At 12:55 PM Wednesday, the prime minister’s office leaked a message so subversive and so clever, it insisted the editor of the 1 PM news edition at Kol Israel attribute it to anonymous “Likud circles.” That’s one notch below “senior Likud officials” and well below “circles close to the prime minister,” which is, basically, the prime minister. I heard it in my car, driving up to Jerusalem, but didn’t pay attention to the special wording. Maariv’s Shalom Yerushalmi paid attention, and realized the PM people were using the Atomic option.

The Likud circles, according to the leak, threatened that if there won’t be a breakthrough in the coalition negotiations within hours, the Likud would initiate an accelerated negotiations with the Haredi parties for a right-leaning new government without Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party.

In addition, a higher level source inside the PM’s circles, told Haaretz that Netanyahu believes the reason Lapid has upped the ante of his demands was his buyer’s remorse. Somehow he ended up agreeing to the Finance portfolio, and now, seeing the mess he would have to deal with, he wants to back out, so he’s making it impossible to come to an agreement.

That’s not such an outlandish surmise. Lapid, ever the glitzy charmer, had had his heart set on the Foreign Minister’s job. And he would have made a great FM, kissing hands and raising champagne glasses and all the other fun stuff FMs get to do in Paris, London, Rome, DC, and, of course, Moscow.

Except Avigdor Liberman, Netanyahu’s faction partner, already had dibs on the Foreign Ministry. Liberman couldn’t serve in the government for now, not until the silly corruption suit against him is resolved in court. But Bibi had promised Ivet to hold on to the seat for him, and breaking that promise would have been a deal killer all around.

So Lapid backed off and agreed to take another of the top three portfolios—Finance.

Customarily, the Foreign, Defense and Finance ministries belong to the party of the Prime Minister. It is a rare occurrence, usually driven by a national crisis (such as when Moshe Dayan was invited, from the opposition benches, to become Defense Minister in 1967). So, giving Lapid this high honor was a big thing.

But the job of Finance Minister is not going to make Lapid many friends this time around. No hand kissing and champagne here for the teen idol. The Netanyahu government has accrued a 40 billion shekel (just under $11 billion) deficit which has to be cut from the next budget. Unlike the U.S. government, which can run deficits in the trillion, Israeli governments are prohibited by law from running a deficit that’s higher than 3 percent of the budget. The new deficit constitutes 5.10 percent, and so some cutting has to take place.

And lover boy Yair Lapid will have the dubious honor of deciding what gets cut:

Should it be the new raises to hospital nurses? Low-cost education? Environmental improvements? Social Security benefit increases for the elderly? Highway construction? Train service?

There’s no two ways about it – in the end, someone is going to hate Yair Lapid for whatever cut he’ll make. And since he’s an avowed free market and anti-tax type, he won’t be able to fix things by taking more money from business (although Teva, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical conglomerate, received close to a billion dollars in tax break from the outgoing Finance Minister – that should pay for a few hot lunches).

The leak was a lie, of course, Lapid seems just as eager as before to embrace the, arguably, second most important job in government. But the first anonymous threat, about a coalition with Shas, UTJ and Bennett – especially when, reportedly, backed by Bennett himself, who assured Lapid he intended to stay in government, with or without him – that convinced Lapid it was time to call the game and put the cards on the table.

There’s an old Jewish joke about a shadchan who tries to convince a yeshiva bocher to marry Princess Margaret. He answers every one of the poor man’s questions – she would make a great wife, she has money, she will convert for the right man – until the yeshiva bocher breaks down and agrees to the deal. At which point the shadchan sighs deeply and says: Now starts the hard part.

(((CLICK BELOW TO HEAR AUDIO)))

Yishai is joined by MK Danny Danon of the Likud and Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel of the Bayit Yehudi parties. First, Yishai interviews MK Danon and the kick off discussing Danon’s thoughts on the leadership of Prime Minister of Benjamin Netanyahu and how he needs to ensure that a two-state solution does not happen. Danon moves on to give his alternate view of the concept of settlement and also talk about Danon’s harsh criticism of MK Haneen Zoabi for choosing to be a crewmember of an anti-Israeli flotilla. They end by discussing the changing relationship between Israel and the United States.

Following the interview with MK Danon, Yishai presents a recent interview with Knesset hopeful Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel of the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party. Gimpel discusses how his party is not only considered by many to be the up and coming party within the Knesset, especially among younger voters but also is the youngest party in regards to the age of the members running for office. Yishai and Gimpel end by talking about the need for a true Zionist party in Israel and why Bayit Yehudi is exactly that.

