Ayalon out
Sir, – There is no question that the political party to feel the
effect of Avigdor Liberman’s extraordinary and illogical action of removing
Danny Ayalon from his Knesset roster (“Liberman surprises, leaves Ayalon off
list,” December 5) will be Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud.
Notwithstanding
the rather foolish incident in which Ayalon once placed the Turkish ambassador
on a lower seat and refused to shake his hand, he has been an exemplary deputy
foreign minister. In fact, he is everything Liberman is not.
Ayalon
exhibits dignity and a deep knowledge of Israeli history. He speaks and
expresses himself in perfect English. He is able to succinctly explain the
history of the present Palestinian- Israeli conflict in the clearest of terms
and logic.
He is not an extremist in any sense of the word, and
represents a cultured, educated and considered view of Israel’s predicament to
world leaders.
If the rank and file of Yisrael Beytenu had been given the
democratic option of choosing who might have represented it on the party list,
there is no doubt Ayalon would have been given a very high slot.
I
believe that many Israelis now will not vote for the Likud/Israel Beytenu list
because of the completely undemocratic fashion that ousted such an excellent,
experienced and tested politician. The loser will not be Ayalon – it will be
Liberman, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli
electorate.
EDGAR ASHER
Petah Tikva
Sir, – You are on target with the
word you use for Avigdor Liberman (“The bouncer’s behest,” Analysis, December
5). I would go even farther and call Liberman a dictator-in-the-making, ready to
move in on Binyamin Netanyahu at the first opportunity.
I hope our prime
minister didn’t make a mistake by opening the door to Liberman.
It is
tantamount to having the hawk guard the chicken coop.
I also hope this
government can find another place for Danny Ayalon. He is too valuable to
lose.
JAN GAINES
Netanya
Irreconcilable
Sir, – In “Negotiating the
inevitable with the irreversible” (Comment & Features, December 4), David
Newman and Joel Peters find themselves trapped because of their inability to
reconcile the irreversibility of Jewish community expansion in Judea and Samaria
with the inevitability of a Palestinian state.
Neither questions the PA’s
premise that the Palestinian state must be based on the racist idea where no
Jews are allowed to reside, while it’s perfectly acceptable for Israel to have a
20 percent Arab population in its midst.
If Abbas truly wants an open
democratic state, drawing the political lines for his new nation should not be
an issue.
The fact that he has been arresting journalists because of
their critical opinions of him is irreconcilable with a true
democracy.
Maybe Newman and Peters should address that issue
instead.
MATTIAS ROTENBERG
Petah Tikva
Sir, – David Newman and Joel
Peters call for new and fresh ideas to solve the Israel-Palestinian
conflict.
However, such an idea has already been enunciated in the
Clinton Doctrine (in the Jerusalem context): “Where Arabs live goes to
Palestine, where Jews live goes to Israel.”
Admittedly, this can lead to
checkerboard-like states, but wouldn’t a Palestine made up of the West Bank and
Gaza be such, too?
ROBERT ENGLMAN
Jerusalem
CORRECTIONS The top right photograph
on Page 14 of the 80th Anniversary Supplement in today’s paper was taken by
Ariel Jerozolimski.
Unlike what was mentioned in “SodaStream to
‘represent’ Israel at Super Bowl XLVII” (December 6), SodaStream has five
manufacturing plants in Israel, including Alon Tavor, Ashkelon and one in Mishor
Adumim, where the company employs approximately 450 Palestinians and 400
Israeli-Arabs. The firm is building its new primary facility in Lehavim, near
Beersheba.
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