Posted on 04/08/2006 3:19:28 PM PDT by anotherview
Apr. 8, 2006 19:14 | Updated Apr. 9, 2006 1:06
Lieberman mulls joining coalition
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Israel Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
The price of Israel Beiteinu's entry into the coalition is the Internal Security portfolio, Avigdor Lieberman told Channel 2 on Saturday night.
"We won't give up on the Internal Security portfolio. We ran on this point in the elections, we received the voters trust and we have no intention of violating that trust," he said.
Calling himself a member of the "pragmatic right" rather then the "fanatic right," Lieberman said he believed his party would enter the coalition despite the differences of opinion between himself and Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert on the issue of unilateral withdrawals.
Lieberman believes territory should be relinquished within the context of an internationally recognized agreement. Creation of permanent borders based on insuring a Jewish majority is one of the most critical issues facing Israel, Lieberman said. He added that he believes that Olmert is also looking to redraw Israel's borders based upon these concerns.
"We want permanent borders that are recognized by the international community. If this is within Olmert's platform, we will support it. If not, we won't be a partner," he said.
It was likely that the strategic difference between he and Olmert on this matter would never come into play because he did not expect Olmert to last a full term or to execute further unilateral withdrawals.
Lieberman spoke of his opposition to unilateral withdrawal explaining that Israel must receive something in return for giving up territory. "There has to be some reward for a withdrawal," he said. "You can't run away without receiving something," he said.
He dismissed a reopening of a 1998 investigation against him for fraud and bribery charges as political moves by the police. He said he had a letter in writing from the attorney general informing him that the case was closed. He blamed attempts to renew the investigation on members of the police who do not want him to restore order within law enforcement in Israel.
Lieberman advised Likud Party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu to join the government. "He was the best finance minister Israel has had," he said.
Despite the strong presence of Russian speakers within the party and that it draws on a large number of Russian-speaking voters, Lieberman said that his party was Israeli in every way.
The 48-year old politician, who arrived from Moldova at age 20, said he had lived here for more than half his life and considered himself Israeli.
Lieberman renewed his prediction that his party would be the ruling party following the next election. Already he said his party placed first in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Nazeret Elit. "After the next election we will be the largest party," he said.
ping.
"Gee, Mr. Lieberman, that can get you called a leftist around here."
And rightly so. This guy is going to be the latest Bob Dole, McCain, Graham, Brownback type. The Israeli's have a lot of Judases of their own.
I just love conservatives who stick their noses in the air and declare themselves a more "pragmatic," or "less crude" type of conservative. It's just a wink and nod to the liberals because these people stab the rest of us in the ribs regularly.
If you think Avigdor Lieberman is a leftist, you're smoking something mighty strong.
hey chief smoke this...
a few years back, olmert and netnyahoo were considered 1st rate right wingers too. the trappings of power which the israeli establishement offers proved too powerful and they sold out in a heartbeat.
lieberman may say the right things here or there, but trust you me he will sell as soon as he gets his cushy cabinet office, fancy volvo and expense account.
Well tell me Jabotnik, is anybody pure enough? Who did you vote for, Yigal Amir?
Lieberman was opposed to the Gaza withdrawal. I share his pragmatic approach. He is not looking to kick Israel's best Jews in the teeth to please the left and the Jew haters outside the country.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Giving up the Land for nothing (giving it over to Hamas and other savages) is incredibly short-sighted and flat out stupid, so anyone who supports this should not have power, in my opinion.
> Israel needs to overhaul its political system to
> establish effective presidential government and to
> make MK's accountable to the voters rather than to
> the party bosses.
Having lived under both systems I find the parliamentary system to be more representative and more democratic. I would certainly oppose a Presidential system here.
As to the issue of accountability: that change has pretty much already happened. Labour and Meretz have primary systems similar to American parties. Kadima has also adopted such a system for future elections. Binyamin Netanyahu, to his credit, demanded the same for Likud and the Central Committee did, in fact, vote to strip itself of power and institute primaries.
The move to a primary system is not universal (yet) and may never come to the religious parties which tend to be autocratic. Our big three, though, have made this long overdue change.
On the contary, giving up the land for something is stupid, because the Arabs cannot be trusted to keep their side of any bargain you strike with them. Giving up land in order to pull back to strategically defensible positions does, however, make a lot of sense. Tying down 500 IDF soldiers in order to protect 3 Haredim sitting on the top of a hill surrounded by 50,000 Arabs is insanity -- it doesn't make sense militarily, politically or economically. If we had all the men and all the money in the world, that would be another question. But we don't, and we have to prioritize. In that light, I think the priority has to be to defend Israel and the most defensible/highest population parts of Judea and Samaria at the expense of the more outlying, less-defensible outposts.
If you disagree, I do hope you or your children are in the IDF putting your necks on the line.
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