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Likud Member of Knesset Danny Danon said on saturday night that in the next government, the ministry of housing and construction, which oversees and provides assistance for new construction, including in Judea and Samaria should be held by a Likud member.

To that end, voters should give the Likud as many mandates as possible, as that will make it easier for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep the portfolio within the party. It is currently held by Ariel Attias of the Shas party.

Danon’s comments were made at the Member of Knesset’s victory-Chanukah party in Rishon Letzion, which was attended by hundreds of Likud members and activists who supported Danon in recent Likud primaries.

Surprising many, Danon, who is considered one of the most nationalist members of the Likud, ranked fifth in the primaries among Likud candidates for the Knesset. After the merger of the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu’s list of candidate for the Knesset, Danon is number nine.

Normally, Knesset Members who rank so high in a party are considered for positions in the cabinet if the party forms or is part of the government.

Danon could be indicating what ministry he would prefer to hold in the next government.

However, despite his success in the recent primaries, Danon, has often clashed with Netanyahu, making it less likely that Netanyahu will offer him a ministry.

In addition, there has been speculation that Netanyahu will want to provide ministerial positions to Likud members who are part of the current government, but did not rank high in the Likud primaries. These include Minister of the Treasury Yuval Steinitz as well as several members who ranked so low in the Likud primaries they are not likely to appear in the next Knesset at all, Benny Begin, Michael Eitan and Dan Meridor.

Current Likud ministers, Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan, Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz, Minister for the Development of the Galilee and the Negev Silvan Shalom, Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon, all ranked in the top ten in the Likud’s primaries and are all expected to receive portfolios in the next government.

Likud Primaries are coming soon, and it’s time to think about who should be on the Likud’s MK list for the upcoming national elections.

Last night I reviewed the list of candidates and started making notes to myself of potential people to get my vote. The process works as follows: You must vote for 12 candidates on the list as your primary candidates, and then 1 additional person as your regional candidate.

So far, the only candidates that I am 100% certain about are from the list from Mattot Arim. Their current update is as follows (I am providing only the Likud-related section of the report. You can read their full report here on their website (look for the English posts on the right hand side):

Accountability 4: Vote for Those who Get Things Done – Mattot Arim’s Parliamentary Report 4 

We invite you to vote for the high-scorers, so that this time, YOUR Knesset and YOUR Government, will get DONE what YOU want!  Here is Parliamentary Report 4 by Mattot Arim:  http://heb.mattotarim.org/images/docs/yamin.pdf  It discloses what the MKs and ministers got done in the first half of year 2011.

High scoring MKs and ministers, in the attached report, are those who have been standing strong against Oslo, Disengagement, Palestinian State  and other pro-Arab anti-Israel paradigms.

There are 4 MKs and one minister which consistently do well in all reports - Danny Danon, Zev Elkin, Zipi Hotovely and Yariv Levin. Top-ranking minister: Yuli Edelstein. Make sure these 5 are on your list!! A new but particularly strong candidate is Moshe Feiglin.

Residents of the Ashdod-Rehovot area (shfela area)  – please take note!! It is important for you to vote for Meir Malka. He is running against a very powerful proponent of disengagement. If you vote for Meir Malka who has the same kind of national viewpoint as you do, you are sparing the Knesset his rival who could be very dangerous.  Please forward this paragraph about the important candidacy of Shfela representative Meir Malka, to EVERYONE you know in the following cities: Ashdod, Rishon leZion, Rehovot, Modiin, Lod, Gedera, Yavneh, Nes Ziona, Ramleh, Kiryat Ekron, Beer Yakov, Bet Dagan, Bnei Ayish, Gan Yavne, Mazkeret Batya, Macabim-Reut. Only residents of those cities are eligible to vote for Meir Malka.<

Reminder: if you want to help with Mattot Arim’s important national accountability project, learn more: http://mattotarim1.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/we-need-your-help-right-now-to-generate.html. And feel free to contact us at mattot.arim@gmail.com.

More updates to come…

PS: Just make sure NOT to vote for Zachi HaNegbi!

Visit The Muqata.

Israeli summer is in full glory – ice-cold watermelon, late-afternoon cookouts, summer camp, and the arrival of another planeload of smiling, energized immigrants from North America, courtesy of Nefesh b’Nefesh, the Jewish Agency, the Ministry of Absorption, and the Jewish National Fund.

The third flight since June 18 brought 229 Jews home on the “wings of eagles” from New York’s JFK airport.

