By Ted Belman
The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference is taking place today. All talks are being streamed and will no doubt be available to watch later. The link to the streaming is on their site.
This morning I watched talks by Yair Lapid, Interior Min Gilad Erdan of Likud and Nir Barkat.
Lapid’s presentation skills are excellent. He started out by attacking Netanyahu for having no plan to ensure Israel’s security or to acheive peace. He, on the other hand, did. He came out against the peace process with the Palestinians because they are afraid to compromise. Instead he want first a regional conference with Jordan, Egypt and the Arab countries to determine a path forward. He believes that Egypt should be part of the Gaza solution and Egypt should be part of the Judea/Samaria solution. This would be followed up with an international conference and so on.
He simply assumed that the regional players would back compromises. And if not?????
Isn’t this the regional solution that Netanyahu has been promoting?
Lapid, however, hasn’t signed a vote sharing agreement with anyone, despite being solicited by several parties on the center-left, including Labor and Meretz. Why not? Who does he want to sing such agreement with?
Arutz Sheva expands on his remarks.
Gilad Erdan framed the election as a choice between choosing to give up land to the Palestinians without receiving anything in return and between the alternative of negotiating but standing on the condition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland and be willing to compromise. “Peace is only possible with concessions by both sides,” the Interior Minister said.
He spent most of his time talking about how bad a neighborhood Israel lives in and how every withdrawal that Israel agreed to resulted in violence and the threat of escalated violence. He pointed out as Netanyahu always does how Israel is on the front lines of a battle that Europe and America are facing whether they recognize it or not. And of course he attacked Iran for its support of such terrorist organizations as Hamas and Hezbollah, presenting it as a danger to all. He stressed that Iran should be prevented from getting the bomb.
Finally he also defending our policies for dealing with illegal aliens.
Arutz Sheva reports on his remarks.
Nil Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem, told of his wonderful accomplishments in Jerusalem and of its glorious future for residents of all faiths. He particularly stressed maintaining the status quo. He ended by surprising all in saying that Jerusalem must remain united. He was very emphatic about that.
The conference will convene shortly if it hasn’t already.
Any leading politician in Israel who imagines that Egypt would be willing to undertake governance of either or both Fatah or Hamas in any regional plan for resolving the protracted conflict between Israel and the Arabs of Shomron, Yehuda and Gaza; is one whose tongue has cleaved to the roof of his mouth and whose right arm has lost its cunning, if I quote scripture more or less correctly.
But, in any case, not to worry. Yair Lapid no longer in the ranks of those for whom any significant number of Israeli voters want to lead them. I sort of rank him with Chris Christie, or New Jersey Fats, as not a few of us regard that particular specimen.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
It is irrelevant what the second fiddles say at any given time. Irregardless of the poll industry, Netanyahu and a natural coalition would be far ahead from any of them or a combo of them. Lapid pretended regional plan idea is Netanyahu’s idea from the start. And that Lapid shows like a walking lip is because that is his only tool. He is a made showman, nothing else.
Doubt that key players Bennett and Netanyahu would waste any time debating Livni, Hertzog or Lapid.
Ben Eliezer is an old dog within Mapai and the political arena here, today he quit “politics”. He knows why.