With just three days to go until the primary elections in the Likud, former prime minister and favorite candidate Benjamin Netanyahu waged a scathing attack on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, accusing his newly-formed faction Kadima of secret plans to make major territorial concession to the Palestinians should Sharon win a third term.
Referring to comments made this week by top Sharon aide Kalman Gayer to American magazine Newsweek saying Sharon would concede 90 percent of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem in a final status peace agreement with the Palestinians, Netanyahu accused Sharon of deceit for concealing his political agenda from Israeli voters.
“Kadima’s political platform should be outlined clearly,” said Netanyahu in an exclusive interview to Ynet. “Kalman has been suddenly sidelined and he is no longer a close aide. We are speaking of a man who until few days ago was part of the prime minister’s inner circle,” said Netanyahu.
'Resist international pressure'
In a statement issued Monday evening soon after Channel 1 reported Gayer’s comments to Newsweek, Sharon said that under his leadership Jerusalem will remain the united capital of Israel for ever. Sharon aides also refuted the report as “journalistic manipulations,” insisting that Gayer was expressing his own views and he will keep his post as an advisor to Sharon.
Netanyahu criticized Sharon’s decision to allow a convoy passagefor merchandise between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank saying the Palestinians will turn the passage into a “terror pipe.”
The former prime minister called on the government to “resist international pressure” and close the passage which he said poses a real security threat to Israel.
The Likud primaries are the final hurdle facing Netanyahu before the general elections of March 28 which will see him take on Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz and Sharon’s Kadima party.