After five years on the job, Dani Dayan announced Tuesday night that he was
quitting his post as head of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria
and the Gaza Strip.
Now that he is leaving, Dayan said, he feels he can
openly throw his support behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the joint
Likud Beytenu ticket.
“I decided to endorse Netanyahu in the election and
therefore leaving is the right thing to do, so as not to politicize my
position,” said Dayan.
“It is very important to strengthen Netanyahu.” he
said.
Dayan added that he has been worried by attacks against the prime
minister from parties to the Left and Right of him, and even from President
Shimon Peres.
Settlers, he said, have been speaking against Netanyahu and
have referred to him as a second Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister who
spearheaded the disengagement from Gush Katif.
Dayan said he has been
concerned by Netanyahu’s dip in the polls.“A weak Netanyahu is a mistake,” he
said.
He lauded Netanyahu for his approvals of settlement building in the
last half of his premiership, and said he believed he would continue to support
Judea and Samaria after the elections.
But that is not the only issue,
said Dayan.
Netanyahu, he explained, is the leader best suited to handle
Israel’s economy or the threat of a nuclear Iran.
Dayan said he would
leave his post as soon as a replacement is found, a process that could take a
few months.
He added that he intends to continue to work on behalf of the
settlements by focusing on public relations for Judea and Samaria, particularly
with the international community.