Netanyahu Goes on the Offensive Against Sharon (CUTE PICTURE of BIBI)

Reuters ^ | November 07, 2002 04:11 PM ET | By Jeffrey Heller

[Cinnamon Girl]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - New Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the offensive in his bid to become prime minister, said in an interview published on Thursday that Ariel Sharon's leadership had left Israel in dire straits.

In the latest violence, the army said a suicide bomber was killed when troops guarding a Jewish settlement outside Nablus in the West Bank opened fire as he ran toward them, setting off an explosion that also killed a second Palestinian.

B.S. ALERT:Palestinian security sources, however, said the Israeli soldiers had opened fire on two Palestinian laborers and a taxi driver for no apparent reason. The Palestinians involved had no links to militant groups, the sources said.

Netanyahu, a hawkish former prime minister, became Sharon's subordinate on Wednesday when he took up the Foreign Ministry post, ending three years in the political wilderness.

But his plans to challenge Sharon for the leadership of their right-wing Likud party and reclaim the prime minister's office in Israel's coming election heralded weeks of sniping between the two men and paralysis in Middle East peacemaking.

His leadership challenge could also have an impact on U.S. efforts to win Arab support for possible war against Iraq.

"I am running (for the Likud leadership) because the country is in dire straits and we have to get it out," Netanyahu, 53, told The Jerusalem Post.

Asked if he thought Sharon was leaving the country in worse shape than when he was elected nearly two years ago, Netanyahu said: "I think one of the things that we see is the tremendous escalation of (Palestinian) terror."

Dozens of suicide bombings have rocked Israel despite Sharon's pledge in the previous election campaign to stop the two-year Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

The army said that in Thursday's incident soldiers had stopped a Palestinian taxi at a checkpoint near Nablus and spotted an explosive belt on one of the passengers after ordering them out of the vehicle.

The man then ran toward the troops shouting "Allahu Akhbar!" (God is Greatest). Soldiers opened fire and, as he hit the ground, the explosive belt went off killing another Palestinian nearby, the army said.

The Palestinian security sources said the explosion was caused when the taxi's fuel tank was hit by army gunfire.

U.S. SEEKING CALM

Netanyahu's appointment has sparked fears on the left that Sharon's rightist caretaker government may step up the crackdown on the Palestinians at a time when Washington wants calm while it seeks Arab support over Iraq.

In a possible bid to allay concerns, Sharon told a business conference in Tel Aviv: "I will not tolerate any attempt to harm our international relationships. Therefore I have announced I will not damage deep strategic understandings with the United States."

Israel is also preparing for possible Iraqi missile attacks should the United States launch an offensive against Iraq.

Israel Radio said the military successfully tested two upgraded Patriot anti-missile missiles in the southern Negev desert on Wednesday. An army spokesman had no immediate comment.

An earlier version of the U.S.-made missile, originally designed to shoot down aircraft, had limited success against Iraqi Scuds that slammed into Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.

Netanyahu suggested he would use a recession as well as security problems against Sharon in the run-up to the snap January polls called after the center-left Labor Party bolted from Sharon's coalition in a spat over funds for Jewish settlements.

"The economy is in worse shape... A lot of that is derived not so much from the lack of security but from the absence of a coherent economic policy," he was quoted as saying.

Sharon, 74, had calculated that bringing Netanyahu into his team could both curb his rival's criticism of him before the Likud primary and give Israel an eloquent defender abroad of the tough government line on the Palestinian uprising for statehood.

There were also no surprises in the tough stand Netanyahu voiced toward Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, echoing a position staked out by Sharon.

"I think it is easy to persuade the international community of what the majority of Israelis understand: namely, that Arafat is not a partner," Netanyahu said.

Asked about Palestinian statehood, he said: "I think we have to resist and I think we can and must resist the Palestinians' efforts to achieve powers that would endanger the state of Israel, like the fielding of an army."

Arafat, who the United States says should be replaced by Palestinian leaders "not compromised by terror," has said he hoped Netanyahu would honor land-for-peace interim accords.

