“
Lunacy.” That’s how Danny Danon describes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to hand over
104 killers to the Palestinian Authority as a “goodwill gesture.”
He’s hardly alone, as many observers (including
myself) are outraged by this move. But Danon, 42, has a unique place in this debate because he (1) sits in Israel’s parliament as a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, he (2) is chairman of Likud’s powerful Central Committee, and he (3) serves as Israel’s deputy minister of Defense. In American terms, his criticism resembles Gen.
Stanley McChrystal’s 2010 interview mocking Vice President Joe Biden. But McChrystal was gone within days whereas Danon continues to gain influence and stature.
Danon (right) is widely seen as a thorn in Netanyahu’s side, as in this Ha’aretz cartoon.
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Danon’s ability to denounce his own prime minister’s actions points to his not being a routine politician. Three qualities stand out: a devotion to principle, a mastery of tactics, and the ability to articulate a vision.
Danon has remained true to the core principles of his party and his country. His righteous opposition when his party makes mistakes – such as the 2009 freeze on building residences for Jews on the West Bank or accepting the
two-state solution – shows a strength of character. As he points out, “It’s not easy being in a room of thirty people, alone saying no.”
His rise through Israel’s national camp institutions reveals tactical skill: serving as assistant to Uzi Landau, as head of the World Betar Organization, then head of the World Likud Organization, as organizer of street protests and challenger to the prime minister for the party’s leadership. These efforts culminated in his strong showing in his party’s electoral list (coming in No. 5) and the jaw-dropping
85 percent of the vote he won in elections to lead Likud’s Central Committee. With reason, the
Forward newspaper calls him “a master of social and conventional media” and the
Times of Israel deems him “a major stumbling block toward Palestinian statehood.”
Yitzhak Shamir, Israel’s last principled prime minister, left office in 1992.
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Finally, the vision: Its fullest articulation is found in his 2012 book, Israel: The Will to Prevail (Palgrave), where he sketches an ambitious and contrarian view of his country’s foreign policy. Arguing that “history shows us Israel is often better off when she acts on her own behalf … even if that means contravening the wishes of U.S. administrations,” he concludes that the Jewish state “fares best when she makes decisions based on her own best interests.” Jerusalem, he holds, should pursue its goals “with or without backing from her allies.” This argument, commonplace enough for most states, is audacious in the case of small, beleaguered Israel.
Danon’s moment may have arrived. As
Netanyahu appears to be making excessive and immoral concessions to the Palestinian Authority, Danon has emerged as a leading dissident ready to challenge his prime minister (remember “lunacy”). Should Netanyahu feel no longer welcome in his own party and leave it to found a new one (following exactly in Ariel Sharon’s 2005 footsteps), Danon will be a potential candidate to lead Likud and win a subsequent election.
One sign of his rise is the invective used against him. Justice Minister
Tzipi Livni coined the term “Danonism” and demanded that Netanyahu reject it.
Gideon Levy, an extreme left columnist for
Ha’aretz newspaper, disdainfully but fearfully writes that “little Danny Danon will be big, the sugar of the Israeli right. … [he] will go far.”
Daniel Pipes (right) testifying before the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, chaired by Danny Danon (left), in March 2012.
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Looked at in historical perspective, since the taciturn but principled Yitzhak Shamir left the prime ministry in 1992, his six successors variously engaged in political betrayal, ethical corruption, and delusional egotism. Sharon (2001-06) abandoned his electoral mandate to the point that he had to flee his own party, even as his financial shenanigans had him in constant trouble with the law. Ehud Olmert (2006-09) had to resign due to a cloud of corruption charges. Focused on the Iranian threat, Netanyahu did well since 2009 but his recent offer of 104 murderers disturbingly contradicts the electoral platform of a half year ago.
On a personal note, through the two decades since Shamir, I have constantly looked for someone with the character, energy, skills, and vision to lead Israel. I have known Danon since 2009 and have concluded that he has the necessary qualities. I hope and expect he stays true to his principles and rises to the point where he can end the recent desultory politics of the Jewish state and bring them in line with the country’s many
remarkable achievements. Much hangs in the balance.
bernard ross Said:
Israel would get to keep equivalent land with the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria in a 1:1 exchange. A real two states for two peoples solution is not acceptable to the Arabs. That’s why peace is impossible. What they don’t want is self-determination but to destroy the world’s only Jewish State.
NormanF Said:
except he wanted to send the land with the arabs. Why give away the land to get rid of the arabs. He wanted to give the land and villages within the green line. Send them out but not the land.
Its about the only good proposal from Avigdor Lieberman – if there is going to be a Judenrein Arab state, I see no reason on earth why Israel is obligated to keep a 20% Jew-hating Arab minority within its borders. If Abu Bluff wants ethnic cleansing, hey – what’s good for the Arab goose is equally valid for the Jewish gander. Not a single Arab should remain an Israeli citizen. Get rid of all of them! Israel doesn’t need to host an Arab Fifth Column inside its borders.
yamit82 Said:
What is it that keeps israeli politicians who want YS from uniting with each other?
yamit82 Said:
My understanding was that Lieberman wanted to give more than likud. I understood that he was willing to give away villages west of the green line because arabs lived there
Yamit,
Agreed – people with principle, integrity and honesty are rare as a hen’s tooth in Israeli public life. Unfortunately, the people that rise to the top in Israeli politics are by and large the exact opposite.
If a country is measured by the quality of the leaders it has, Israel is woefully lacking in them. The only silver lining I can see in the Netanyahu debacle is that he is exactly the kind of person not qualified to lead Israel.
I have an instinctual mistrust of Danon and Pipes’ recommendation does not add to my comfort level with re-Danon because of my low opinion of Pipes.
That said, if there is no one else I will support him mostly because he isn’t BB and at least says the right things. Tactically for someone like Danon the only way he could rise to power is to attack From the right. Party hacks are a dime a dozen, ask Silvan Shalom and David levy. while popular in the Likud they are reviled and mocked outside the Likud and to gain national support the tendency is to assume centrist positions the higher they rise in prominence nationally.
I’m still waiting for Lieberman to finish his trial. If he walks unscathed he will challenge Danon and everyone else for the leadership of the national camp.
By the end of the year we should have a clear political picture within Israeli politic and without.