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Path Clearing For Netanyahu's Prime Ministerial Bid
JERUSALEM (IslamOnline) - A controversial bill that would allow former hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to run again for the premiership passed its first parliamentary test on Wednesday.
The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, voted 67 to 35 in favor for the amendment, now known as the “Netanyahu Amendment”, to allow the former partisan right-wing Likud leader to run for the job, although not a Knesset member.
The former prime minister is known for his anti-peace positions and hardline views towards Arabs and Muslims. Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbors reached its lowest point when he was in office between 1996 and 1999.
The Internet edition of the Jerusalem Post, a daily Israeli English language newspaper, reported that religious leaders of the Shas party backed the proposal of the bill at Wednesday’s hearing.
The bill, sponsored by Shas leader Eli Yishai and Likud Netanyahu loyalists Naomi Blumenthal, Yisrael Katz and Yuval Steinitz, needs only a simple majority in a preliminary reading to pass, but 61 votes for it to pass in the first, second and third readings, the paper said.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who resigned early this week but remains in office till elections are held, also voted for the law along with Likud and Shas MKs. If passed, the law would allow all Israelis to run for the office of prime minister regardless of whether he or she is a member of parliament.
Voting against the law, among others, were MKs from the Shinui, Meretz, Yisrael Ba'aliya and Arab factions.
Netanyahu quit politics after a resounding defeat in May 1999 at the hands of Barak. He only expressed interest in making a political come back after Barak announced his surprise resignation on Friday. Current Israeli opinion polls show that Netanyahu holds a considerable lead over Barak.
Netanyahu would also have to face competition for the leadership of the hawkish Likud party. The current leader, Ariel Sharon, has said he would call for a national unity government during these tense days. Sharon also said he would seek nomination for his party to run for the job as well.
In a Likud party rally held Tuesday evening, Netanyahu was warmly welcomed by Likud members and shook hands and smiles with Ariel Sharon. The Likud will decide on Tuesday which man to send to stand against Barak.
Netanyahu, much reviled by Palestinians and Arabs for his inflexible policies, was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters who sang “Bibi, King of Israel.” Netanyahu, who was reportedly in a buoyant mood, said: “You don’t know how happy I am to be with you.”
Netanyahu often accuses Barak of compromising Israel’s security by offering Palestinians a larger share of the land that Israel occupied in 1967 in return for peace. Netanyahu also says that if re-elected, his emphasis would be on the security of the state of Israel - a statement widely interpreted as his policy of little, if any, peace talks with the Palestinians.
United States-sponsored Middle East peace talks broke up in July between Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat over who would control East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque, both occupied by Israel in 1967.
During his three years in office, Netanyahu, who spent most of the last 19 months out of office lecturing in the U.S., almost froze peace talks with the Palestinians. While Labor Party leaders believe that Israel should hand back occupied land to the Arabs to win security, Netanyahu champions the view that land is pivotal for Jewish state security.
Israel needs land before peace and security before talks with the Arabs, Netanyahu says.
As he announced his candidacy early this week, Netanyahu accused Barak and his government of "degrading Israel's deterrent power" in it’s handling of the Palestinians and the
Hezbollah.
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