Last update - 00:00 28/02/2007
Esterina Tartman's suicide mission
By Mazal Mualem
The scandal surrounding MK Esterina Tartman caught Yisrael Beiteinu chair Avigdor Lieberman on a diplomatic visit to Moscow. On Sunday evening, Lieberman approved her appointment as tourism minister and then boarded the plane. After he had taken off, Channel 2 news reported that Tartman had received disability points because she claimed to be able to work only four hours a day.
The next day, Tartman told interviewers that this was an ugly witch hunt against her, but the next scandal was waiting around the bend. Yesterday Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that Tartman had boasted on the Knesset's Web site that she had a master's degree in economics, which is untrue.
Yesterday she went silent, and Yisrael Beiteinu's embarrassment is only growing. Lieberman has been briefed on the events surrounding Tartman, whose long-term loyalty won her the tourism portfolio. Thus Lieberman found himself dealing with Tartman between meetings with the Russian National Security Council head and Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal aide. Meanwhile, embarrassing Knesset reports and media reactions kept pouring in.
This morning, Lieberman is expected to report to the Knesset for a very busy day. He will start with a review in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and continue with a press conference aimed at extinguishing the Tartman fires and containing the damage to the party.
Tartman's selection appears to be a blow to Yisrael Beiteinu's main electorate. The master's degree that never was and the discomfort caused by the insurance affair only add to the extreme right-wing image of Tartman, who called the appointment of an Arab minister tantamount to "swinging a gigantic axe at the tree trunk called Zionism and the Jewish state."
On Monday, Tartman tried to soften her remarks, and said she is fond of Minister without Portfolio Ghaleb Majadele, but the bottom line remains. When asked on Yair Lapid's program whether she had a problem with an Arab minister, she evaded the question by stating, "I am in favor of a Jewish and democratic state." Tartman, who may become a minister any minute now, apparently has a profound problem with having an Arab in the government.
Tartman's political and media presence will only increase. Her face will be the face of Yisrael Beiteinu. Therefore, the question arises as to what Lieberman hoped to accomplish with this appointment. If he wanted to continue squinting at the center of the political map, he should have appointed MK Yisrael Hasson, former deputy head of the Shin Bet security service. Hasson, along with Lieberman, could have strengthened Yisrael Beiteinu's moderate security stance in the government. Hasson wanted the position and has experience in managing large organizations, but Lieberman chose Tartman.
Tartman strengthens the party's right-wing slant. She was labeled an extreme, hallucinatory rightist even before the latest affairs, which have severely damaged her image.
"This could be a bad mistake on Lieberman's part," says a source close to the party. "In any case, Yisrael Beiteinu fell in the most recent polls. Most people don't like racists, and this appointment is putting the party in a problematic corner." Considering Tartman's conduct, she's unlikely to start keeping quiet. It will be interesting to see how she interacts with the Labor ministers and the inevitable conflicts that ensue. And perhaps this is exactly what Lieberman wants.
Lieberman has political sophistication and cunning, and every move he makes is interpreted in many ways. It is no secret that when he joined the government in October, he was heard saying that his presence would ultimately lead to Labor's resignation. Tartman can help him if this is indeed his aim. It is also possible that he wants to return the rightist votes that disappeared when he entered the government.
If this interpretation is correct, Lieberman's prediction that Yisrael Beiteinu will receive another senior economic portfolio in May - to be given to Hasson - apparently rests on the assessment that after the Labor primaries, Labor will leave the government and Yisrael Beiteinu will become a major player.
Currently, Lieberman is considered the only party head whose leadership is not in doubt. No one wants to succeed him, no one is undermining him and everyone knows he is the reason they are there. Furthermore, Lieberman will also determine his party's next Knesset list. As far as Olmert is concerned, Yisrael Beiteinu is like Shas, an island of stability in a sea of political and public uncertainty. Therefore, Olmert will continue to strengthen Lieberman and draw him in closer.
The question arises as to how long Lieberman will continue to enjoy quiet in his party, and if - or when - someone will challenge him. All eyes are on the Hasson-Aharonovitch axis (MK Yitzhak Aharonovitch was deputy police commissioner). These two security types transformed Lieberman's list from an immigrants' party to a varied and surprising group.
