Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)
Showing posts with label Yair Lapid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yair Lapid. Show all posts

Wednesday, 18 March 2020

David Singer: Gantz Promises Chaos and Confusion in Israel for Next Six Weeks

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

Benny Gantz’s decision to do a deal with the Joint List to influence President Rivlin into giving Gantz first bite at forming Israel’s next Government is reprehensible, unconscionable and against Israel’s national interest.

Gantz’ decision allows the Joint List with just 15 of the 120 seats in the Knesset and 12.67% of the vote at the recent elections to sow discord and create confusion over the next six weeks as they plot with Gantz to overthrow Netanyahu – Israel's longest serving Prime Minister.

Ahmad Tibi – leader of Ta’al – one of the four parties making up the Joint List – told Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin last September:
“Some people think we are the backyard of the State of Israel, we are not a backyard, we are not present absentees, we are not guests, we are the owners of this land. Not residents of this country, we did not immigrate here, we were born here, we are a native population, and this native population sent us to make a change." 
“Owners of this land”?

Gantz’s new partner was making it crystal clear to Israel’s President that Israel was not recognized by Tibi’s party as the Jewish National Home reconstituted after 3000 years by and with the unanimous resolution of all 51 member states that comprised the League of Nations and endorsed the Mandate for Palestine.

Balad – the second party included in the Joint List and now in partnership with Gantz – had former MK Said Nafaamong its ranks.Nafa was convicted of maintaining contact with a foreign intelligence
operative and spent time in prison.

Another former Balad Knesset member, Basel Ghattas, was convicted of smuggling cell phones to Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli jail, an offence for which he too was convicted and imprisoned.

Spokesperson for the Joint list is Ayman Odeh – the head of Hadash, the third party in Joint List.

Odeh stated on 5 March 2020: 
“Right now, with Gantz’s attitude [in favor] of a Jewish majority and unilateral annexation, we have no one to recommend to the president. If there is a change after the elections in the direction of peace and equality, we will weigh our position again.” 
Gantz has apparently capitulatedto Odeh’s demands just 11 days later.Vice President of the fourth party inthe Joint List – Mansour Abbas  – has declared: 
“Of course, we are against the Zionist movement. However, from a pragmatic perspective, we are ready for a compromise between the Zionist movement and Palestinians” 
A Netanyahu-Gantz-Liberman Government of National Unity comprising 105 Knesset members was indicated by the election results – Netanyahu’s Likud party having secured 238,882 extra votes and 4 extra seats whilst Gantz’s Blue and White Party only secured 69,167 extra votes and no extra seats.

Instead, Gantz and his Blue and White colleagues Moshe Ya’alon and Yair Lapid – together with Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman – have jumped into bed with the Joint List to realize their common objective: all hate Netanyahu for a variety of personal reasons and want to see his political career ended.

Odeh had called for Gantz to form aminority Government with support of the Joint List in October 2019 – saying that even if it would quickly fall, such a “courageous” move would be worth it for thesingle purpose of ousting Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.

Gantz has now taken the bait – to his eternal shame, Israel now faces six weeks of political chaos and confusion as Gantz and his 45 Netanyahu-hating coalition partners cosy up to and embrace15 Joint List Knesset members who revile them, Netanyahu and the Jewish State.

Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article—is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”  one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators –whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

David Singer: Netanyahu and Liberman Could Cut Deal if Rivlin Plan Fails

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

 President Rivlin’s decision to bring Bibi Netanyahu and Benny Gantz together to see if a Government of National Unity can be formed makes sense in the extraordinary situation that has followed Israel’s elections on 17 September.

Once again neither the Left nor Right wing blocs have won the 61 seats required to form Government.

Rivlin’s proposal however could well founder on the aspirations of Netanyahu, Gantz and Yair Lapid to be the Prime Minister of any such Government and whether that position should be rotated and in what order. During the April 2019 election campaign – Gantz and Lapid ran under a rotation agreement that would have seen Gantz serve as prime minister for the first two years and eight months whilst Lapid took over for the remainder of the term.

Their agreement was key to the merger of Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party with Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party to form the Blue and White Party. In June 2019 Gantz and Lapid pledged they would keep their deal to rotate the premiership if they formed the next government after the September elections.

Now – after those inconclusive elections – Lapid has made this call at a Blue and White faction meeting:
"One person is preventing the formation of a liberal unity government. One person. When faced with the choice between what’s important for the country and what’s important for one person, the country comes first."
Lapid was obviously referring to Netanyahu.

Is Lapid prepared – in the same spirit – to give up his entitlement to be Prime Minister to enable Gantz and Netanyahu to thrash out an agreement?

After that major problem is settled – agreement on policies and infighting for positions in that Government would be fraught with personal rivalries and ambitions.

