Netanyahu yields to Lieberman's demands for government posts

[IndianaGreen]

Here we go!

Last update - 02:04 08/03/2009

Netanyahu yields to Lieberman's demands for government posts

By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent

Coalition talks between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu are nearing completion, and it now seems that Avigdor Lieberman's party will get all the cabinet portfolios he is demanding from Benjamin Netanyahu: Foreign Affairs, Public Security, Tourism, National Infrastructures and Justice, which it is reserved for the incumbent minister, Daniel Friedmann.

It seems, however, that Uzi Landau will not be returning to the Public Security Ministry, where he served under Ariel Sharon from 2001 to 2003. Instead, that portfolio will be given to former deputy police chief, MK Yitzhak Aharonovitch, since Yisrael Beiteinu leaders apparently decided that handing the job to a former top police officer would look better in the eyes of the public and would limit criticism of the decision to hand the position to a lawmaker from a party whose leader is under investigation by the police.

MKs Stas Misezhnikov and Uzi Landau will be given the Infrastructure and Tourism ministries, although it has still not been decided who will get which position.

The most controversial decision that Netanyahu has made vis-a-vis Yisrael Beiteinu is his capitulation to the demand that Friedmann remain justice minister. "That's the way it works when Bibi needs Yvet more than Yvet needs Bibi," one source close to the coalition negotiations told Haaretz over the weekend, referring to Netanyahu and Liebermann by their nicknames. "Even if Ehud Barak were to join the coalition, Bibi would only be able to rely on the support of six Labor lawmakers; with Yvet, he gets all 15."

Agreeing to all of Lieberman's demands is also the price that Netanyahu must pay for his decision not to include the National Union in his coalition - a decision that leaves him with a coalition of just 61 MKs. Despite the efforts of his closest advisers to warn him off forming such a narrow coalition, Netanyahu is concerned that his government will be seen as too extremist if it includes Kahane supporters from the ranks of the National Union. In addition, he cannot meet their coalition demands.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069317.html

[bemildred]

1. This won't get better as time goes on.

We're going to have one prima donna after another strutting his brief moment on the stage.

[IndianaGreen]

2. If Lieberman breaks up the religious monopoly, so much the better!

When it comes to prima donnas, Avigdor doesn't have a crazy narcissistic wife like Bibi does.

Best thing is to see the groveling Ehud Barak being forced into opposition.

Let's get some popcorn!

:popcorn:

[bemildred]

3. Popcorn indeed.

Somewhat like watching the Republican "night of the long knives" here in the US.

"Me! Me! Only Me. I'm the one!"

:popcorn::popcorn:

[azurnoir]

12. A few hundred thousand Israeli Arabs

are probably "overjoyed" too:sarcasm:

[LeftishBrit]

13. The 20% of Israeli citizens who are Arabs might feel differently...

The Xenophobic Right is not really any better than the Religious Right. I suppose the one good thing is that in this case they are different people, and weaken each other by infighting. But I wouldn't trust Lieberman further than I could throw him, secular or not.

[LeftishBrit]

4. According to another thread, Lieberman's ambitions may go down in flames when he's indicted

Great if that happens; though unfortunately his colleagues won't be indicted with him, but they may lose power.

[bemildred]

5. Former Israeli president to be indicted over rape charges

JERUSALEM, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided Sunday to file rape charges against former President Moshe Katsav, local new service Ynet reported.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/08/content_10971862.htm

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6. Habayit Hayehudi enraged by government portfolio distribution

The Habayit Hayehudi faction will hold an urgent meeting Monday to discuss the coalition talks with the Likud. Faction members expressed their discontent with the distribution of the portfolios in the future government.


"If the Likud thinks we'll settle for leftovers, they're wrong. Without loyalty there will be no partnership," a party source said. (Attila Somfalvi)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3682937,00.html

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7. Netanyahu: Those unhappy with portfolios don’t have to be ministers

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting with the Likud's "100 days" team, "Those who have a problem with the portfolio offered to them don't have to accept it… We're not putting a gun to anyone's head."

Netanyahu spoke in response to the complaints made by Likud Knesset members on the distribution of portfolios in the next government. The "100 days" team was asked to prepare a work plan for the government's first days in office. (Attila Somfalvi)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3682916,00.html

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8. Olmert and Barak Differ on Discussions with Hamas

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak disagreed Sunday during the course of the cabinet meeting whether or not Israel had continued ceasefire discussions with Hamas. According to Barak, discussions were ongoing whereas Olmert claimed that no such discussions existed.