Anyone who expected that Tartman's appointment - which has left Hasson and Aharonovitch disappointed - would lead them to rebel has been proven wrong. They have maintained a serene facade and have not uttered a word of criticism, not even "off the record." Hasson said he expressed his opinion, "It was not accepted, and this is legitimate. I don't have any problem with it."
The two cannot be suspected of naivete or submissiveness. Hasson and Aharonovitch come from tough systems. Both nearly reached the top of the pyramid. Their lack of criticism for Lieberman says something about the commander's spirit.
Lieberman, for his part, is contributing to the sense that his faction's decisions are made following open consultations. He evinces sensitivity in one-on-one conversations, and always succeeds in getting members to support his moves. This is perhaps why they cannot claim Lieberman didn't consult them.
This is how it was before Yisrael Beiteinu joined the government. This is how it was on Sunday, when the faction approved Tartman's appointment as tourism minister. A vote was not held in either case. Faction members say there was no point, as no one expressed opposition.
Calm down, Nahari
Minister without Portfolio Meshulam Nahari (Shas), who is responsible for ultra-Orthodox education in the Prime Minister's Office, has been trying unsuccessfully to persuade faction chairman Eli Yishai to lead a coalition crisis. Nahari is upset that a government decision to grant the ultra-Orthodox education system the same status as the secular system has not yet been implemented. Nahari is evincing militancy, and Yishai is soothing him, blocking him and trying to wait.
A younger Yishai, inspired by predecessor Aryeh Deri, would have raised a ruckus over the discrimination against ultra-Orthodox children. But now he is refraining from confrontations, avoiding ultimatums and coalition crises and moving away from the spirit that used to characterize Shas. Yishai bears the trauma inflicted by prime minister Ariel Sharon, who humiliated him and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef when he picked Yosef Lapid's Shinui as a coalition partner, leaving Shas in the opposition.
Yishai is undoubtedly Olmert's most convenient and loyal government partner. He has been there from the outset, and has no excessive demands or threats. He behaves like a desired and close partner, he is pleased with the Industry, Trade and Labor portfolio, and he is interested in keeping the government together.
But even now, when the Sharon days are a distant memory, and Yishai faces a weak prime minister largely dependent on him, he is avoiding coming off as a troublemaker and taking only measured risks. An example is the Shas faction's expected vote against removing United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Litzman from the Knesset Finance Committee chair. Shas has been instructed to demonstrate solidarity with the ultra-Orthodox public. Yishai knows that even without Shas, there will be a majority to remove Litzman. It is convenient for Olmert to look the other way and allow Yishai a painless protest.
Ze'evik is angry
The reconciliation between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his loyalist, Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim, scheduled for today, was swiftly organized Sunday after Olmert realized Ze'evik really was angry.
This isn't the first time Boim has been hurt by Olmert. He thought, for example, that he deserved a more senior government post. He wanted to be appointed Knesset speaker, and several months ago he asked for the Diaspora portfolio. Boim assumed that his loyalty, as well as the logic in placing the Diaspora portfolio under the Absorption Ministry, would ensure him the position. He was astonished to learn that Olmert preferred Welfare Minister-designate Isaac Herzog of Labor. At the government meeting on Sunday, Boim protested giving Herzog the Diaspora portfolio. His associates were angry, and noted that it is a pity Olmert is again proving that loyalty does not pay. Boim has since calmed down, but the bitterness remains.
Olmert has distanced himself from his government ministers, and his immediate environs look nearly empty. Minister without Portfolio Jacob Edery has also joined this lengthening list. Edery saw himself as a natural candidate for welfare minister. This was his life's dream. For months, Edery naively hoped to receive the portfolio, but Olmert had other plans.
About three weeks ago, another close associate joined the list - Interior Minister Ronnie Bar-On, who saw himself as a natural candidate for justice minister and did not conceal his disappointment at being passed over. In the coalition negotiations, Olmert left Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit hurt and humiliated. He took Mofaz out of the Defense Ministry and Sheetrit out of the Transportation Ministry, and both interpreted this as an act designed to reduce their strength. And we haven't mentioned Kadima MKs Marina Solodkin, Ruhama Avraham and Majali Wahabi, who wanted to be deputy ministers.
Now that Olmert has been left without former justice minister Haim Ramon, and the future of another close associate, Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson, is not clear, one can see why he wants to patch things up with Boim.