There is no difference between Netanyahu and Bennett, except for the mental dependence of the latter upon the former.
Bennett lied when he said that he stopped the release of terrorists. When Netanyahu decided to release hundreds of terrorists, I announced that I would vote against the state budget. Neither Bennett nor anybody from his party joined me in the move and left me to carry out my threat alone.
Bennett and his Jewish Home party abstained from Agudat Yisrael Litzman’s Jerusalem bill, which proposed that prior to any negotiations over Jerusalem , 80 MKs would have to authorize the talks with their signature. Once again, Bennett and his friends left me alone – the only MK in the coalition – to vote in favor of the bill.
Bennett completely cooperated with the process of handing the Negev over to the Bedouins (the Prower Committee). Bennett also encouraged the torture of the hilltop youth for no reason.
Bennett does not have – and never had – any diplomatic or security approach that is different than Netanyahu’s. They are both equally opportunists. Bennett is responsible for the security fiasco as much as Lieberman and Netanyahu. If he would have put the keys on the table and announced that he would resign and bring the government down if the cabinet would decide on a ceasefire, he would have vindicated himself.
But he conducted himself just like Netanyahu, who voted in favor of the Expulsion from Gush Katif and then resigned from the Sharon government. Like Netanyahu, Bennett chose to act despicably and then attempt to create an illusion of determination.
The State of Israel does not need another tactical wizard (with the addition of a kippah on his head). The best one has already been at its helm for 20 years.
* * * * *
Why Did She Jump Off The Building?
When a woman jumps from a tall building to her death following a police interrogation, we all have to do some soul-searching.
I advocate as few laws as possible. However, after yesterday’s suicide by a worker for Lev Leviev who is being investigated for diamond smuggling, I am thinking about a law that would obligate the police to freeze the entire investigation until a non-police probe into the circumstances of the suicide is completed.
People’s honor, liberty and lives have become very cheap for the police and General Security Service (Shabak). The most basic human rights – honor and liberty – have been exchanged for considerations of rating, media, and politics. If there are suspicions against Leviev’s firm, the police have to investigate. But tax evasion – no matter how high – does not justify this result.
I have no doubt that the enthusiasm to overlook the suspects’ rights stems from the name Leviev (the name, incidentally, of a generous person whom I have never met and from whom I have never received anything) and the police desire to fill the role of modern-day Robin Hood.
Why don’t I have a doubt? Because I can give you a list of 10 suspicions – much more serious – against Ehud Barak, for example, that are not being investigated at all. The police, like the justice system, like the media, the army, the Shabak and the Mossad, are all important and vital. But do not think that they are “guardians” of Israeli societal norms.
Above and beyond their duties, they are players on the political field. The only difference between a High Court justice or police commissioner and a government minister, for example, is that for the minister, the political game is open for all to see and he has to get the public’s approval every few years.
Zehut opposes administrative detention – for Jews and Arabs alike. Zehut will end the occupation (by applying Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria) and the gray area that it has created between criminal and war activities. A person can be either a criminal or a prisoner of war. Not both.
The Left is correct in saying that the occupation has brought about the deterioration of human rights in Israel. Jewish teenagers have recently been tortured for no reason, people rot in prison for murders that they did not commit in order to save face for the system, and the rights of suspects are trampled in order to achieve quick results to satisfy the public.
With Zehut, you will elect your local police chief and he will work for you.
