Political Waves in Israel

The big news here in Israel has been Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to leave the Likud party, and form his own centrist party.

“The manner in which the news of Sharon’s decision to quit Likud was delivered is inappropriate. Likud was there before Sharon and will remain after him… I regret his decision to quit. Likud will organize itself and elect a leader as soon as possible. I see myself as a candidate, as I said earlier. Unfortunately, no one knows the motives and no one was consulted”

“[Likud is a] national movement with a glorious past, present, and future. From this moment on, the Likud will only get stronger.”

“I am staying in Likud and I call on the prime minister to stay in Likud, because only a united Likud will win the elections.”

“The Likud is about to embark on a new path, a difficult path. Now that Sharon is leaving us, so too is the corruption. The Likud can now return to its core: the land of Israel, clean politics and social sensitivity.”

“Sharon understood that he was going in a direction that the Likud couldn’t accept, both politically and in his taking of independent initiatives, and now he’s chosen a very risky path..There must be elections as soon as possible.”

“Now it is a drama, in another four months it will seem much less dramatic.”

“Sharon quit the Likud for personal reasons, but he will not help the middle class, won’t fight religious coercion, and won’t act against corruption. Only Shinui will do that.”

“There is no doubt that Sharon reached a conclusion by which with the current Likud, he couldn’t have moved even one step forward. I hope that the party that would gain most by this would be the Labor party.”

“A new large right wing party must be created in order to defeat Sharon. We must prepare for the possibility that the Likud has been weakened. In such a case, such a party would win 45 mandates and Sharon’s party would all but diminish.”

“The Likud is witnessing his captain abandon ship after he had already damaged its ideological platform and has moved to blow some wind in the left wing’s sale.”

“We, in the Palestinian leadership, are watching carefully the unfolding political developments [in Israel] to see its consequences on the peace process.”

“I’ve never seen anything of this significance. I hope that when the dust settles, we will have a partner in Israel to go to the end game, toward the end of conflict, toward a final agreement.”

Another reason Sharon is pressing Katsav to disperse the Knesset is that, according to law, if the president dissolves the Knesset, a prime minister has an unlimited right to dismiss or replace ministers in his cabinet. If Katsav does indeed disperse the Knesset as he indicated he would do, Sharon would then be able to award those who would join his new party with cabinet posts.

 

However, if the Knesset dissolves itself, the law states, a prime minister cannot reshuffle his cabinet in any way. In that case, the government would be left with only six ministers until the elections, as Labor ministers would quit and so too would Likud ministers who oppose Sharon.

 

That means that Ehud Olmert, whose current titles include vice prime minister, finance minister, minister of industry, trade and labor, and the minister in charge of the Israel Lands Administration, could soon gain more portfolios.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to resign from the Likud indicates his intention to carry out far-reaching diplomatic moves in what would be his final term as premier should he win re-election, Sharon associates said Sunday.

 

If Sharon had no intention of going beyond the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, aides say, he would have stayed in the Likud “and be on the safe side.”

 

The prime minister’s decision to leave the party testifies to a significant about-face in his ideology, which is likely to include favoring the evacuation of most or all isolated settlements in the West Bank, Sharon’s aides said.

Sharon’s new party aims to attract 14 Likud MKs, which would then grant it the status of “breakaway faction,” and entitle it to some of the Likud’s state funding.

The head of the Likud secretariat, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, instructed the Likud administration to issue restraining orders to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and all the members of his new party to prevent them from approaching the Likud headquarters.

 

“The democratic process and reason do not permit the Likud to allow people with interests against the Likud in its proximity. The Likud will protect itself and its identity,” said Katz.

In a press conference Monday evening, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he decided to leave the Likud and “give the people of Israel hope,” noting that staying in the ruling party would have been a “waste of time.”

 

“After great difficulties I decided to leave the Likud today,” Sharon said. “The Likud in its current constellation cannot lead Israel to its national goals. I set up the Likud in order to serve a national idea and give hope to the people of Israel. Unfortunately, this is no longer there (in the Likud).”

 

“Had I stayed in the Likud, I would have likely won the primaries and led the Likud to an elections victory,” the PM noted. “It would have been a safer move personally, but it’s not the way to serve the State of Israel. Staying in the Likud means wasting time in political struggles instead of deeds on behalf of the country.”

 

“Israeli citizens put their faith in me, they didn’t elect me to keep my chair warm,” he said.

Filed Under: General

Tags: Israel