Katsav: Politicians, Tell the Truth
Excerpts:
“In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday, President Moshe Katsav complained about politicians who did not make ‘the right statements’ detailing their true objectives, and pledged that he would use the four months until election day to press voters to demand that party leaders clearly disclose their intentions.”
“‘Asking for clear answers on [controversial] issues must become part of the national agenda,’ Katsav said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. This was not done in the past, he said, with the electorate subsequently accusing the prime minister of deviating from his stated platform. ‘The public didn’t ask the right questions in the past, and the political leaders didn’t make the right statements.’”
In Short, Tell it like it is!! “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!” — A major accomplishment for any politician, let alone the typical Israeli politician. MB
Sharon, Mofaz & Shalom Seeking to Distance Themselves From Economic Realities
Excerpts:
“Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz are … each taking the liberty of distancing themselves from the widespread fiscal reform policies of the current 16th Knesset.”
“Silvan Shalom and Shaul Mofaz, both ministers in the cabinet that voted for the fiscal reforms, have launched attacks against Netanyahu, blaming him for the current fiscal realities.”
Sharon Prepares Major Withdrawal
Excerpt:
“Political sources said Sharon has begun briefing senior U.S. officials of his intention to withdraw unilaterally from more than 95 percent of the West Bank.”
Commentary:
Again, nothing new under the sun! And maybe Ramat Beit Shemesh along the way? How to fight it? 4 Words: Manhigut Yehudit — Moshe Feiglin!! In Likud’s six-man primary race for leader of Likud, Feiglin’s got a realistic shot at winning, or at least making the run-off cut. As for the National Elections, dump the polls out of the window. A lot can happen between now and 28 March. We need only look back to May, 1996 and remember the period between November, 1995 when Peres looked invincible due to the perceived “Rabin sympathy vote.” We do however recall the May, 1996 results. Events in Israel are far too fluid and volatile to give any credence whatsoever to all of current, leftist, manufactured poll results. MB
Excerpts:
“Since within this pack former finance minister Binyamin Netanyahu enjoys a comfortable lead in the polls, the fire is naturally being drawn to him, and specifically to his record as finance minister. This is the backdrop to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s vicious attack this week on Netanyahu, whom he described as a rich-born child from Jerusalem’s well-to-do Rehavia neighborhood, as opposed to Mofaz himself – raised in ‘a home where bread slices were thick and the spread on them thin.’ Mofaz’s conclusion from this perceived contrast is that ‘Netanyahu will never know’ the poverty he claims to have known intimately. Such comments, besides being factually inaccurate and blatantly ad hominem, are politically manipulative and patronizing.”
“First, Netanyahu was not raised in Rehavia, but in less affluent Katamon. Secondly, as an academic his father may have afforded to spread a few more ounces of chocolate spread on his three sons’ bread slices, but as a man who spent his days writing history books he could hardly be more distant from, and uninterested in, the kind of wealth with which Mofaz was trying to associate him.”
“By the defense minister’s logic, the candidate from the most deprived background is the one best prepared to defend the interests of the poor, which rather makes it sound like Mofaz is campaigning for Amir Peretz.”
“Mofaz has yet to present a remotely thorough analysis of the economy in general and the budget in particular. But as a cabinet minister, he played his part in passing Netanyahu’s reforms, presumably sharing the assessment that they have helped end our worst-ever recession, cut unemployment, attracted foreign investments, nourished the shekel, and turned Israel’s into one of the free world’s faster growing economies.”
“How patronizing it is of the electorate to whom he seeks to appeal that he assumes all they can understand is stories about bread rather than coherent arguments and facts. In particular, it is odd that, if he had ideas on how to better distribute the budget, he did not reveal them by proposing cuts in the defense budget, which has somehow emerged close to intact on his watch …”
Sup. Court Justice Cheshin Blasts Politicians
Excerpts:
“During his speech at a conference in Caesaria, Cheshin pointed out that in the past, when a minister was convicted of corruption he killed himself on the beach. ”
“Cheshin continued to say that today, after a minister is convicted of a crime he continues to function politically, Army Radio reported.”
Kinda make ya think of Ole “Kojak Omri” and a certain political mafia family, not to mention the American contrast between Nixon’s Watergate and Clinton’s Monica!! MB
Excerpts:
“The telephone poll, conducted on Wednesday, found that Shinui would drop from the 15 mandates that made it a force to be reckoned with to only five seats in the next Knesset. Polls conducted earlier in the week already showed Shinui on a downward slope and, if the trend continues, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new party Kadima could wipe Shinui off the political map.”
“The poll found that Shinui has fallen behind Shas with nine mandates, the combined National Union-National Religious Party list with nine and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party with six or seven. Arab parties would win eight or nine mandates and Agudat Yisrael five. Fourteen percent of the public is undecided.”
“Shinui chairman Yosef Lapid on Thursday dismissed reports of polls showing his party falling to five seats.”
“‘Unlike what the polls are predicting, Shinui will win the election,’ said Lapid speaking in Tel Aviv to party members. His spokesman said that Lapid meant that his party would again win 15 or more seats. ‘One shouldn’t trust the polls,’ he added.”
Peretz Attracts 25,000 New Laborites
If you don’t believe that a goodly number of the membership forms were forged or in some other way illegal, I’ve got a bridge to sell you cheap! MB