Sharon (left) and Netanyahu
צילום: איי אף פי
Fox's head
How ironic for Netanyahu to accuse Sharon of foul play
Like Japanese soldiers who failed to realize World War II was over, the group of Likud rebels is having a hard time giving up their fight against disengagement.
Five weeks ago, at the Likud Central Committee meeting in Tel Aviv, the group declared it would accept the decisions taken by at the convention. That declaration will be tested today when the Knesset votes on adding two Likud members to the government.
But what do you know; most are threatening to veto the move.
"This move is a corrupt move," said Benjamin Netanyahu. "Sharon bought votes in exchange for these positions."
Far from innocent
Sharon is far from innocent when it comes to practical politics. As he has proven in the past, he will stop at nothing to ensure the majorities he needs: When he had no majority in the government for disengagement, he manufactured one by firing the ministers who opposed the move. When party members vetoed the move, he dismissed the results of the vote as unimportant; and in Tel Aviv last month, he emerged victorious due to threats he would split the party.
But the burden of proof is now on Netanyahu and co., not on Sharon. There is no evidence at the moment to support the claim that the new ministers were nominated as a result of some "corrupt move".
Three politicians will come out ahead rewarded from today's vote: Ehud Olmert, who will assume the finance ministry (he has been the temporary minister since Netanyahu quit the week before disengagement), Roni Bar-On and Ze'ev Boim, who will both become ministers.
All three supported disengagement from the beginning, even before there was any payback in the offing. They may have sold their souls, but their votes were perfectly kosher.
Bar-on: From Hebron to Sharon
It was on Prime Minister Netanyahu watch that the "Bar-On-Hebron" deal made headlines. How ironic for the same Netanyahu to now build a whole mythos about "Bar-On-Sharon."
Netanyahu could break a long-standing tradition and try to take the power to decide which party members serve in government away from Sharon. Let the Central Committee decide. Let the Knesset faction decide. Let the Arrangements Committee decide.
But Netanyahu is not crazy. He wants to be prime minister. He won't break the branch he hopes to one day sit on again.
Preparing for battle
Sharon's victory at the Likud convention put his opponents in a tough position. They should have taken a deep breath, reined in their anger and quietly prepared for party primaries in March, when the party will choose its election slate for the next Knesset elections.
Sharon's opponents can take comfort in one result from the convention: it set a honey trap for Sharon. He was forced to remain in a party whose institutions despise him, and whom he despises in return. Not at all a bad start to a political campaign.
Either way, there is nothing on the horizon that should anger the right. No negotiations with the Palestinians or Syria. No unilateral pullouts, not even from the outposts Sharon promised to dismantle (the pullout is so far off that the Hilltop Youth were forced to beat IDF officers as they tried to evacuate fictitious farms).
The right will have to wait. Wait for the Palestinians to resume terrorism in full force, wait for Sharon to make a mistake, wait for the central committee to vote.
But Jewish politicians have no patience for waiting. They want power now, Knesset seats now, fighting now.
Heads and tails
Anti-disengagement Knesset members were furious when Sharon called them "rebels". They understand the phrase was manipulative: it established Sharon as the "norm" and them as the "outsiders."
But now, they are benefiting from the phrase. They are rebelling in the central committee, the body in which they seek to topple Sharon. It's easy to see here the urge; it's difficult to see the wisdom.
The Likud has several bitter members, who now find themselves at a dead end. Their fight against Sharon is all they have left.
It is not surprising to find Naomi Blumenthal or Michael Gorlovsky amongst them. It is more surprising to find Netnyahu.
He decided, for whatever reason, that he must decide whether to be the tail of a lion or the head of a fox. He chose to be the head of a fox.