Two young olot actually fulfilled the custom of kissing the hallowed ground, in this case the Ben Gurion tarmac.

The new Israelis – young and old, singles and large families – were greeted with tears and warm embraces from family members, as well as songs and a celebratory, 800-people welcoming ceremony organized by Nefesh b’Nefesh and its partners.

There was an 800-people welcoming ceremony on hand.

Among the dignitaries present to address the honored immigrants was Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Chairman MK Danny Danon.

“I’m honored, and we are all excited to come and greet you today because for you it’s a special moment, but also for the people of Israel,” Danon told the attendees.  Offering respect to recently deceased Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, Danon told the crowd a story about a question he once asked the respected Israeli leader.

“After I introduced him in an event in Florida many years ago, I was younger, with more hair…  I asked Shamir ‘what was your great achievement? Leading the underground? Being in the Mossad? Being the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the prime minister? What was your great achievement , Mr. Shamir?  He told me ‘Listen, young guy. The great thing is to bring olim to eretz yisrael [the Land of Israel]’, that’s what he believed, and that is what we are doing here today.”

However, Danon offered a stark contrast between the number of immigrants choosing Israel as their home, and the number of Africans doing the same.  “Unfortunately, there are more African infiltrators who come from Africa to Israel than olim who come to Israel every year.  So the government must do more,” Danon said.

“I want to tell you, the people who made the decision – for you, it was a personal decision.  You chose to bring your family, you chose to come to live in Israel, you made the right decision.  The best place to bring up, to educate Jewish families is here in Israel, and I know that you come from a wonderful community, but you will not regret it.”

In the 10 years since Nefesh b’Nefesh’s inception, the group has assisted 30,000 Americans, Canadians, and British Jews in making aliyah.  Included in that number are 2,500 new IDF soldiers, 378 physicians and psychologists, 650 scientists and medical professionals, and 2,300 new residents in Judea and Samaria. The good times have kept on rolling after the planes landed, with  immigrants celebrating 4,000 births, and 640 marriages.

Yael Katzman, Director of Communications for Nefesh b’Nefesh, said that while the organization continues to receive applications from Jews of all backgrounds and personal situations, it has noticed an increase in the number of singles and young professionals choosing to make Israel home.  Nefesh b’Nefesh has responded by specializing events and information for the group.

“We’re doing all sorts of special programming for them,” Katzman said.  “Next month we have a boat ride we’re organizing in the NY area so they can get together and hear about Israel and aliyah and network with each other.”  Approximately 1,400 young professionals are expected to touch down in 2012.

One of those young professionals is Tag Adler, son of Yeshiva University Dean Norman Adler, who returned to Israel after several years in Los Angeles while his wife pursued her PhD, and left the illustrious Google Corporation to make Israel home.

“The market here is incredible for hi-tech in general – this is ‘startup nation’, so I knew that if I left Google, I could come here and find another job and luckily I was able to do that,” Adler said. “And there’s so much talent here and so much opportunity, that people should not be intimidated to come here to get a better job. In fact, I got a really good job, even a step up from what I was doing with someone else, so the dream can come true in Israel.  You can have your cake and eat it too here in Israel.”

According to Katzman, the majority of American immigrants harken from New York and New Jersey.  Among the concerns Nefesh b’Nefesh helps them address are separation from family members staying behind in the Diaspora, language barriers, and employment.

“Nefesh b’Nefesh was created on the foundation of helping people overcome the obstacles, whether it’s employment or integration or bureaucratic processing, but these are all things Nefesh b’Nefesh has tried to help with and it’s the secret to our success in the last decade,” Katzman said.

Despite criticism that Nefesh b’Nefesh has not garnered a huge surge in the number of Jews hearing the call to return to the homeland, Katzman noted that Nefesh b’Nefesh applications continue to pour in, and that the numbers are only rising.  “We’re expecting close to 5,000 olim this year,” Katzman said.  “We have never experienced a decrease in the number of olim – we’ve only gone up.”

Overwhelmingly, said Katzman, Nefesh b’Nefesh olim are Jews who connect deeply to their Jewishness.

“The people who are making aliyah are people who are affiliated or people who feel a strong sense of Jewish identity, they are committed,” said Katzman.

“Your family’s going to have to respect your decision that you have to live your dream, and they’re going to have to really love you and set you free to do that,” Adler said.  “But ultimately you’re going to have to make that choice to live that dream.”

