Likud Anglos
On Thurs afternoon I attended the inaugural meeting of the Likud Anglos group at Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv. Since there were 18 of us and parking in central Tel Aviv is impossible, we rented a small bus. The meeting was crowded with over 250 English-speakers from all over Israel - Netanya, Ra'anana, Petach Tikva, Modi'in, Jerusalem, etc.
Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the crowd. He was dynamic and positive. He emphasized that peace comes through strength, not through weakness. Giving unilateral concessions, which has been the Israeli mode since the Oslo accords, has been a failure and has only given the Arabs a sense of Israel's weakness and hence has galvanized them to be more aggressive. At present they talk peace but they prepare for war. In order to deter them Israel must be strengthened. Only then will they choose the path to peace. He also emphasized two other issues, economic and educational. After his stint as Minister of Finance, the hard changes he made has caused the Israeli economy to boom, although he was criticized by the left. In order to allow Israel to reach its potential and double its GDP per capita in the next 20 years more surgery has to be done on the economy. This includes lowering taxes and reforming the banking system. Finally, in the presence of Limor Livnat, our former Minister of Education, he said that Israeli children must be educated to know their Jewish history and heritage, so that they know why we are here and are prepared to defend the country. He urged us to be activists in defeating the current unpopular Olmert Government.
His words were very well received by the audience. The other speakers, all members of the Knesset, were Yuval Steinitz, former Chairman of the Knesset Defense Committee, a very reliable and honest politician, Gideon Saar, Yisrael Katz, former Minister of Agriculture (who spoke in Hebrew) and Limor Livnat, who spoke about her recent tour of the US.
Altogether a very good start for a new group of English-speakers who will support Likud as the current leaders of the opposition, in the hope that they will form the next Government of Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the crowd. He was dynamic and positive. He emphasized that peace comes through strength, not through weakness. Giving unilateral concessions, which has been the Israeli mode since the Oslo accords, has been a failure and has only given the Arabs a sense of Israel's weakness and hence has galvanized them to be more aggressive. At present they talk peace but they prepare for war. In order to deter them Israel must be strengthened. Only then will they choose the path to peace. He also emphasized two other issues, economic and educational. After his stint as Minister of Finance, the hard changes he made has caused the Israeli economy to boom, although he was criticized by the left. In order to allow Israel to reach its potential and double its GDP per capita in the next 20 years more surgery has to be done on the economy. This includes lowering taxes and reforming the banking system. Finally, in the presence of Limor Livnat, our former Minister of Education, he said that Israeli children must be educated to know their Jewish history and heritage, so that they know why we are here and are prepared to defend the country. He urged us to be activists in defeating the current unpopular Olmert Government.
His words were very well received by the audience. The other speakers, all members of the Knesset, were Yuval Steinitz, former Chairman of the Knesset Defense Committee, a very reliable and honest politician, Gideon Saar, Yisrael Katz, former Minister of Agriculture (who spoke in Hebrew) and Limor Livnat, who spoke about her recent tour of the US.
Altogether a very good start for a new group of English-speakers who will support Likud as the current leaders of the opposition, in the hope that they will form the next Government of Israel.
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:51 PM
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