ecoli Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Ariel Sharon, prime ministe of Israel is resigning his membership of Likud, the biggest political party in Israel today, for those who don't know, its also a party that's pretty right of center. He's going to form a new party that is supposed to attract many new members (which is important becuase in Israel the Parilment {the Kneset} is given to seats by political party membership and size). The new party is going to be a purely centralist party in every aspect. Sharon is urging to push the election date foward, with the hopes of attaining reelection more easily (this is done by dissolving the present Knesset) What does everybody think? Will these measures speed up the peace process, or his Sharon just trying to gain more political support. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647757.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Sharon seems to have been drifting away from hardline policies for a while, so really he is just creating a party of members that better reflects those who support him and his policies. It also avoids a fight with Netanyahu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 What party did Barak belong to? He seemed to be the Israeli peacenik. And how about Netanyahu, is he a Likud? Anyway, yes, if Sharon's new party is centrist, seems like that's in the direction of peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Barak was in the (leftist) Labor party, Netanyahu is in Likud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerFazer Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Wow. I just got back home about 10 minutes ago from school, and I was actually surprised at first. But after thinking about it and reflecting on the recent attempts by Israel to resume the peace process, I became less surprised and actually now I wonder why I didn't see it coming. I remember the day when Sharon was first elected as Prime Minister. I was devastated. I thought that the peace process was dead, and for the first few months and perhaps years it definately seemed that way. But recently he's been trying to make it clear that Israel is prepared to discuss peace, but that the Palestinians also need to take responsibility. The only thing I don't understand is how can they expect the Palestinians to do anything when almost everything they had has been destroyed? The Israelis need to give the Palestinian Authority some time to recover from years of occupation which only recently ended in Gaza and still continues in the West Bank. Furthermore, I think Sharon is, as Skye has stated, trying to associate with people who better represent his ideas and his policies. And yes, I do believe that this will speed up the peace process, since he doesn't need to worry about not garnering enough support for his policies... Of course this assumes he gets re-elected. LazerFazer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 All of this is fascinating because it's really Sharon himself that made Likud what it is/was. We're talking about a war hero -- the man who saved Israel from the evil arabs. The alleged mastermind of the massacre of captured Palestinian soldiers. One of the biggest supporters of the West Bank settlements. The Man Who Promised That Gaza Would Always Be Safe For Jews. But of course we're also talking about the man who single-handedly ignited the intefada. I've often wondered if that weighed on his conscience in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 But hey, if he'd just say a few bad things about George Bush, he could at least snag himself a Nobel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 But hey, if he'd just say a few bad things about George Bush, he could at least snag himself a Nobel.Hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted November 21, 2005 Author Share Posted November 21, 2005 But hey, if he'd just say a few bad things about George Bush, he could at least snag himself a Nobel. You know he wants to, I think that would get the UN off of Israel's back a bit. Sharon seems to have been drifting away from hardline policies for a while, so really he is just creating a party of members that better reflects those who support him and his policies. It also avoids a fight with Netanyahu. He's planning on grabbing people from Likud and other parties, left, right and central. Any chance that the new party will be in the majority? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I don't think he'll get a majority, but he'll probably have the largest party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 I don't think he'll get a majority, but he'll probably have the largest party. That means a lot, considering Likud currently holds 36 out of 120 seats. The labor party holds 19, and thats the next highest on the list. edit: I was looking at 2003 election results... it's currently more like 40 seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now