The people of Israel lost a true leader with the passing of Yitzhak Shamir. Before assuming the reins as our seventh prime minister, Shamir dutifully served his people and his country first as head of the underground Lehi, then in the Mossad where he was responsible for tracking down and eliminating some of our worst enemies including Nazi war criminals who had fled to Egypt, and finally in the political arena where he served as a Member and then Speaker of Knesset, Foreign Minister and finally Prime Minister after the resignation of his mentor Menachem Begin.

Upon the death of a loved one, we often take the time to look through the memory book of their life and search for the lessons that their legacy can teach us. In the case of Yitzhak Shamir, a multi-volume set of thick bound tomes might be more appropriate a metaphor. These books are filled with the earth of the whole land of Israel, and immersed in values and an understanding of our unique place in history. His spirit and his values are an inspiration to all of those who love this land, and especially to the members of his beloved Likud movement that strive to stay true to Shamir’s teachings.

You do not negotiate on your core ideology. This is what guided Shamir in his steadfast defense of the rights of the Jewish people to their historic homeland. In the years that he guided Israel’s foreign policy, he would not compromise on this basic tenet. In 1992, under intense pressure from the American administration, Shamir stood fast and made clear to the world that money cannot buy and replace values. He bravely rejected the US demand that he stop building in Judea and Samaria in return for loan guarantees. This money was very much needed to absorb our brothers who were then coming home from the former Soviet Union, but Shamir knew such an act on his behalf would create a slippery slope that would set a terrible precedent for the future leaders of Israel. Such a move on his behalf would have endangered his beloved settlement enterprise which he knew was invaluable for the future well-being of the State.

Shamir’s decisions and policies were not always popular or politically correct. There was no end of criticism both in Israel and form the international community. In fact, there were times when his refusal to abandon his core values probably cost him at the ballot box, such as when he lost to Yitzhak Rabin in the 1992 elections. Nevertheless, over time, his steadfastness disproved today’s assumption that you must be guided daily by opinion polls to obtain power, and then govern. Without ever abandoning his beliefs, Shamir was able to not only reach the highest office in the land, but he also ended up serving in office longer than any other prime minister since David Ben Gurion. Moreover, because of his intellectual honesty and core decency, since leaving office Shamir is admired by all Israelis – whatever their political persuasion – for the great leader that he was.

To better convey Shamir’s unique foresight and leadership capabilities, I must share a short story. In the early 1990s, while serving as a Betar emissary in the United States, I invited one of my childhood heroes to visit my host community. Yitzhak graciously agreed to come and speak at an event I had organized promoting Israel and aliyah. When he was asked for his opinion about the demographic threat that is so often raised, Shamir answered with full confidence that we must remain steadfast and work tirelessly to bring millions of Soviet Jews home to Israel. At that time, such a prediction seemed completely unrealistic and even a tad naïve. Nevertheless, Shamir’s analysis proved with time to be completely accurate and proved how important it is for a leader to remain true to his values. By believing and planning, one million Russians ultimately came to live in Israel, changing our core demographic reality forever.

That night, after he had finished addressing the group, I had the honor of spending an evening with the former Prime Minister. I was enthralled with his stories and life lessons, especially with his core conviction that a leader must truly believe in and be ready to defend his policies. If a leader does so, he told me, there is no need to worry about the criticism that will inevitably follow any brave decision.

Likud MK and Knesset Deputy Speaker  Danny Danon said that if Defense Minister Ehud Barak is not stopped now, there are nine thousand housing units in Judea and Samaria which are being challenged like Ulpana Hill and the Jewish purchased residences in Hebron.

“We must stop this erosion and say, enough, we won’t let Barak carry out a creeping erosion of the settlements of Judea and Samaria,” Danon told JewishPress.com Sunday night, at the end of a crowded assembly outside the homes of Ulpana Hill in Bet El, under the banner “The Likud Is With the Settlement Movement” (Ha’Likud im ha’hityashvut).

MK Danon was one of a dozen or so Likud MKs and other dignitaries who arrived Sunday evening to show their support for continued and even expanded Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria.

Danon promised before Passover to pass legislation to correct the Migron issue, whereby the Israeli High Court had annulled a deal signed between the government and the settlers to prevent a forcible evacuation, and instead provide them with alternative housing on a nearby hill.

“Last week the Knesset convened during its recess, to discuss these very issues,” Danon told JewishPress.com. “Migron was the beginning. It continued with Machpelah House, and now Bet El.”

“There are a few legislative options,” Danon continued. “I have endorsed the Settlement Regulation Act. It’s a good, appropriate, Zionist option. There are other ideas as well.”

