Last update - 14:47 12/06/2009
Rightist MK: PM's policy speech won't cause 'earthquake'
By Haaretz Service
Habayit Hayehudi chairman Zevulun Orlev said Friday, following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he did not believe that the PM's upcoming address would signal significant changes in his policy.
"Netanyahu isn't like Olmert and Sharon and will not change his skin," MK Orlev said, adding that he was "calmer leaving the meeting than I was going in."
In the meeting Habayit Hayehudi members clearly stated that they consider the acceptance of the two-state solution a serious ideological transgression.
However, Orlev said he believed Netanyahu's speech, due to take place Sunday at Bar-Ilan University, will not bring about what he called an "earthquake."
In a separate meeting between the PM and ministers and deputy ministers from Shas Eli Yishai, Shas chairman and interior minister, said that "it is critically important to maintain natural growth in Judea and Samaria, while avoiding a head-on clash with the United States."
Yishai also stressed the importance of the principle of reciprocity in talks with Palestinians, which included a cessation of both incitement and terror, as well as recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
PM Netanyahu held a private meeting with Yishai at the end of the discussion.
Haaretz also learned Friday that Netanyahu held secret discussions with writers David Grossman and Eyal Meged as part of his consultations ahead of Sunday's speech.
The PM had agreed with the two that the content of that meeting would not be leaked to the press.
The meeting demonstrates the importance Netanyahu sees in his upcoming address - his first comprehensive policy speech since being elected to office - which will serve as a response to demands made voiced by U.S. President Barack Obama.
According to one of Netanyahu's aides he "sees a great importance in this speech, which will effectively signal the beginning of Netanyahu's term."
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