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| Israel-Palestine |
| Netanyahu Resigns Over Gaza Withdrawal |
| 2005-08-07 |
| JERUSALEM (Aug. 7) - Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned from his post Sunday to protest next week's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, a ministry spokesman said. Netanyahu, seen as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's biggest political rival within the Likud Party, submitted a letter of resignation during the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, said the Finance Ministry spokesman, Eli Yosef. The resignation will take effect within 48 hours. After Netanyahu submitted his resignation, the Cabinet gave its final approval to the first stage of the Gaza pullout - the dismantling of the isolated Netzarim, Kfar Darom and Morag settlements. The vote was 17-5. Israel plans to begin removing some 9,000 settlers from their homes, starting in days. All 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank are marked for dismantling. Netanyahu, a former prime minister and political hard-liner, has long been conflicted over the Gaza withdrawal. He has voted in favor of the pullout in the Cabinet but also tried to torpedo the plan in parliamentary maneuvers. Netanyahu is expected to challenge Sharon for party leadership ahead of the next election. The Tel Aviv stock Exchange's Maof index dropped nearly 3 percent within minutes after the resignation was announced. Netanyahu led efforts to streamline the Israeli economy, often adopting harsh measures to implement his austerity plan. Sunday's Cabinet vote was the first in a series to approve the dismantling of specific settlements. ''It is a difficult, complex but very important process for Israel, but will be implemented as the Cabinet and the Knesset decided,'' Sharon said of the withdrawal. Opponents of the pullout, scheduled to begin Aug. 15, have been trying to torpedo the plan, holding mass protests, smuggling sympathizers into the condemned settlements and calling on soldiers to disobey orders to evacuate the settlements. |
| Posted by:Jan |
| #14 He's sort of like the pea in the fairy tale "Princess and the Pea" with Sharon as the princess... Israel needs B.N. around, as he seems to be one of the most no BS types they have... This pullout is very dicey, and Netanyahu is just saying, by his resignation, that the defication is about to hit the motorized air-blowing device... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-07 19:58 |
| #13 Lotta Amen Laughs Ship! |
| Posted by: Doggy Do Good 2005-08-07 17:53 |
| #12 Jan - I agree with your conclusion. The evidence of the last ~60 yrs indicates that there will not be peace until one side is wiped out - literally. The wall is great - it has stopped many attacks, I'm sure. But they will adjust and escalate until, once again, they can kill Jews with some regularity. I believe Israel is doing what it can to defend itself -- and clarify for those who aren't willfully blind, that they have done what they can to bring peace. Once they pull out, Gaza will be nothing but concentrated Paleo hatred - no embedded Jews to worry about. That's what we refer to as a target-rich environment. The Paleo killer groups will learn what this means the hard way, I'm sure. Finally, someday the Paleos will attempt to use WMDs. When that attempt occurs, successful or not, one side will, indeed, be wiped out, I'd wager. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-08-07 17:47 |
| #11 I just don't see the Palies being satisfied with only the Gaza strip. I foresee them wanting more and more feeling it is due them under any and all circumstances. Since the Palies aren't very accurate with their bombs, now they will be closer for their targets. I hope the Israeli's build a strong wall. It's sad to me that instead of the Palies seeing this area of land be given up so that there may be a peaceful settlement between them, they seem to be feeling it's deserved. I don't see a peaceful end to this at all. |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-08-07 17:35 |
| #10 I like to think that God is behind my every thought, slinkling amonst my synapest causing me to type what I type. Let me tell your a secret, there is a God, AND HE HATES QWERTY KEYBOARDS AND BETTY CROCKERCRATS. Let's us now prey. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-07 16:47 |
| #9 Well, as a non God-believer, I would first like to point out that there are lots of atheists in foxholes. Lots of people may pray for soldiers, and lots of soldiers may pray, but there is zero evidence that prayer, in any way, helps them to win battles and wars, historically or today, save for giving psychological solace. Instead, I would put it down to a culture that encourages the raising of warriors, and a gene pool that produces children equipped to be warriors, along with technology, education, and a national will far greater than their enemies. Now, the typical religious argument in this case would be that God is somehow slacking off right now, but that *in the future*, God will intervene and make the religious people win. That is the argument Islamists use to explain how the entire world will be Islamic by 2050, and when whole brigades of al-Qaeda and Taliban are exterminated, they are receiving a joyous reward in heaven instead of feeding ants as they appear to be doing now. They cite lengthy arcane passages in books written a millenium or two ago, as if they have *any* more relevance to what is happening right now than do cave paintings. Conversely, the opposite argument, that God somehow favors the US military, is just as facetious. No, the US is winning the war because its leaders are highly intelligent, educated and trained; it has the technology to crush the enemy; it has lots of big, strong, smart and fierce soldiers to actually do the fighting; and it also has a national *will*, based on all sorts of philosophies and a healthy dollop of revenge and common sense, to support the war back home. At not time do we need God at all to do any of this, and there is no proof that any invisible space monster intervention is directing the outcome in any way. Sorry, God believers. Keep praying in one hand and spitting in the other and I'll tell you know which one will fill up first. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-07 16:44 |