The head of Military Intelligence, Amos Yadlin, set off the argument when he said that “Hamas was deterred and is interested in negotiations for opening the border crossings .” Barak claimed that the negotiations were ongoing, while Olmert vehemently denied so and said that Shalit must be returned before negotiations would ensue.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/161823

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9. Ayalon: I Am for and Against a Palestinian Authority State

(IsraelNN.com) Knesset Member Danny Ayalon (Israel Is Our Home-Yisrael Beiteinu) has contradicted himself twice concerning the establishment of a Palestinian Authority state. He told The Jerusalem Post last week that he favors its creation and claimed he never had been asked to take a stand. However, review of an interview with him on Israel National Radio during the campaign disproves his claims.
We are against a Palestinian state.... No one asked us during the campaign if we were in favor of a Palestinian state. The answer is yes.

Asked if Yisrael Beiteinu’s idea of exchanging land with the PA effectively means establishing a PA state, MK Ayalon told Israel National Radio, “No, not necessarily. We are against a Palestinian state with the current situation where they are entities of terror and incitement and they preach hate for the State of Israel no legitimacy for us.”

He added that even if in the future “there is nobody on the other side who is willing or capable of delivering anything...and there is no more terror, I do not want to give a state…. When we redraw the border--this is not to prejudge what will be on the other side in terms of the entity of the Palestinians.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130326

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10. Katz: Netanyahu Will Need Extra 14 Days

(IsraelNN.com) National Union leader Yaakov Katz said Sunday that he expects Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu will need the extra 14 days he is allowed to request to form a coalition in addition to the 28 he already received as mandated by law. He explained that the coalition negotiations are not yet nearing a conclusion.

The 28 days Netanyahu originally received from President Shimon Peres to form a government will end next week. He can then request a 14 day extension, which would give him until the beginning of April to form a coalition.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/161825

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11. Netanyahu's bankruptcy

The coalition agreement being forged between Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu threatens the law-enforcement system and the rule of law in Israel, and reflects moral bankruptcy on the part of Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu refused to moderate his political positions to enable the formation of a broad government with Kadima, while violating his campaign promise that he would work to form a national unity government. He is paying the price for his political inflexibility by placing responsibility for the Justice Ministry and the Public Security Ministry, and perhaps the Judicial Appointments Committee and the Knesset Constitution Committee, in the hands of Avigdor Lieberman and those he will recommend for the posts.

There is a serious ethical problem with the fact that a person suspected of serious offenses, like Lieberman, will appoint the people in charge of the law-enforcement system, who hold the key to the promotion of his investigators, and - if an indictment is served against him - his prosecutors and judges, as well. It is also very problematic to hand over responsibility for the police to a party that conducted a racist campaign against Israeli Arab citizens.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069623.html

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14. Netanyahu Scrambles To Form Israel Government Next Week

JERUSALEM (AFP)--Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu wants to form a government by the end of next week, a senior official in his hawkish Likud party said Wednesday.

"Netanyahu wants to wrap up the coalition talks by next Wednesday and doesn't wish to ask President Shimon Peres for a two-week extension," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu was tasked Feb. 20 with forming a government after the Feb. 10 election and has an initial deadline of March 20 but can seek a two-week extension to April 3.

However, it is unclear whether Netanyahu will be able to form a coalition next week as he has yet to sign any deals with his potential partners, namely five right-wing and religious parties.

NASDAQ

[bemildred]

15. Israel's iron wall

Israel's incoming rightwing government is blind to the country's deteriorating status in the western world

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Netanyahu and Lieberman's adherence to the Iron Wall paradigm leads them to make one big mistake. Their assumption that Israel is part of the west, no matter what it does, is based on a relatively unsophisticated version of the "clash of civilisations" model. The problem is that Israel's modus operandi in the last years, including the second Lebanon war and the Gaza operation, has made the west, particularly Europe, very uncomfortable with it. Israel is seen by many as having moved beyond the bounds of what is acceptable to the western world.

This myopia about the impact of Israel's action on its place in the world is, unfortunately, not limited to Netanyahu and Lieberman. After all, the outgoing government, headed by Kadima and the Labor party, was responsible for the Gaza operation.

So what will the future bring? Netanyahu will have difficulty facing the US's demand for constructive action in the Middle East process, as his government's platform will not include any reference to the two-state solution. The most likely scenario is that the right-wing government will fall apart – Netanyahu will have to choose between his coalition and a head-on clash with the west, particularly with the Obama administration.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the Israeli electorate will take this as an indication that Israel is maneuvering itself onto the wrong side of history. I am shocked by how few Israelis see how outrageously disproportionate and cruel the Gaza operation has been. Israel, a flourishing – even if flawed – democracy, seems to be locked into a mental Iron Wall. As a result it has lost touch with its moral sensibilities and seems to have no clue about its deteriorating status in the western world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/11/israel-palestine-netanyahu-lieberman