The reasons seem obvious (see bolded print):
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday night made official the news of a mergerbetween their respective Knesset factions, Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, saying the new right-wing super-faction would improve governability in Israel and allow them to tackle burgeoning internal and external challenges facing the country.
“A joining of forces will give us the strength to defend Israel from military threats, and the strength to spearhead social and economic changes in the country,” Netanyahu said, standing alongside Liberman in an address to the media at Jerusalem’s Dan Panorama Hotel. “We face challenges, and this is the time to join forces for the sake of Israel’s future. Which is why Likud and Yisrael Beytenu will run together, on a single ballot” in the general elections on January 22.
“We will ask the public for the mandate to lead the State of Israel with strength in the coming years. This will greatly strengthen the government, the prime minister, and the country,” Netanyahu added. “A clear mandate will allow me to focus on what’s really important.”
Netanyahu cited the Iranian threat and Israel’s rising cost of living among the challenges that would have to be faced by his government in an unequivocal, determined manner.
Speaking after the prime minister, Liberman said: “The joining of our forces presents a combination, as you said, of strength and unity. This is what the residents of Israel are expecting today…. We spoke a lot about government reform, and in effect, today marks the beginning of true government reform.”
The merger has little political downside, as it should not arouse dissatisfaction amongst supporters of either the Likud or Yisrael Beyteinu. Lieberman is well-regarded in his former party and never lost contact with it. Some may even believe that Lieberman provides a toughness that Netanyahu lacks. Lieberman's core constituency- immigrants from the former Soviet Union – are gratified that now one of theirs has a shot at becoming prime minister.
Netanyahu may also be counting on the fact that the left will not be able to match the merger. Who is going to yield to whom is a question that already dominates conversation on the left.
We will know only on January 22, or in the wee hours of January 23, whether the surprise electoral mergerbetween Yisrael Beitenu and the Likud paid off politically.
1 comment:
YES!!!! What a BRILLIANT MOVE!!!!
That will give a powerful right wing, super Zionist government! They could NOT have made a more brilliant decision!
Now...how to remove Shas...
But, unfortunately, that won't happen. And they let Arieh Deri back in to the Shas party after his 8 years in JAIL for taking BRIBES while holding the Ministry of The Interior portfolio! CONVICTED! Of taking bribes! This is an Ultra Orthodox man, supposedly representing GOD in Israel!
Shas always demands the Misrad HaPanim Tik (Ministry Of The Interior Portfolio) and they keep Messianic Yeshua believing, born again Jews and their families out of Israel, by either denying them citizenship, or when they can't legally do that, they can stall the incomers for years. The Shas Hareidi party has only its own personal private agendas in mind, and not that of the whole country. They vote MILLIONS for their Yeshivas by manipulation, and tactics. Israeli tax payers pay for these people to sit and learn Talmud all day. I remember once asking Yeshiva student I worked with about a passage in Isaiah concerning the offerings of Gentiles to God, and he appologized that he didn't know the jolly book!!!! WHAAAAAAAT??? (To quote Pastor Begley)OI VES MIR! Why would ANYbody support Shas?
Ok. Rant over.
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