Sharon Considered Destroying 20 Communities in Judea and Samaria
The above headline needs to be hammered home to Israelis again, and again and again until they have it coming out of their ears. They must be made to understand their consequences to their own homes, even in Ramat Aviv Bet when Kassams with wide ranges are launched from the very places that the irresponsible government of Israel has given over in TOTAL immoral abrogation of their responsibility for the security and welfare of the people that they were “elected” to lead. A vote for Kadima is a vote for Kevorkianism. MB
Excerpts;
“An article in the New Yorker by Haaretz writer, Ari Shavit, says that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered Israel’s National Security Council to study alternatives for further withdrawals from territory in Judea and Samaria.”
“Among Sharon’s proposals to the Council were withdrawing from 88-92% of Judea and Samaria and destroying an additional 20 Jewish communities in those areas.”
“Shavit says that Sharon wanted to destroy the 20 communities as part of an interim agreement with the Palestinian Authority.”
Secular National Union Supporters to Hold Conference on Thursday
Excerpt;
“The conference organizers say that secular support for the National Union is growing and has the potential to double the party’s influence.”
Mattot Arim: Give MK Eldad a Top Slot on National Union List
A MUST READ:
Bye-bye, NRP (and NU too), By Evelyn Gordon
Hat Tip; Aryeh S.
Excerpts;
“… Perhaps nothing better illustrates the hypocrisy of both parties’ claim to care about national issues then their behavior in positions of power at the Education Ministry: For years, they shortchanged funding for Jewish education in secular schools in order to funnel more money to Orthodox schools. A party that truly cared about the state’s Jewish identity would have done exactly the opposite, since for secular children, school may well provide their only exposure to Judaism. That is presumably not the case for religious children.”
“Yet even if the NRP (or the National Union) should miraculously reform, their demise would still be beneficial – because small splinter parties have long since ceased to be the best way for religious Zionists to influence the national agenda. They would be far more effective acting within a major party.
“That relatively small groups can have a major impact on large parties is obvious to anyone who follows American politics: Evangelical Christians, though a small minority of Republican voters, have had a major influence on that party, while liberal American Jews, an even smaller minority of Democratic voters, have attained significant influence within that party.
“But in Israel‘s parliamentary system, this influence would be greatly magnified, because the largest party is usually given first stab at forming a government. Thus by throwing their votes to, say, Likud, religious Zionist rightists – who, between the NRP and the National Union, account for an estimated seven or eight seats – would substantially increase the chances that it [Likud}, rather than Kadima or Labor, would form the next government. And should Likud win, it would have to take the views of those who handed it the victory into account; to do otherwise would be suicidal.”
“Virtually alone among religious Zionists, two people understood this long ago: Meimad’s Rabbi Michael Melchior, who led religious doves into an alliance with Labor, and Moshe Feiglin, who formed a religious faction within Likud. But while Melchior has scored some modest successes in Labor despite his small voter base, Feiglin’s influence in Likud has thus far been negligible. That is partly because he is far to the right not only of most Likud voters, but even of most NRP and National Union voters. But it is mainly because he in practice has few votes to offer the party: Even his small group of followers, though they vote religiously in internal party elections, are widely suspected within Likud of supporting other parties in general elections. ”
“If, in contrast, religious Zionist hawks decamped en masse to the Likud, their influence would be substantial. The ideal moment for such a move would be now: Not only has the Likud shrunk due to desertions to Kadima, thereby increasing the relative weight that a strong religious Zionist contingent would have, but Kadima has drawn off precisely those former Likudniks most hostile to this camp’s stated positions.”
“Unfortunately, the politics of identity make such a development unlikely as long as the NRP and the National Union exist: To many religious Zionists, these parties’ kippa-wearing MKs simply look more ‘like us’ than do Likud MKs – who, unsurprisingly in the absence of a strong religious Zionist wing, are almost uniformly secular.”
“But should either party fail to enter the Knesset this time around, religious Zionists would be forced to rethink their ideas on how to achieve their political ends. And since both parties have proven themselves inadequate to this task, that could only be beneficial.”