases as a condition of peace talks with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu will not remain for long in the likud or in government. When originally he was thrown out midway on his first attempt at harming Jews and Heritage, that should have been the ultimate disposition on the item. He is the prototype turncoat, a speechster w/o values.
To him lying, deceiving, betraying is the accepted way.
The likudniks of old cannot tolerate the specimen and even less his wife.
There is a group in there including Netanyahu, Livnat, Shalom… that are toast.
All disengagement fellows.