Lunch with Bibi
On Sunday we went to a fund-raiser lunch in Tel Aviv with Bibi Netanyahu for the Anglo Division of Likud. He was accompanied by his supporters Limor Livnat, former Min. of Education, and Yuval Steinitz, former Head of the Knesset Defense Committee.
Politics is said to be the art of the possible. Even though I could design my perfect candidate, you have to play the game with the pieces you have (or the cards you've been dealt). Bibi speaks very well, he is interesting and persuasive. Of those around he is the best available (of a bad bunch). Both Livnat and Steinitz spoke well. Steinitz of course emphasized the threat from Iran and indicated what Israel must be prepared for. He reminded us that it was Begin who attacked the nuclear reactor in Baghdad in 1981. Although at the time Israel was universally criticized for this action, it turned out to have been the correct thing to have done under the circumstances. Of course, a diplomatic solution or internal upheaval in Iran would be preferable, but Israel must be prepared for the worst.
Bibi said that we expect an election in Israel within 3-6 months. At present we have a coalition Govt consisting of Kadima and Labor. But, when the final report of the Winograd Committee is published in September, it is expected that it will severely criticize PM Olmert and his Govt., and in order to save Labor, Barak is expected to remove Labor from the coalition. In which case the Govt. is likely to fall and this will trigger the election. So we are preparing for that. The system will return to a strong Likud and Labor in the opposition and Kadima will probably die out.
Bibi spoke about being on the beach at night near Atlit when his son was taking a training course. He saw a house on the beach and examined it. It turned out to be the ruin of the house from which Aaron Aronsohn sent coded messages to the British warship offshore during WWI. This "Nili" group spied on the Turks for the British after Aronsohn on his own initiative approached British intelligence in Cairo. They were successful for a few years and then were captured. But, their information helped Britain to win the war against the Turks. Why did he do this? Because he calculated that while the Turks would never give the Jews independence, with the British it was possible. He made a gamble and although he and others paid with their lives, in the end he was right.
Bibi said that he wanted to do this, to see clearly the way ahead and to act as necessary. To do so Israel must persuade the leaders of the Western world that Iran is indeed the main factor in supporting fundamentalist Islam, that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah and Syria are now Iranian puppets. In order to face their threat Israel must significantly build up its forces, and stop all withdrawals from which the Iranian-backed forces have attacked a more vulnerable Israel, from Lebanon (a mistake of Barak) and Gaza (a mistake of Sharon).
In order to carry out this program and oppose militant Islam, Israel must significantly grow its economy. The current boom is based on the economic reforms that he (Bibi) made when he was Finance Minister. But, these were stopped in mid-stride. Now if Likud is elected he will finish the reforms and Israel, by taking advantage of globalization, will become one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Yes, this was an election speech, but a good one. After the malaise of Sharon and Olmert anything positive sounds good.
Politics is said to be the art of the possible. Even though I could design my perfect candidate, you have to play the game with the pieces you have (or the cards you've been dealt). Bibi speaks very well, he is interesting and persuasive. Of those around he is the best available (of a bad bunch). Both Livnat and Steinitz spoke well. Steinitz of course emphasized the threat from Iran and indicated what Israel must be prepared for. He reminded us that it was Begin who attacked the nuclear reactor in Baghdad in 1981. Although at the time Israel was universally criticized for this action, it turned out to have been the correct thing to have done under the circumstances. Of course, a diplomatic solution or internal upheaval in Iran would be preferable, but Israel must be prepared for the worst.
Bibi said that we expect an election in Israel within 3-6 months. At present we have a coalition Govt consisting of Kadima and Labor. But, when the final report of the Winograd Committee is published in September, it is expected that it will severely criticize PM Olmert and his Govt., and in order to save Labor, Barak is expected to remove Labor from the coalition. In which case the Govt. is likely to fall and this will trigger the election. So we are preparing for that. The system will return to a strong Likud and Labor in the opposition and Kadima will probably die out.
Bibi spoke about being on the beach at night near Atlit when his son was taking a training course. He saw a house on the beach and examined it. It turned out to be the ruin of the house from which Aaron Aronsohn sent coded messages to the British warship offshore during WWI. This "Nili" group spied on the Turks for the British after Aronsohn on his own initiative approached British intelligence in Cairo. They were successful for a few years and then were captured. But, their information helped Britain to win the war against the Turks. Why did he do this? Because he calculated that while the Turks would never give the Jews independence, with the British it was possible. He made a gamble and although he and others paid with their lives, in the end he was right.
Bibi said that he wanted to do this, to see clearly the way ahead and to act as necessary. To do so Israel must persuade the leaders of the Western world that Iran is indeed the main factor in supporting fundamentalist Islam, that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah and Syria are now Iranian puppets. In order to face their threat Israel must significantly build up its forces, and stop all withdrawals from which the Iranian-backed forces have attacked a more vulnerable Israel, from Lebanon (a mistake of Barak) and Gaza (a mistake of Sharon).
In order to carry out this program and oppose militant Islam, Israel must significantly grow its economy. The current boom is based on the economic reforms that he (Bibi) made when he was Finance Minister. But, these were stopped in mid-stride. Now if Likud is elected he will finish the reforms and Israel, by taking advantage of globalization, will become one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Yes, this was an election speech, but a good one. After the malaise of Sharon and Olmert anything positive sounds good.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:24 AM
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