Lieberman Cedes Demands… [on Behalf of Self-Empowerment and Self Enrichment]

Lieberman Cedes Demands on Behalf of “National Responsibility”, by Hillel Fendel (Israel National News)

For context; click here.

Commentary;

“It’s All About Iran.” Give us a break. Once again, another corrupt politician renegs on every promise made to voters in exchange for power, in the hopes that Kadima stays in power long enough to kill Likud so that Yisrael Beiteinu replaces it and Lieberman becomes Prime Minister. Once again, what Caroline Glick wrote recently is instructive as to the Lieberman strategy;

Lieberman knows that if the Likud reconstitutes itself as the largest political party and leads the next governing coalition, his dream of transforming Israel Beiteinu into a major party and himself into the prime minister will be lost. Consequently, Lieberman is willing to join forces with Olmert to prolong the tenure of the current government in the hopes that by blocking new elections he will end the public’s support for the Likud. According to this analysis, if Olmert remains prime minister for the next three years, the Likud will become irrelevant while Lieberman, a veteran government minister, would have a fair shot of becoming prime minister (or president).

This is not “about Iran.” It’s not even about Government reform, it’s about partition, pure and simple. Maybe not partition, consolidation,
convergence, realignment in Yehuda and Shomron, but rather in the Galilee. Again Glick rings true;

The Left demands that we give our enemies Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights in exchange for a piece of paper. Lieberman intends to keep the Golan Heights, forgo the paper and throw in the Galilee to advance what he sees as ethnic partitioning.

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Full Text;

MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) says he hopes to complete negotiations for his entry into the government this week. Party MKs say “national responsibility” overrides their original demands.

The Cabinet voted narrowly yesterday to approve Lieberman’s proposed legislation for a change in the country’s political system. At least one minister – Rafi Eitan (Pensioners) voted for the plan merely in order to pave the way for Lieberman’s party to enter the coalition and thus strengthen it; Eitan explained that he actually objects to the proposed legislation, but voted for it because he is confident that it has no chance of passing in the Knesset.

Lieberman just last week named five conditions that must be fulfilled before he would enter the government – yet none of them appear to be likely to be fulfilled. The conditions were:

* An official end to Prime Minister Olmert’s “convergence” (unilateral withdrawal) plan must be announced.

* Jewish outpost neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria must not be uprooted.

* Legislation must be passed to change the government system to a presidential one.

* A Supreme Court-appointed public commission of inquiry to investigate the mismanagement of the recent war with Hizbullah must be established, in place of the current Winograd Commission, appointed by the same ministers it is supposed to investigate.

* Civil marriages must be allowed.

Regarding the withdrawal, Olmert has announced that it is currently not on the agenda, but has not stated that it will not return to the agenda when conditions are ripe. Similarly, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has announced that he plans to uproot unauthorized outposts in Yesha, and has met with Yesha leaders on the topic.

The legislation regarding the new political system is not felt to have a chance to pass in the Knesset, at least not the way it is currently formulated. Prime Minister Olmert has even said that he himself does not favor a changeover to a presidential system. The Yisrael Beiteinu bill also calls for a minimum electoral threshold of 10%, below which a political party cannot be represented; support for this clause in the Knesset is practically nil.

The call for a state commission of inquiry into the war has basically dropped from public awareness, and the Shas Party – a coalition member of equal size to Yisrael Beiteinu – objects strongly to civil marriages.

Arutz-7 spoke today with MK Sofa Landver of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) and asked her why the party had given up on practically all its demands only a few days after declaring them. “Our sense of national responsibility leads us to take this position,” she said. “In the special situation in which our country finds itself – after the war in the north, where the state of affairs is still dangerous, and with the Iranian threats to destroy us – we feel that this is the time to be inside the government and influence. Now is the time to strengthen the country.”

A-7: “Do you mean strengthening the country, or the government?”

Landver: “It’s been just a half-year since a new government and a new Knesset were elected, and now is not the time to topple the government. The country does not need new elections now.”

A-7: “This appears to be a major turnabout for a party that is known to be right-wing – not to want to topple a government coalition that is leftist-based!”

Landver: “No, it’s not a major turnabout. We have a responsibility towards the government and towards the country.”

A-7: “How is it that your party gave up on nearly all its demands of just a week ago?”

Landver: “We will be judged on whether this is true or not afterwards, not now.”

A-7: “Why are you accepting only one ministerial portfolio, when Shas – which has 11 MKs, just like you – has four? How will you be able to have an influence in such a manner?”

Landver: “We don’t think that now is the time to add more ministers to the government; this will be too heavy of a burden on the state’s resources. We will be able to have an influence in any event.”

Reactions on the Right
MK Tzvi Hendel: “This is a strange, not understandable move.”

MK Yitzchak Levy: “Lieberman painted himself as very right-wing, and attracted many right-wing votes – and now he will be there to allow Peretz to remove outposts.”

MK Nissan Slomiansky: “What can he do in the government? Nothing. He didn’t even save his party’s honor by getting them an extra ministerial portfolio.”

MK Benny Elon: “A childish move, as if he thinks that he can save the country all by himself, just by his own personal magic. He doesn’t even need any other ministers from his party in the government!… I call either for Olmert to form a national unity government with Netanyahu and the Likud, or for Lieberman not to fall prey to this foolishness.”

Labor Will Have to Swallow its Pride
Yisrael Beiteinu’s imminent entry into the government is very awkward for Labor, whose party guidelines are opposite those of Lieberman’s party in many aspects. Labor leader Amir Peretz has expressed strong opposition to sitting together with Yisrael Beiteinu, though other party leaders disagree. The Labor Knesset faction will debate the issue this afternoon. MK Orit Noked has proposed that Lieberman himself be invited to the meeting today and speak directly with the Labor MKs.

Tourism Minister Yitzchak Herzog (Labor) said today that he agrees with Peretz in principle, but “Labor has no choice but to remain in the government.” He said that the country cannot now afford a coalition crisis that could lead to new elections. In response to the claim that Yisrael Beiteinu will not permit “diplomatic progress towards an agreement with the Palestinian Authority” – which Lieberman and others see as another way of saying “withdrawal and surrender” – Herzog said he believes that the diplomatic stance of Kadima and Labor will continue to lead.

MK Tartman: It’s All About Iran

Lieberman is expected to receive a ministerial post created just for him: Minister for Strategic Threats, especially the Iranian threat. His party colleague MK Esterina Tartman told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine that Lieberman’s entry into the Cabinet will enable Israel to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat.

Explaining the party’s decision to enter the government, Tartman said, “The party chairman [Lieberman] presented the situation and the dilemmas… Logic dictates one thing, while the butterflies in our stomach say something else, but in the end, almost everyone allowed logic to win out and said that despite all, we must enter the coalition… Our intention is not to save the government from falling, but to save the State of Israel from destruction… I suggest to the entire public to listen carefully to what our enemies, such as the Persian tyrant, are saying; they aren’t joking, and we are truly in existential danger… Our sense of responsibility says that we need a leader that can make decisions.”

Tartman bitingly dismissed the Labor Party as “weak and not united,” and invited the National Union/National Religious Party faction to join the coalition as well. She and Lieberman are scheduled to meet with that faction this afternoon; the feeling among the Knesset Members of the NU/NRP, as note above, is currently not very accepting of Yisrael Beiteinu’s new position.