The "anarchist" Ben-Eliezer speaks
 | By Joe Millis
August 1, 2011 | Share |
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has a bit more experience in Israeli affairs than some wannabee zealot who claims he lives in a West Bank settlement. Ben-Eliezer issued this stark warning
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4102967,00.html
"The people in the streets today are Israel's elite. This is the public that shoulders the burden of (IDF) service, labor, and taxes," he said. "If tomorrow we have to fight, there is a link between this public and national strength. That is this is heading towards collapse."
Ben-Eliezer also made a common comparison between Israel and the 'Arab Spring'. "What is happening in Israel is part of the general atmosphere. Suddenly the civilian understands he is strong, he has power," he said.
The former minister also suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu solve the crisis himself by transferring funds from settlements to housing projects in cities and towns within the 1967 borders, as well as cutting the defense budget, like his predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin.
"The major thing Rabin did was give an order to freeze construction in settlements and transfer all the funds from the (Palestinian) territories to within Israel. Then he put everything into construction for young couples and infrastructure," he said.
"Billions go into settlements. Billions have gone. If we don't stop this a disaster is imminent. These people have had enough. They have learned that there is no longer an option of a leader saying something and the people following blindly."
...The former minister also expressed pride, stressing that he was shocked by such a turnout at protests. "All these years I've said what a sleepy nation we are. Tractors can run us over and we do nothing," he said.
"But what happened is a result of what is happening in the Middle East. Suddenly our excellent children see that people can overturn governments."
Ben-Eliezer concluded with a call to Netanyahu to end the protests before September. "This is the most complex state of emergency since the War of Independence," he said. "It's going to be chaos. I told the prime minister: Take this situation in hand. Don't appoint committees. Manage it yourself."
Of course, for the zealots and their wannabee shills this isn't enough. Nor are the warnings from other people who have contributed far more to Israel than some far-off wannabee who fantasises about living on some settlement.
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Advis3r
1 August, 2011 - 15:02
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You see Mr Eliezer is a citizen and he has the right to voice an opinion. He is right in that Netanyahu should take the matter into his own hands - not leave it to committees. But funny that I don't see Eliezer saying it's a revolution or calling for Netanyahu to resign.
Where he is wrong is calling for the funds to be transferred from the settlements and knowing him for the opportunist he is that was more than expected.
For example (http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-12/no.-5/new-outposts-lead-sett...) in late June 2002, on the eve of the Labor party convention at which Ben Eliezer faced criticism about his failure to move more aggressively against the settlers, the defense minister announced that 11 outposts would be dismantled with an additional 9 to follow.
An informal agreement between the Defense Ministry and the settlers, represented by the director of AMANA, Ze'ev Hever, a confidant of Sharon, provided for the removal of 20 outposts but the blessing of 22 others.
MK Zvi Hendel of the right-wing National Union-Israel Beitanu acknowledged that not one of the "evacuated" outposts had been inhabited. "Every outpost that was evacuated was an imaginary outpost, only some of which were from a planning standpoint meant to be outposts in the future. We assumed from the beginning," he told Arutz 7 radio, "that there would come a time when such a big Zionist enterprise would not pass quietly. And in the same way as we pay a prostitute, we would have to give a little to the haters of settlement."
"Fuad [Ben Eliezer] is trying to stop the deterioration of the Labor party through the use of gimmicks that could make you cry," wrote columnist Haim Bar Am. "Ben Eliezer sends soldiers to evacuate a couple of imaginary houses, which were built expressly for this purpose, hoping that the settlers and their friends will protest. Their protests will serve the defense minister in two ways: he'll succeed in deceiving Meretz activists and what remains of the doves in Labor and strengthen his image in certain circles in the U.S. and Europe that persist in believing that there is a conflict between the Labor party and Likud."
A leopard never changes his spots.
You are dreary bigot - but having nothing of any importance to say you continue with your delusions. Whether or not you believe I live in a settlement is quite frankly of no interest to me or I dare-say anybody else on this website.