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Commentary;
Hopefully, the article below and it’s related reports will disabuse those who still hold expectations that Netanyahu would be a part of the solution — new leadership, rather than an exacerbation of the problem; the protexia class and their mindless hate and disdain for Torah and Judaism and their lust to separate Israelis from Torah, Jewish roots and Jewish history. MB
‘Likud Could Allow Muslim Country to Run Temple Mount’, by Gil Hoffman (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
The head of the Likud’s foreign relations department, former ambassador to the US Zalman Shoval, joined calls Tuesday for compromises on Jerusalem when he told a meeting of the Foreign Press Association that his party could allow an Arab or Muslim country to administer the Temple Mount.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s overtures to the Palestinians would not bring real peace, but the Likud could, he said. His remarks did not constitute official Likud policy, he said, but they represented “the gist” of the party’s positions.
“The question of Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem, and first and foremost the Temple Mount, is not negotiable,” Shoval said. “That said, it is not in Israel’s interest to be in any way in charge of the holy places other than [those of] the Jewish faith, and I believe that there are ways – actually there have been plans for a long time – to adopt suitable formulae to this end. Arab and Muslim countries, Jordan for instance, could play a leading role in this.”
Shoval told The Jerusalem Post after the event that Israel could maintain sovereignty on the Temple Mount while allowing a country such as Jordan to administer the area. He said he would not rule out the Palestinian Authority running the Temple Mount if there were real peace.
As precedent, Shoval cited the 1929 Lateran Accords between the Kingdom of Italy and the Catholic Holy See in which, apart from Vatican City, the papacy’s properties remained under Italian sovereignty while being administered by the Vatican.
Shoval predicted that the summit set for Annapolis, Maryland, would not succeed in bringing about genuine peace. He said PA President Mahmoud Abbas lacked the authority to implement any deal he signed, so negotiating the core issues of the conflict with him was a “hare-brained idea.”
“The conference has very little to do with peace,” Shoval said. “It has everything to do with the political survival – or rather revival – of some of the players and it has every potential of becoming an event where Israel will find itself on the defensive from beginning to end.”
Shoval said it was “delusional” for the heads of the government to think that getting Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to participate in the conference would make them part of the peace process. The exact opposite would happen, he said: the Arab countries would move the Palestinians to more extremist positions.
Shoval said. “What every little kid on the block knows is that in a forum where Israel will be in splendid isolation facing the entire Arab League, the EU, the UN, Russia and who knows who else – I understand there is talk now of South Africa joining – the chances for Israel to have its positions – even the minimalistic ones of Mr. Olmert – recognized are practically nil.”
Feiglin to Bibi: Say You’ll Never Honor J’lem Division, by Gil Ronen (Israel National News)
Excerpts;
Feiglin, who received 23% of the registered Likud members’ votes in the August primaries, warned that if Netanyahu does not rise to the challenge within the next few days, he will act to convene the Likud’s Central Committee (Merkaz) in order to force a decision that makes it incumbent on the Likud’s elected leaders to see any decision about dividing Jerusalem as an illegitimate one, which is not to be honored.
‘Jerusalem can unite the Jews’
Feiglin explained the thinking behind his demand: “This announcement, along with a public campaign that the Likud under your leadership will conduct, can prevent negotiations from continuing, because they will become meaningless when support for the Israeli government and its head drops to single digits,” he wrote. “Jerusalem can unite the entire Jewish public in Israel. I have no doubt that the leaders of the national parties and even some of the Knesset Members from [ruling party] Kadima, will join this struggle, which is one for our survival.”
National Council of Young Israel: “We Raise Our Voices for Jerusalem”
UTJ’s Opposition Hardens After Olmert’s Jerusalem Speech, by Gil Hoffman (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s hints in a speech to the Knesset on Monday that he was considering handing over Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority did not have any immediate repercussions on his coalition.
But it did help consolidate the opposition and strengthen its resolve to topple the government as soon as possible.
UTJ MK Avraham Ravitz, previously the party official most in favor of joining the government, said that after Olmert’s hints about dividing Jerusalem, there was no longer a chance that UTJ would join the coalition.
“We are very worried about the apparent position of the government on Jerusalem,” Ravitz said. “I don’t see any willingness on the part of the current government to create conditions that would allow us to join the government, and the Jerusalem issue on top of that bothers us even more.”
Ravitz said it wasn’t necessary to join the government to work to prevent a Jerusalem withdrawal, noting that he did not believe Shas has had enough of an impact from inside the coalition.