| #8 I personally assume that there's continuity between God as Being-to-be-worshipped-and-petitioned, and God as Architect-of-Nature, and proceed like a rigorous Sociologist: I find that God LOVES to get involved, AM, but only when all the i's have been dotted, the t's crossed, and it won't result in someone getting hurt. He's pretty big on consequences, and thus what you may deem "subtlety" is mostly a contentment to let natural cause-and-effect have their course. God will be "obvious"? Perhaps, but it's no credit to the mule that he needs a two-by-four to the head for you to get his attention when the horse only needs a soft nudge to the sides... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-08-07 15:36 |
| #7 Bibi has a Kerry problem with Gaza. He was for the withdrawal before he was against it. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-08-07 15:23 |
| #6 These settlers want all of Israel to focus all of their energy on making sure that they aren't uprooted. Yeah, well your project failed. You lost the battle. Children get blown up in strollers daily and something needs to be done to stop it. Sharon did something and of course it can't please everyone - so he chose a solution that could be made to work for everyone. But these people only care that whatever is done doesn't require any sacrifice from them personlly. It's ok to sacrifice the lives of the army members that keep them safe, and the people blown up on busses because the situation can't be controlled - but the situation isn't pefect - so forget it. Here's my solution, tell them they can stay, but the walls going up and they are on their own. Then they are no ones problem but their own. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-07 15:19 |
| #5 If they want to stay and get slaughtered, let them stay. People who so recklessly risk their wives and children when they don't have to and other plans have been made deserve to be cleasned from the gene pool. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-07 15:09 |
| #4 Anonymoose, I disagree with some of your statements. For example, "By EVERY indicator, God supports the US military that almost totally ignore him." One, I do believe there are plenty of strong Christians in the U.S. military. Two, there are millions of people outside the military community that constantly pray for the U.S. Military. There is no way, that the U.S. Military is great as it is, without the millions of Americans praying for them week after week, including a great number of military personnel. Here is an example of what made our military the best..3 pages total Also, I disagree especially, the part that you wrote "God actually prefers that you leave Him alone" God does not want us to leave him alone, he always wants us to have an active relationship with him. Again, I am not imposing my views. This Israeli land battle is the Lord's and I side with the Lord. But, I will clearly find what God has in mind, in mid-August. If my opinion is wrong, I have no problem admitting it. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-07 14:27 |
| #3 I think Hebraic scholars would agree with me that what priests say and what actually happens are two different things. The only resolution for the paradox is that, if there is a God, then he doesn't muss around. He Darwinistically selects who is going to succeed and fail, and then they do so. Repeatedly. Compare al-Qaeda, who say God is on their side, with the US military, who says no such thing. By EVERY indicator, God supports the US military that almost totally ignore him, giving them endless support and encouragement, over those hyper-religious groveling nut jobs who spend much of their lives praying to Him. Now compare this to Israel. God has been working overtime on behalf of Ariel Sharon, allowing him to triumph over dozens of political enemies both inside and outside of Israel. God approves of the wall, in that it has radically reduced the number of bombings within Israel proper. God does NOT like Benjamin Netanyahu, or at least not recently, because over and over again, God makes him look foolish and takes away his political power. And, more than anything else, God really HATES the Palestinians. I mean, really. Just look at them. God treats them like dogs. God does NOT love them. He spends inordinate amounts of time making their leaders cruel, incompetant, greedy, treacherous, deceitful and stupid. And BOY does he punish them with leaders like that. Once again, whether you believe in God or not, several rules apply. Number one: God helps those who help themselves. Number two: God hates those who step in number two. Number three: God likes people who improve and change themselves and their nation for the better; He hates peasants who live in ignorance and superstitition. Number four: God actually prefers that you leave Him alone; He will reward you if you take responsibility for your own life. And, number five: God is obvious; if you think He is subtle, He is not involved. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-07 13:41 |
| #2 Excellent move. It's ironic that this announcement is made a day after an indepth interview with the JPost where one of the questions asked to Bibi stated, (I'm paraphrasing) "If you are so strongly against this pullout, why don't you resign?" If you have some time, check out this interview.. I have been against the Gaza pullout from the very beginning. IMHO, this pullout is not going to happen. The God of Israel will not allow it. All the proof I need is below. BTW, the OT is full of statements like the one below. I am not going to hog up Fred's BW with 50 quotes. Also, as you can see below, not even the Israel govt. has the right to split the land of Israel. Believe it or deny it, it's up to you. Ezekiel 36 "....v.10 The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt....you will never again deprive them of their children. 22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-07 12:38 |
| #1 Good for him. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-08-07 12:05 |