Israeli Political Roundup - Pre-Big Bang Edition
In response to the spiteful defeat handed to him yesterday by rebels from his own party, Sharon is putting to so-called Big Bang option - a complete realignment of Israeli politics in the form of a new, massive centrist party led by him, Peres, and Lapid - back on the table. This time he sounds serious:
The report on Channel One television said national elections, now scheduled for November 2006, could be moved up to April or May after Likud lawmakers still angry at the withdrawal thwarted Sharon's bid on Monday to name two cabinet ministers. "He cannot work like this," the television's political reporter Ayala Hasson said. "If elections are moved up, Sharon will launch a new party" called My Only Country, she said. Israel Radio quoted a top aide to Sharon as saying a Likud split would be a "done deal" unless party leaders could rein in the half dozen hardliners known as "the rebels".
If the goal of the Likud rebels is to get thrown out of power and install a government which is much further left, then they're political geniuses. Otherwise, they're just acting like petulant children. The only thing that might save them is if Peres executes what seems to be his impending victory in Wednesday's Labor primaries:
After Science Minister Matan Vilna'i quit the race and joined Shimon Peres's camp, polls published in both Ma'ariv and Yediot Aharonot on Tuesday found that Peres would defeat challenger Amir Peretz by 18 percent and 11%, respectively.
If Peres wins, he'll keep Labor in the government until elections in November. If Peretz wins, he'll immediately pull Labor out of the government and trigger elections. At that point, Sharon will be free to join Peres - who'll be disenchanted by thestupidity machinations of Labor primary voters - in forming a new and wildly successful party to the left of Likud. Ironically, the only thing maintaining the power of the current right-wing government is Peres's popularity.
Meanwhile, for the real political junkies in the audience - Livnat is lawyering up in response to the Ha'aretz report which reported a mysterious quadrupling of the budget of the association that her mother runs on a salaried basis. She's claiming that she's being personally persecuted by journalist Ayelet Fishbein, who's also written articles critical of Livnat's husband. An Israeli political dispute driven by personal dislikes and the desire of each side to "teach the other one a lesson" which ends up in a lawsuit - it almost beggars the imagination.
The report on Channel One television said national elections, now scheduled for November 2006, could be moved up to April or May after Likud lawmakers still angry at the withdrawal thwarted Sharon's bid on Monday to name two cabinet ministers. "He cannot work like this," the television's political reporter Ayala Hasson said. "If elections are moved up, Sharon will launch a new party" called My Only Country, she said. Israel Radio quoted a top aide to Sharon as saying a Likud split would be a "done deal" unless party leaders could rein in the half dozen hardliners known as "the rebels".
If the goal of the Likud rebels is to get thrown out of power and install a government which is much further left, then they're political geniuses. Otherwise, they're just acting like petulant children. The only thing that might save them is if Peres executes what seems to be his impending victory in Wednesday's Labor primaries:
After Science Minister Matan Vilna'i quit the race and joined Shimon Peres's camp, polls published in both Ma'ariv and Yediot Aharonot on Tuesday found that Peres would defeat challenger Amir Peretz by 18 percent and 11%, respectively.
If Peres wins, he'll keep Labor in the government until elections in November. If Peretz wins, he'll immediately pull Labor out of the government and trigger elections. At that point, Sharon will be free to join Peres - who'll be disenchanted by the
Meanwhile, for the real political junkies in the audience - Livnat is lawyering up in response to the Ha'aretz report which reported a mysterious quadrupling of the budget of the association that her mother runs on a salaried basis. She's claiming that she's being personally persecuted by journalist Ayelet Fishbein, who's also written articles critical of Livnat's husband. An Israeli political dispute driven by personal dislikes and the desire of each side to "teach the other one a lesson" which ends up in a lawsuit - it almost beggars the imagination.
