Likud MKs 'Confident' That Netanyahu Won't Cave In
Iyar 23, 5769, 17 May 09 05:18
by Hillel Fendel 
PM Netanyahu (IsraelNN.com) Likud MK Tzipi Hotobeli says she is not worried that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will cave in to US pressure regarding a Palestinian state. She herself will host a Knesset gathering next week at which alternatives to the "two-state solution" will be proposed. Participating will be defense officials, politicians and academics, including Minister without Portfolio Moshe Yaalon, IDF Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, and others.
Hotobeli is one of two religious women in the Knesset. The other is Dr. Leah Ness, also of the Likud.
“I am confident,” Hotobeli told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine on Sunday, “in light of Netanyahu’s promises that he made not only to the voters before the recent elections, but also to the Knesset Members, that the idea of two states is no longer relevant.”
MKs Danon and Ben-Ari
Similarly, Likud Danny Danon, speaking with Voice of Israel radio, said, “I am sure that Netanyahu will not break. But in case he does, simple math indicates that given the positions of the Likud and other MKs, he will no longer have a coalition behind him.”
Similarly, Likud Danny Danon, speaking with Voice of Israel radio, said, “I am sure that Netanyahu will not break. But in case he does, simple math indicates that given the positions of the Likud and other MKs, he will no longer have a coalition behind him.”
National Union MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari says the media is to blame for the fear that Netanyahu will succumb to U.S. pressure: “The press in Israel is acting as if it has received military call-up orders to get Bibi [Netanyahu] to cave in. They are giving him advice, instead of covering his visit. We’ve seen this scenario before, when the reporters brought about the expulsion from Gush Katif with promises of peace.”
Dozens of people demonstrated on Thursday night outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, calling on him to rebuff all pressure to accept the idea of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. “Don’t give in; fulfill the people’s will!” called MK Uri Ariel (National Union).
Hotobeli: No More Oslo, No More Disengagement
“In light of the brainwashing of the past 15 years,” Hotobeli says, “according to which the only solution is a Palestinian state, the American Administration has got to hear a lot of talk and many discussions about the alternatives that we will propose. We have not proposed alternatives all this time… We declare that we refuse to go along with the approach that has brought us to the dangerous precipice that we face right now.”
“In light of the brainwashing of the past 15 years,” Hotobeli says, “according to which the only solution is a Palestinian state, the American Administration has got to hear a lot of talk and many discussions about the alternatives that we will propose. We have not proposed alternatives all this time… We declare that we refuse to go along with the approach that has brought us to the dangerous precipice that we face right now.”
She expressed confidence that in view of the events of the past few years, Netanyahu can and will make a convincing case against a Palestinian state when he meets with Obama and other US officials. “We have clear proofs of two conceptions that failed – Camp David, Oslo and the Disengagement. The atmosphere in the Middle East has changed. Hamas has come to power. We see that it doesn’t work. The public in Israel has awoken and does not believe in this two-state solution. Netanyahu has made these points in his writings, in his speeches, and in talks with me; he has said that a Palestinian state would endanger Israel’s existence.
Hotobeli was a participant, for three years, on a popular weekly political TV talk show, representing the nationalist and right-wing camp. She was asked by Netanyahu himself to present her candidacy for a Knesset seat on behalf of the Likud.
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Netanyahu Sees Iran as Amalek, Advisor Says
Iyar 23, 5769, 17 May 09 06:23
by Gil Ronen(IsraelNN.com) An advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has compared Netanyahu's attitude towards Iran to the traditional Jewish view of Amalek, the ultimate enemy which must be destroyed.
Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, writing in the New York Times Op-Ed section Saturday, said that Netanyahu is not bluffing with regard to the possibility of Israel attacking Iran. "His preoccupation with the Iranian nuclear program seems sincere and deeply felt," Goldberg writes. "I recently asked one of his advisers to gauge for me the depth of Mr. Netanyahu’s anxiety about Iran. His answer: 'Think Amalek.'"
While Netanyahu is a non-observant Jew, the evocation of Amalek by an aide to could be a hint that some religious feeling is nonetheless coloring the Israeli government's view of the Iranian threat.
'Erase the memory of Amalek'
Amalek is a nation that wished to wipe out the Jews. It was the first to make war against Israel, attacking the rear guard of the Israelites on their deliverance from Egypt. Jewish tradition holds that the Amalekites are the undying enemy of the Jews. It also showed the way to the other nations as to how to destroy Israel.
Amalek is a nation that wished to wipe out the Jews. It was the first to make war against Israel, attacking the rear guard of the Israelites on their deliverance from Egypt. Jewish tradition holds that the Amalekites are the undying enemy of the Jews. It also showed the way to the other nations as to how to destroy Israel.
Though no identifiable Amalekites remain in the world, the Torah commands the Jews to wipe out every last vestige of the evil that Amalek represents. Every year, when the Torah passage known as Zachor is read, Jews stream to their synagogues to hear the verse, " 'Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, upon your departure from Egypt'... 'You shall erase the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens, you shall not forget.'."
Goldberg also quotes "friends and advisers" of Netanyahu who say that he took three lessons from his brother Yonatan’s death, in the heroic raid on Entebbe in 1976: "The first is that those who threaten Jews, and have the means to carry out their threats, should be neutralized pre-emptively. The second is that no one will defend the Jews except the Jews themselves. The third is that destiny has chosen the Netanyahus to expose and battle anti-Semitism — before it reaches the point of genocide."
Obama on Jews, U.S. and Holocaust
Another interesting quote that appears in Goldberg's piece is from President Barack Obama. Goldberg writes that the talk of containing Iran after it acquires a nuclear capacity "does not make the Israelis… happy and, in fact, might push them closer to executing a military strike." Obama "surely knows this," he estimates, and quotes something Obama told him during last year's presidential campaign:
Another interesting quote that appears in Goldberg's piece is from President Barack Obama. Goldberg writes that the talk of containing Iran after it acquires a nuclear capacity "does not make the Israelis… happy and, in fact, might push them closer to executing a military strike." Obama "surely knows this," he estimates, and quotes something Obama told him during last year's presidential campaign:
“I know that that there are those who would argue that in some ways America has become a safe refuge for the Jewish people," Obama said, "but if you’ve gone through the Holocaust, then that does not offer the same sense of confidence and security as the idea that the Jewish people can take care of themselves no matter what happens.”
"There should be little doubt that, by the end of this year, if no progress is made, Mr. Netanyahu will seriously consider attacking Iran," Goldberg writes. If the quote from Obama is an accurate one, perhaps tough U.S. action against Iran is a more realistic option than many people currently think.
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