Paradoxically the election results have broken the April-deadlock that prevented Netanyahu and Liberman forming a Government with Netanyahu as its Prime Minister. The same problems of allocating portfolios in their 63 member coalition would remain – but would be far easier than dealing with 99 members in a coalition of National Unity. Bridging the Netanyahu-Lieberman antipathy divide wouldn’t be easy either.

Liberman’s party did not form Government with 60 other members of the Right last April after Netanyahu refused to accept a bill drafted by Liberman calling for ultra-orthodox Jews to do military service.  Netanyahu was captive to the ultra-orthodox Jews comprised in the Right bloc who threatened to bolt if he wavered. Liberman’s continuing insistence that his military service bill be legislated was countered by United Torah Judaism MK Yakov Asher declaring this the best possible get-out-the-vote campaign the religious parties could wish for.

The religious parties failed big time.

Netanyahu is now in an easier political position to agree to Liberman’s demand than he was in April  – the latest voting results showing:
1. Liberman’s vote increased from 173004 to 309688 – an increase of 136684.
2. The combined votes of the religious parties – Shas and United Torah Judaism – increased from 507324 to 598522 – an increase of only 91198.
3. Likud’s vote decreased from 1140370 to 1111535 – a drop of 28835
The turnout of ultra-orthodox voters opposing Liberman’s bill did not match the turnout of new voters supporting Liberman’s bill and those Likud voters changing their votes for possibly the same reason. The religious parties are now on far weaker ground to oppose Liberman’s reform as they are locked in to a single negotiating bloc containing 55 members - presumably acting by majority vote.

Cutting a deal between Netanyahu and Liberman remains an option to prevent Israel going through this electoral agony for a third time if Rivlin’s call fails.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” —  one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

Wednesday, 27 February 2019

David Singer: Israel Elections Should Send Clear Message to Trump, PLO, EU and UN

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

Israeli voters at the forthcoming elections on 9 April should be given the opportunity to send President Trump, the PLO, EU and UN a clear message on what they want to see happening in Judea Samaria and East Jerusalem (West Bank) and Gaza – the last 5 per cent of the territory comprised in the Mandate for Palestine where sovereignty remains unresolved between Jews and Arabs (“disputed territories”).

For this to happen - all political parties need to state in clear and unambiguous terms what their policies in relation to the disputed territories will be if they form part of the next Government.

The options and the choices are many – and include:
* Continuing to press for a negotiated “two-state solution” – the creation of an Arab State – in addition to Jordan – in all or part of the disputed territories
* Annexing all or part of the disputed territories
* Creating Jordanian enclaves in all or part of the disputed territories
* Maintaining the status quo without any further negotiations
* Redrawing the international borders between Israel, Jordan and Egypt
Co-head of the frontrunner Blue and White Party – Benny Gantz – needs to do better than stating:
“The main question is that of security. It [the Government] needs to ensure the State of Israel's security. Now, there's a question of interest here. We — and Netanyahu said this in his Bar-Ilan speech (a 2009 address in which the prime minister backed Palestinian statehood) — are not looking to control anyone else. We need to find a way in which we're not controlling other people.”
Is Gantz talking about the Arab populations in the disputed territories? 95 per cent of the Arab population in Judea and Samaria is under PLO control. 100 per cent of Gaza’s Arabs-only population is under Hamas control. East Jerusalem Arabs are under Israel’s control.

Gantz must articulate his plan for ending what he sees as Israel’s control of other people.

Gantz’s partner Yair Lapid expressed the following view in 2008:
“The greatest tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that everyone knows how it will end. We will divide up the region. Israel will return most of the West Bank, and the Palestinian flag will fly on public buildings in East Jerusalem. The only unanswered question is how many more people will have to die along the way. And so we will fight against the extremists on both sides, including our extremists, the settlers. When you look at the history of wars, they ultimately revolve around one claim: "My god is better than yours."
Is this still Lapid’s view in 2019? He  – like Gantz – owes it to the electorate to spell out his party’s position should it be in the next Government.

Netanyahu needs to state what the Likud Party’s policy is right now – not what it might have been in 2009 or at any time since. All political parties seeking election must do likewise.

Views held in 2008 or 2009 are irrelevant – raking over old coals is counter-productive.

Gantz is right in recognising that security is the main question at this election – as it always has been.
All the promises and allure of a better and more prosperous society, equality and justice for all  – even going to the moon and back – count for nought if those voting are murdered, injured or traumatised to not enjoy the benefits.

President Trump needs to know what outcomes the Israelis want for the disputed territories before issuing his long-anticipated “deal of the century” very soon after the elections. The PLO, EU and UN need to also listen digest and respond.

The time for straight-talking on the disputed territories is right now.