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Posted on 01/07/2002 10:19:51 PM PST by classygreeneyedblonde
A proposal has been raised in Likud circles for Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to rotate the premiership between them after the next elections, if the Likud should win.
Likud Knesset members and figures from outside the political system have recently approached the prime minister and former prime minister with the suggestion that Netanyahu refrain from competing for the party leadership. He would then be declared "No. 2" on the list and get the most senior portfolio if Sharon sets up the cabinet. At a later stage, Sharon would retire and give Netanyahu the top slot with the approval of the Knesset.
The proponents, by and large Sharon supporters, believe this would avert a possible schism in the party and instead give it a large majority in the elections. However, they concede that the chances of working out such an arrangement are slim.
Attorney and former minister Yaakov Ne'eman, who is well liked by both personalities, is said to be one of the leading figures behind the proposed rapprochement between Sharon and Netanyahu. Ne'eman, who is recovering from surgery, was not available for comment.
Communications Minister Reuven Rivlin, a Sharon supporter, said he would not comment but he was certain that all Likud supporters would like to see the two men leading the party together.
Netanyahu's bureau chief, Shlomo Filber, said he had heard about the proposal but that no one had approached Netanyahu about it officially. MK Yisrael Katz, head of the Netanyahu camp in the Likud, dismissed it, saying: "That sort of thing will not happen." He said that Netanyahu would compete for the party leadership "come what may ... He has already made concessions once and he will not do so again." Katz said the idea was born out of Sharon's supporters' fear that their man would be defeated.
Excerpt:
A proposal has been raised in Likud circles for Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to rotate the premiership between them after the next elections, if the Likud should win. . . . . . . .
Netanyahu's bureau chief, Shlomo Filber, said he had heard about the proposal but that no one had approached Netanyahu about it officially. MK Yisrael Katz, head of the Netanyahu camp in the Likud, dismissed it, saying: "That sort of thing will not happen." He said that Netanyahu would compete for the party leadership "come what may ... He has already made concessions once and he will not do so again." Katz said the idea was born out of Sharon's supporters' fear that their man would be defeated.
I like Netanyahu. He will be a pain in the backside for Arafat I think. . .
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