Opinion polls show Likud winning the election. The surveys have said the Likud leadership race is too close to call. No date has been set for the Likud primary.

At least 1,648 Palestinians and 625 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000.

[weikel]

Im an amen corner who is 95% libertarian.

[weikel]

Illbay a libertarian lol look through his post history he hates libertarians.

[weikel]

The jewhaters have pretty much all gone to libertyforum I recommend you do to( OWK is there for some reason but to his credit he kicks the jewhaters a** all the time). Don't go to libertypost thats actually a decent free speech type forum which isn't overrun with jewhaters.

[Jeremiah Jr]

"Bibi gave away Hevron when he could have told Arafat he couldn't have it since he didn't stop the homocide bombings.


Ephraim: The biblical prophet , Isaiah teaches [chapter 54 verse 2]

"Expand the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes".

The students of the Gaon of Vilna,(as explained in Rabbi Rivlin's book, Kol Hator, chapter 5 ), believed there are 17 facets of expansion needed to fully fulfill this verse.

All the activities that are contained within the commandment of expansion , it is obligatory to do them and strengthen them without stopping and without delay as the words of the prophecy there [in Isaiah] state, "Expand the place of your tent", etc. "do not hold back" , meaning, don't stop, and "strengthen your stakes".

In the same chapter [of Isaiah] of which we were commanded to "Expand the place of your tent", we have a trustworthy promise "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that rises with you to judgment, you shall make into the guilty party, this is the heritage of the servants of Hashem [G-d] and their righteousness is from me, says Hashem".

The students of the Gaon of Vilna put their "lives on the line" countless number of times when they emigrated to Israel based on their understanding of biblical prophecy that expansion would bring success. The fact that they did succeed in turning Jerusalem into a Jewish city [as far as population figures are concerned] gives us confidence to follow their analysis of reality when taking future decisions. As Samuel Katz in Battleground [a book that carries the endorsement of Jeane J. Kirkpatrick and Jack Kemp] states (p.100,101) :

"It is clear that by now the state of the country was exacting a higher toll in lives than could be replaced by immigrants. But the immigrants who came shut their eyes to the physical ruin and squalor, accepted with love every hardship and tribulation and danger. Thus, in 1810, the disciples of the Vilna Gaon who had just emigrate wrote : "Truly, how marvelous it is to live in the good country. Truly, how wonderful it is to love our country....Even in her desolation she is unequaled, in her silence there is none like her. Good are her ashes and her stones".

"These immigrants of 1810 were yet to suffer unimagined trials. Earthquake, pestilence, and murderous onslaught by marauding brigands were part of the record of their lives. But they were one of the last links in the long chain bridging the gap between the exile of their people and its independence. They or their children lived to see the beginnings of the modern restoration of the country. Some of them lived to meet one of the pioneers of restoration, Sir Moses Montefiore, the Jewish philanthropist from Britain who, through the greater part of the nineteenth century, conceived and pursued a variety of practical plans to resettle the Jews in their homeland. With him began the gray dawn of reconstruction. Some of the children of those immigrants lived to share in the enterprise and purpose and daring that in 1869 moved a group of seven Jews in Jerusalem to emerge from the Old City and set up the first housing project outside its walls. Each of them built a house among the rocks and the jackals in the wilderness that ultimately came to be called Nahlat Shiva [Estate of the Seven]. Today it is the heart of downtown Jerusalem, bounded by the Jaffa Road, between Zion Square and the Bank of Israel".

One of the main reasons that Israel experienced many more miracles of salvation from enemy explosions during the time of Prime Minister Shamir than during the time of Rabin was that Shamir was involved in expansion to a much greater degree than Rabin. Rabin signed away to the Arabs, land in exchange for what in essence is a cease-fire agreement with a high tolerance for cheating.

Miracles of the Gulf War
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/yeshivot/beithabechira/miracles.htm

This is why Bibi will not prevail against Ariel Sharon.

Good Shabbos!

[w_over_w]

That whole thing was a setup...BiBi didn’t take it seriously...and he lost.

That's a hellofa statement . . . I would be very interested to read the information buttressing that conclusion.

