December 11: 'Post' readers fault Bibi's post-primary antics

The Likud membership has voted - but apparently not to Mr. Netanyahu's liking!

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Sir, - I am a centrist, pragmatic voter who favors fewer, big parties over our fractured small-party system. In the past I've voted for the Likud, the big party that comes closest to my viewpoint. While Moshe Feiglin may be to the right of me politically, I thought it important to keep him in the big Likud tent rather than as part of a small, narrow-issue party, and I was displeased with Binyamin Netanyahu's maneuvering to smear and otherwise discredit Feiglin. However, I was willing to write this off as the crassness that is politics. However, if "Netanyahu moves to change Likud list after hawks' victory" (Gil Hoffman, December 10) - if he is indeed attempting to take "legal steps to change the party's Knesset slate" - he will have crossed a red line for me. Ironically, such anti-democratic and sleazy behavior is being done with the goal of making the Likud seem more centrist. Whatever the case, this is one centrist voter the Likud is about to lose over this issue. And I assure you that I'm not alone. MENACHEM LIPKIN Beit Shemesh Sir, - The Likud membership has voted - but apparently not to Mr. Netanyahu's liking! In his attempt to exclude Moshe Feiglin from a realistic spot on the Likud list, Netanyahu is playing a dangerous game. Is this democracy at work? SUSAN ADDLEMAN Mevaseret Zion Sir, - To remain a Jewish and democratic state, we must separate ourselves from the Palestinians. This is an argument we have heard countless times from centrists and leftists. And while we would all be deliriously happy to do so, does it not occur to your editorial writer that many Israelis are sick of a peace process which is all process and no peace? ("Whose Likud?" December 10). It is a process which has murdered our citizens, weakened our deterrence, ruined the lives of thousands of Jews forced from their homes and terrorized citizens in the South while in no way gaining us world approval. Now Binyamin Netanyahu is considering overturning the result of the primaries through some "legal" loophole out of fear that a hawkish list will scare many voters away from the Likud. A more democratic response would be to step down from the party leadership and allow the Israeli public to make a clear choice between a more right-wing Likud and the many other options. Bibi's hysterical reaction to what he perceives as a threat to his party does nothing to instill confidence that he will deal calmly with the more existential threats that plague us. SHARON LINDENBAUM Rehovot Sir, - If we actually elect a government that can clearly say this land is our land and this state is for the Jewish people, then maybe, when all is said and done and an agreement is reached, we'll still have a country to live in. BARRY LYNN Efrat Sir, - If Netanyahu is successful in petitioning the court for a change in the newly elected Likud list, this will be an exceedingly negative harbinger of things to come. Registered voters of a political party voted their conscience and elected en masse to the party list those representatives whose values most closely reflect their own. If the Likud leader is unhappy with this, he has no right to carry the voice of the party - i.e., the finalized list of Likud members - in a different direction via scandalous after-the-fact maneuvers. Even those on the left of the spectrum must respect the fact that in Moshe Feiglin there is an unambiguous individual with a long track record of standing behind his convictions, and whose position on matters is reliable (even if not agreeable). Bibi's record is showing him to be nothing more than a flagrant opportunist. I've lived in Israel for nearly 15 years, but at moments like this I call into question the judgment backing my decision to make aliya. I miss proper representation, which although flawed, I enjoyed in the United States. MEIR LEHRER Hashmonaim Time is on our side Sir, - "Shamir announced firmly that there would be no question of a settlement freeze" (From Our Archives, November 27). With that, Yitzhak Shamir showed why he was one of our greatest prime ministers. Will Binyamin Netanyahu have the strength and courage to say the same when he becomes premier early next year? Shamir also said, later, that he would have sat in Madrid for 10 years; Yasser Arafat knew that he would, which is why, when the time came, he was prepared to go to Oslo. Will Bibi have the patience and resoluteness to teach Mahmoud Abbas or his successor the same lesson? Shamir knew that, contrary to the conventional wisdom espoused by our current left-wing leadership, time was on our side. It still is. The longer it takes the Palestinians to come to terms with our existence and make peace with us on our terms, the more they will have to lose and the less there will be of the territories to make into their own state - should they ever really want one. The reason there has never been a true prospect of peace since Madrid is that the Palestinians have never really known there was a price to pay for their intransigence. WARREN ZAUER Jerusalem Bully Israel? Sir, - Israel's bullying behavior, as Matteo D'Agostino calls it (Letters, December 10), will change. Israel will let more shipments and deliveries into Gaza; show more respect for Palestinians; allow all monies owed to flow into Gaza's banks; and ensure a supply of electricity into Gaza. This and much more will be done. There's just one tiny thing we first ask of the Palestinians: Stop bombing and terrorizing our citizens, child and adult, even during your so-called cease-fire. MARTIN LEWIS Ramat Gan Sir, - We recognize your correspondent's impartiality from his concluding sentence, in which he demands that "Israel must recognize that the occupied Palestinian territories belong to the Palestinians." Not a word about the Palestinians having to recognize that the unoccupied territories belong to the Jews! STANLEY LAWSON Jerusalem 'Make me a match' Sir, - My first question to Chananya Weissman ("The 'Shadchan' resumé," December 8) is: Are you married? My second question is: Why be so cynical and bitter about matchmakers? In every profession, there are good matchmakers and less good ones. To make fun of these people is to denounce an entire group who - believe it or not - do make matches. I am sure many single people still like dealing with an individual who tries very hard to help, whether he or she gets paid or not. Everyone who deals with people should be sensitive to their feelings. This works both ways. Singles who go to matchmakers should realize that they too are dealing with human beings who have their faults and their good traits. Every possible effort should be made to help singles find their mates. One way is definitely through a matchmaker. JUDY ABIR Jerusalem