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Photo: Gil Yohanan
Naftali Bennett
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Barrage of mixed messages

Op-ed: Factions in Netanyahu's 'new politics' government appear to have very little in common

Three months have passed since the establishment of the "new politics" government. The election campaign promises have been forgotten, the State Budget has been passed, and all the ministers have their own reforms and their own description of all the good they are doing, individually, for the State of Israel. The government is working, but the sum of all its parts does not provide an entire vision. The connection between Yesh Atid, Habayit Hayehudi and Hatnua does not signal a path. It marks the constraints.

 

The Netanyahu government, with Habayit Hayehudi and Uri Ariel as housing minister, is freezing construction in Jerusalem. Construction in the settlement blocs, which most Israelis believe should remain under our control after any agreement, is also frozen. One can only imagine how Ariel would have responded to this policy had he been sitting in the Opposition.

 

There is also a barrage of mixed messages. Netanyahu continues to talk about two states for two peoples, while other coalition members continue to declare that the plan has no chance. When there is no coordination, some of the contradicting messages are pulled out of the sleeve or, in Bennett's case, out of the rear end.

 

Bennett likes to tell army stories. He built a career on it. When the story involves a comparison between the conflict with the Palestinians and shrapnel lodged in a buddy's rear end, it is even better and captures the listeners' hearts. A foreigner could never appreciate the value of a story told around a bonfire and would never understand the voting public's fascination with juicy tales of battle. Sometimes Bennett shares an anecdote about his comrades in the anti-terror course, and at other times he makes diplomatic statements.

 

In Bennett's defense, he does not mean what he says. The Palestinians are not really a forgotten piece of shrapnel in the buttocks. They are felt over the entire body. It is not at all certain that members of Bennett's party were thrilled with the comparison between a rear and the Land of Israel.

 

The Palestinians, who are waging a war of accusations against Israel in the international arena, filled their newspapers with the remarks made by Bennett and the tireless Danny Danon. They learned from us how to document and are gathering evidence of the Israelis' "hidden intentions." In the next round of talks, when the Israeli negotiators will provide data on anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian education system, the Palestinian negotiators will counter with Bennett's rear end comment.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.23.13, 09:05
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