I listened to a few of the political pundits who said that Bibi simply became too unwilling to listen to any suggestions differing from his . . . some even suggesting his outright arrogance. Granted, these are just "pundits" and don't always have the inside track. Your contention sounds “inside” . . . please elaborate. Thanks.

BTW, thank you for your service to our country and God bless you.

[OReilly]

Like another poster before me stated, your question is trivial, and your viewpoint juvenile. And before you go blowing off my point with your magic question. I have an American Passport, not an Israeli one. So kiss my red white and blue arse.

Well if you are so red white and blue, why is it so difficult for you and the other (Who comes first, refusenicks) to answer the simple question? Most Americans, even many Jewish Americans have no trouble answering the question... Who comes first, America or Israel... or is it a tie?

I think the list of those who stand up and refuse to answer the question on principle, or because it is juvenile, or whatever, is quite telling.

[monkeyshine]

I think if they could they would work very well together. Sharon at the helm and Bibi doing the talking to the west, as you said. They both have enough experience to learn (and remind each other) of their mistakes of the past. If Bibi can get beyond his ego and be willing to be FM for 4 years before running again for the top spot, it would be very good for Israel.

[American in Israel]

So answer my question. Is abortion ok because it is American or not ok because it is Israeli. Life is not a football game. That is why your question is trivial; you want to judge all things in life on their nationality. I am an American. That is the answer to your question. I do not agree with everything my country does. I still believe that it is the best country in the world and have not changed my citizenship.

But banning smoking in public, making people wear helmets when riding a motorcycle and seatbelts when riding a car, not letting people ride in the back of a pickup and taxing, taxing, fining, regulating and taxing those who are willing to work to give a free ride to those who are not so democrats can get more votes?

America is wrong there. It is anti-constitutional. Do you go rah-rah about those things? You want to paint the world with a mighty wide brush bucko. Most people think the issues are more important that the label. If you always vote yes for America, how the heck are you going to improve America, to bring in new ideas and fight to change old ones.

I like the pre tax to death America, the light a stogie, but be polite America, the lets ride to the beach in the pickup America. I do not like the new Nanny state America.

America is not always right, but I am and have always been and will always be an American.

Your question is like demanding an answer yes or no to the question “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?” That is why everybody is telling you that it is trivial and refusing to answer. I hope you figure this out soon, cause you are pretty irritating, and very much the “Ugly American”.

[OReilly]

Well... after that laundry list of burrs under your saddle, of things you don't like about America (things that are ugly in your mind), you are obviously not shy about speaking your mind. Don't you think it is a little interesting (even more than your actual answer) why you refuse to answer the question? Remember the question is Who comes first, America, or Israel, or is it a tie?

[American in Israel]

Is evil good if you wrap it in an American flag?

Of course America comes first you idiot, I am an American! Gosh you are as dense as a fence post. But no way am I going to go American on an evil thing against the right thing done by someone else. God save us from couch potatoes who would embrace evil in our country because some politician paints it red white and blue. ANY country that is totalitarian ends up frying its own. Anybody who asks dumb questions like you invalidates someone who actually thinks about the issues. That is why democracies don’t work and republics do.

You sir are the product of public schooling. Go back to football, you are scaring me.

[OReilly]

Anybody who asks dumb questions like you invalidates someone who actually thinks about the issues.

Are you playing FreeRepublic Scrabble and are just trying to use big words?

How does my asking a simple question that almost all Americans can easily answer, invalidate someone who thinks about the issues? What does invalidate mean to you?

Why do you refuse to answer the question, Who comes first... America or Israel, or is it a tie? You will not be invalidated, just exposed.

[ladyinred]

I adore Bibi. I think Israel should reelect him PM and then let him do what needs to be done. He gets it.

