Monday August 8, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Yesterday, "Bibi" Netanyahu resigned as Israel's Finance Minister.
He is no longer a member of Prime Minister Sharon's cabinet.

Netanyahu explains the resignation by saying that he can no longer be part of the government because of the impending unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu says that the redeployment will result in more terror and that the entire idea goes against the principles of their party, the Likud party.

Bibi Netanyahu is a political animal. He was once prime minister and planned to challenge Ariel Sharon for party leadership and then run again for the premiership. That is why I am surprised that he made this move.

By resigning Netanyahu destroys his ability to get daily media coverage. As an outsider, he must precipitate an event, hold a press conference or grant an interview. As an insider, all he had to do was do his job. It is easier to challenge from within, it is the outsider who needs to work hard to keep in the public eye.

If the redeployment goes relatively smoothly, Sharon wins the popularity polls and Bibi is out of the party mainstream. He becomes the leader of the extreme right not the center, the masses, the nation and he will need to create another political party. And it is not the extreme candidate who gets elected prime minister. If it goes poorly, it still leaves him with the extremes.

I respect Bibi the person for following his conscience -- but it was a poor political move.