The Settlement Regulation legislation determines that after some time has passed and a previously unknown Palestinian claimant comes up with documentation of ownership of an existing settlement, the alleging owner will receive monetary compensation or alternative land, if they can prove their ownership.

Some speakers at the Likud solidarity meeting outside the Ulpana Hill homes have suggested that today all a Palestinian person has to do is go to the Palestinian Authority and receive a piece of paper saying a certain plot of land belongs to him. We asked Danon how the court would go about verifying such claims, which are becoming rampant with the encouragement of leftist, pro-Palestinian Israeli organizations, many of which are directly or indirectly funded by the European Union.

“The mother of all evils is the fact that we have not enforced Israel’s authority over Judea and Samaria,” said Danon. “Today the process is that they don’t go to a court, but instead they begin with filing an appeal with the Supreme Court. And there the entire process of proving ownership is more problematic (as the high court may accept evidence which would never be acceptable to a civil court — YY). If the same claim were filed with a normal court, this would not have been the outcome.”

The unfortunate incident which took place in the Jordan Valley on Saturday, where an IDF officer was forced to physically fight off an anti-Israel activist, has proven once again that we are not dealing appropriately with this latest attack on the very legitimacy of our existence. We witnessed this regrettable phenomenon again this week with the ludicrous internal debate that has surrounded the ‘flytilla’ attack on Israel. Our society is busying itself with an absurd internal debate that includes calls from the extreme-left to welcome these anti-Israel activists and open a dialogue with them. This is not only a misguided theory, but it actually endangers the foundations of our society. Attempts to explain the rationale behind the Zionist dream of building a state in our historic homeland are futile when directed at those seeking to infiltrate Israel’s borders solely to attack us from within.

It is time that we recognize the reality with which we are faced. The State of Israel is at war. This war is being fought on a completely different battlefield than in the past, where the notion of ‘de-legitimization’ has replaced bullets and provocative actions such as the flotilla have replaced tanks and fighter planes. Nevertheless, we must not be confused by this new type of warfare. Just as we did not hesitate to confront the violent acts perpetrated by our enemies in the past, we cannot waver in our resolve against this new threat. Would we allow a would-be suicide bomber into our country to facilitate a ‘dialogue’ with him? Of course not. Here too we must not be naïve and bury our heads in the sand. While the ‘de-legitimization battle’ may be sometime confusing and seem less dangerous than physical acts of war, the implications of capitulation will be just as dire for Israel’s future as a military loss would be.

To combat this new form of warfare, we must be as creative as we have been on the traditional battlefield. We must immediately implement a three-pronged approach at keeping these terrorists out of Israel: prevent, arrest, and deport. Our diplomats and envoys abroad must work with our allies around the world to ensure that these troublemakers never make it on a plane in the first place, and our security and immigration officials here in Israel should ensure that those who do get through are arrested and then either jailed or deported. During this past week Prime Minister Netanyahu and his ministers prepared well for the looming onslaught, and the results of having a well thought-out policy are evident in the fact that the ‘flytilla’ debacle we were warned so much played out in relative quiet. They should be commended for their vigilance.

Still, as we saw with the Jordan Valley incident these steps must be further strengthened and stringently implemented. The militant activist from Denmark who attacked the IDF officer should have never been in a position to do so. He never should have been allowed entry into Israel. Once he was allowed in, he should have been arrested and tried at the first sign of illegal activity. Even now, it is unacceptable that he is walking free in our country after violently attacking an officer. He must be arrested and deported immediately.

The State of Israel must defend itself against anarchists and all those who openly state that their only reason for entering the country is to work from within to ensure its destruction. We have seen what happens when we allow such activities to go on unchecked. What began as “non-violent” protests against our right to build a security fence to defend against suicide bombers has turned into weekly riots in places like Bilin where rocks, concrete blocks, and Molotov cocktails are regularly hurled at our soldiers. These so-called activists not only take part in these violent attacks on our security forces, but also gather intelligence against Israel and provide it to organizations that bankroll terrorism against our citizens.

While I am a fervent advocate of Hasbara outreach – I have personally spent countless hours, days, and weeks traveling around the world speaking out on behalf of our legitimate rights – we must also know when the time for talk has ended. In dealing with those who openly and unabashedly call for the destruction of the Jewish State, it is a waste of time to make the ‘case for Israel’. Instead, we must meet this challenge as we have similar threats in the past, with creativity and determination, to ensure that the interests of the State of Israel and the Jewish people are safeguarded against those who seek to hurt us.