[Cinnamon Girl]

At least Bibi should be in a position where he needs to be in the media's eye A LOT. ;)

[flaglady47]

Bibi may love to be in the public eye, but Bibi is REAL GOOD at it when in the public forum, and he puts across beautifully and succinctly the Israeli position and the reality of its situation, as a democracy surrounded by a sea of clans and dictatorships. Bibi is incredibly useful to Israel, and politics, by nature, draws those who love the spotlight. That is not a bad thing, especially when a Bibi can get out there and so precisely explain why Israel needs to do what it does when dealing with the Pali's. So I'm delighted that Bibi is out there; Israel could have no better spokesman. I am a realist. Sharon is, frankly, old. He is no spring chicken. At some point he's going to have to hang it up and pass the baton, and that time is not far off. Better that he pass the baton to a Bibi, with his political experience, and with his like-minded views as to how to deal with Israel's precarious position as a state surrounded by hostile neighbors (and I use that term neighbors loosely). From Sharon to Bibi would be a smooth transition. Let the younger man shoulder the burden of state leadership, and have Sharon serve as Defense minister. Then Israel would have the best of both worlds. As to Bibi's having gone along with the Oslo agreements. First, he had Clinton (no friend ever of Israel, contrary to mistaken belief of some) to contend with. The times were different then. Also, the situation in Israel had not deteriorated to such a degree as exists today. Bibi saw the light. He knows one can't deal on any rational level with the likes of Arafat and Co. They are flat out terrorists, and Arafat will die one. When I was young, I was much more liberal. Now that I am older, I have done a 180 degree turn, as have many of my generation after we "saw the light". Bibi, being a shrewd and insightful man, "gets it". I think earlier he would have very much preferred not to go down the Oslo path, but he had a gun to the back of his head by Clinton (and the kissing Hillary w/Arafat's wife). Bibi is actually now to the right of Sharon. Sharon has been actually, much more tentative than I have wished in some areas. Settlements should continue. Deals for a Palestinian future state are a joke and should never come to pass. It would be a death warrant for Israel. Yet Sharon himself is trying to placate the west (the 4 powers, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S.). He goes along with the idea of an eventual Palestinian state, he doesn't get rid of Arafat, and he actually dismantles some settlements, puny though they may have been. It's the principle of the settlements, that Israeli's be allowed to settle on any of the lands under their control, won fair and square in war, and on what was their ancient territories. Israel has thousands of Arabs living in its state,on its land; how can one possibly justify not allowing Israeli's to live amongst Arabs also, on lands won in war? It's only one sided? Arabs build illegal new housing sites around Jerusalem outskirts, but Jews are not supposed to? I think not. Back to Bibi, he does better with economic issues than Sharon can. Well, I could go on and on, so I'll say to myself "stifle Edith" and quit here. But Cinnamon Girl, whom I so often agree with, please don't hold past actions, forced on him by Clinton policy decisions against Bibi made against him now, as the situation has changed so drastically, and Bibi has got it figured out now. I actually love Sharon, his nationalism, his dedication to his country, his endearing lack of an ability to speak well in public, which to me is no fault; but neither is Bibi's great ability to speak well a fault either. I hope the two of them can work out an accomodation where Bibi takes the reins of state, and Sharon once again, serves in a Likud government, while giving great advice to Bibi and holding fast to his patriotism, so that Israel has a chance to survive as a state. Believe it or not, I'm done now.

[flaglady47]

