Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., October 24, 2009 Cheshvan 6, 5770 | | Israel Time: 20:21 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 10:16 22/10/2009
The cabinet's voice of reason
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: Israel News

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor has been shown to be a lucid voice of reason in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's second government. In an interview with Gidi Weitz to be published in full in Haaretz Magazine tomorrow, Meridor presents reasoned and appropriate positions on matters both political and legal. His return to political life will be justified if he fights for his beliefs.

Meridor has garnered considerable experience in the cabinet and Knesset, and as an adviser to prime ministers and defense officials, even if he didn't always fight for his opinions. He is proposing that Netanyahu proceed in total seriousness with the peace process with the Palestinians to resolve the conflict and, simultaneously, to renew negotiations with Syria to create a new strategic landscape for the region. Meridor makes clear that he isn't proposing an empty process but rather an agreement with the Palestinians "that would oblige us to make significant concessions on part of the land."

He believes that the prime minister "wants to reach an agreement [on peace]," but unfortunately Meridor, who supports such an arrangement, also casts doubt on its feasibility and favors hardening Israel's positions as compared to the proposals by former prime minister Ehud Olmert.
Advertisement
Meridor, who is also intelligence and atomic energy minister, has gone head to head with his six inner cabinet colleagues in his determination that an investigative committee on Operation Cast Lead be established. Unlike Defense Minister Ehud Barak's total recalcitrance and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's aggressive reaction, Meridor believes Israel must treat the allegations in the Goldstone Commission report seriously and investigate itself to extricate the country from its isolation in the international community.

In the same vein, Meridor strongly opposes Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman's proposal to split the authority of the attorney general, seeing it as a real threat to the rule of law and the balance of power in Israeli democracy.

Meridor, who has feared for the resilience of the judicial system and the preservation of basic democratic values, worked (with Benny Begin) to prevent Daniel Friedmann from remaining justice minister and to stop the so-called Nakba bill, which would bar marking Israel's establishment as a Palestinian catastrophe.

It is important that Meridor make his views heard in the right-wing cabinet, in the face of ministers who oppose any peace agreement and seek to break apart the judicial system. It would be good if Meridor could also convince Netanyahu to listen to his advice, and not simply serve as a moderate spokesman for the government.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Barring Refaeli
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis are irate over a highway billboard featuring model Bar Refaeli.
Goldstone vs. Obama
Goldstone challenges U.S. president: Show me flaws in the report on Gaza war crimes.
  1.   The Constant and INEFFECTIVE voice of Reason.There is little hope 19:16  |  meir gush etzion 24/10/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
20:15 Iran official: West trying to cheat us with nuke deal
17:54 Netanyahu: U.S.-led effort is best way to stop Iran danger
17:56 'Netanyahu didn't mean he backed Israel probe of Gaza war'
20:01 Jerusalem police to beef up presence around Temple Mount
19:30 Lebanese to Israel: Hands off our hummus!
14:34 Abbas: Palestinians constitutionally obligated to hold elections
18:46 Zvi Bar'el / Fuel, but no spark, for third intifada
21:10 TV ROUND-UP: World waits on Iran, IDF threatens pro-settler troops
18:17 Netanyahu hopes for Obama meet in November
11:23 After Lebanon war devastation, Hezbollah suburb now booming
16:49 Saudi woman journalist gets 60 lashes for TV show about sex
14:30 Lieberman to Ban: Don't let Goldstone report gain ground in UN
09:34 Man dies after falling down well in Netanya
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved