Another Day at the Office for the Prime Minister On the final day of the Knesset winter term, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon sat alongside his boss, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at the cabinet table in the plenum, as the premier was compelled to sit through a debate that lasted more than three hours in parliament. A number of years ago, in response to an outcry that prime ministers were avoiding parliament, a new framework was set up to force them to appear, speak and sit through the entire debate, if at least 40 MKs sign on to make such a request. It cannot take place more than once every few weeks. On this occasion, the subject was The First Year of this Government. Prime ministers have been known to conduct their business even as they sit there in the plenum, insisting that they are multi-tasking. They are, they say, capable of listening to the criticisms, accusations and praises of Knesset members that are levelled from the podium, even as they review documents and ponder other aspects of, what some say is, the most difficult job in the world, even harder than serving as US president. On this day, Defense Minister Yaalon had Netanyahus ear. Actually, Yaalon was covering his mouth with his hand, as he whispered to the prime minister. United Torah Judaism Knesset Member Moshe Gafni was speaking at the podium at that moment, condemning Netanyahu, saying that he would go down in history as the prime minister under whom it became a criminal offense to learn Torah. Gafni continued to ask for the prime ministers attention. He called out to the defense minister repeatedly, but to no avail. Yaalon still had his hand over his mouth. A resigned Gafni relented. Never mind, he said, adding that anyway, there was no point talking to Netanyahu because he hasnt lived up to promses he made. Gafni insisted that Netanyahu had pledged not to support criminal sanctions against draft-dodging yeshiva students. It was yet another day at the office for Israels prime minister - a mix of domestic political squabbles with government and opposition parties, even as the Syrians were threatening Israel over the Israeli retaliatory strikes, just hours earlier, in which one Syrian was said to have been killed, and as the Americans were demanding an apology for insulting comments made against them by Defense Minister Yaalon. Was Yaalon whispering to Netanyahu about the Syrian threats, or the bombing along the Syrian border the day before, in which four Israeli soldiers were hurt? Perhaps they were talking about the American uproar over Yaalons assertion that the Obama Adminstration has shown weakness in grappling with international crises. Yaalon is clearly a different defense minister than Ehud Barak, the minister in Netanyahus previous term, which was at pretty much the same time as the first term of Barack Obama in the White House. Barak was Netanyahus pretty face, a defense minister who also played foreign minister. Not to suggest that Barak was a passive defense minister, Yaalon represents a re-emerging aggressive voice of the need to strike at those who would harm you, even as President Obama has represented the role of a champion of the diplomatic option. Remember that Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Yaalon is the counter to this Israeli governments diplomatic face, Tzipi Livni. He is also considered a possible heir to Netanyahus throne at the top of the Likud. Are Yaalon and Netanyahu on the same page? Does the defense minister have the figurative ear of the prime minister in the running of security matters, as he did at his seat in the Knesset plenum? Both men have voiced appreciation for the unprecedented level of security cooperation between the US and Iran, but both have stated that ultimately Israel must know how to defend itself, and not rely on others. Yaalon does not have the oratory skills that his prime minister has. It is said about the defense minister that after he left the post of IDF chief of staff, he didnt even charge for speaking appearances. So maybe he doesnt know when to say things privately instead of insulting publicly, or maybe some of these comments are planned. I dont know.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:06:37 +0000
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