Yikes, somehow my unedited copy ended up being posted; here is the edited and cleaned up version if you want a smoother read. Considering the length, one read is probably more than enough, but I just didn't want my unedited and somewhat sloppy first version out there by itself.
Bibi may love to be in the public eye, but Bibi is REAL GOOD at it when in the public forum, and he puts across beautifully and succinctly the Israeli position and the reality of its situation, as a democracy surrounded by a sea of clans and dictatorships. Bibi is incredibly useful to Israel, and politics, by nature, draws those who love the spotlight. That is not a bad thing, especially when a Bibi can get out there and so precisely explain why Israel needs to do what it does when dealing with the Pali's. So I'm delighted that Bibi is out there; Israel could have no better spokesman. I am a realist. Sharon is, frankly, old. He is no spring chicken. At some point he's going to have to hang it up and pass the baton, and that time is not far off. Better that he pass the baton to a Bibi, with his political experience, and with his like-minded views as to how to deal with Israel's precarious position as a state surrounded by hostile neighbors (and I use that term neighbors loosely). From Sharon to Bibi would be a smooth transition. Let the younger man shoulder the burden of state leadership, and have Sharon serve as Defense minister. Then Israel would have the best of both worlds. As to Bibi's having gone along with the Oslo agreements. First, he had Clinton (no friend ever of Israel, contrary to mistaken belief of some) to contend with. The times were different then. Also, the situation in Israel had not deteriorated to such a degree as exists today. Bibi saw the light. He knows one can't deal on any rational level with the likes of Arafat and Co. They are flat out terrorists, and Arafat will die one. When I was young, I was much more liberal. Now that I am older, I have done a 180 degree turn, as have many of my generation after we "saw the light". Bibi, being a shrewd and insightful man, "gets it". I think earlier he would have very much preferred not to go down the Oslo path, but he had a gun to the back of his head by Clinton (and the kissing Hillary w/Arafat's wife). Bibi is actually now to the right of Sharon. Sharon has been in some ways much more tentative than I have wished in some areas. Settlements should continue. Deals for a Palestinian future state are a joke and should never come to pass. It would be a death warrant for Israel. Yet Sharon himself is trying to placate the west (the 4 powers, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S.). He goes along with the idea of an eventual Palestinian state, he doesn't get rid of Arafat, and he actually dismantles some settlements, puny though they may have been. It's the principle of the settlements, that Israeli's be allowed to settle on any of the lands under their control, won fair and square in war, and on what was their ancient territories. Israel has thousands of Arabs living in its state,on its land; how can one possibly justify not allowing Israeli's to live amongst Arabs also, on lands won in war? It's only one sided? Arabs build illegal new housing sites around Jerusalem outskirts, but Jews are not supposed to? I think not. Back to Bibi, he does better with economic issues than Sharon can. Also, there are great water wars about to rear up, and were a Pali state created, and land given back to Syria, water sources would dwindle down to the point that it would jeopardize the very existence of Israel. Israel can never let control of water sources be removed from her and Bibi would make sure of that. Well, I could go on and on, so I'll say to myself "stifle Edith" and quit here. But Cinnamon Girl, whom I so often agree with, please don't hold past actions, forced on him by Clinton policy decisions, against Bibi now, as the situation has changed so drastically, and Bibi has got it figured out. I actually love Sharon, his nationalism, his dedication to his country, his endearing lack of an ability to speak well in public, which to me is no fault; but neither is Bibi's great ability to speak well a fault either. I hope the two of them can work out an accomodation where Bibi takes over the helm of state, and Sharon once again, serves in his Likud government, giving great advice to Bibi and holding fast to his patriotism, so that Israel has her best chance to survive as a state. Believe it or not, I'm done now.

[flaglady47]

P.S., I forgot how to do paragraphs.

[American in Israel]

I have answered your question four times, but you are way to stupid to realize it. I kinda suspect that "all the others that will not answer it" have also answered it, but you would be required to rub two brain cells together hard enough to generate a calorie to understand that.

At this point all you deserve is sarcasm, but I don't like pulling the wings off of flies or torturing helpless things so I will leave you alone.

To answer your last question to me, no I am not playing scrabble with big words, they actually are sentences. Spend a few hours with a dictionary and decipher them.

[the-ironically-named-proverbs2]

"...but you would be required to rub two brain cells together hard enough to generate a calorie to understand that."

did you come up with that one yourself? ouch (LOL)

[OReilly]

"...but you would be required to rub two brain cells together hard enough to generate a calorie to understand that."<<<<<<<< did you come up with that one yourself? ouch (LOL)

I can assure you that III came up with that one... He has no idea how much a calorie really is. He would have to be referring to brain cells from the Jurassic Period, if rubbing two together would generate a Calorie. Maybe you don't have a clue about that either? ouch (LoL)

[the-ironically-named-proverbs2]

Wow, this "III" is certainly a witty one. And by the way, I have to admit that I'm not really up on Jurassic brain cell caloric production. My simple mind just took it for a joke.