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The Landau
Candidacy
By Dr. Aaron Lerner, World Jewish News Agency
International Commentator and IMRA Director, Israel.
MK Uzi Landau's candidacy for the chairmanship of the Likud and its
candidate for prime minister may be the only remaining bright spot in the
Israeli political scene. Landau's universally recognized integrity and
demonstrated willingness to put national over personal interest sets him
apart from the rest of the field.
MIT Ph.D. Landau is hardly an ivory tower ideologue. Though many may recall
how Landau, as Minister of Internal Security in the first Sharon
Administration, closed down Orient House and carefully worked to restore
Israeli access to the Temple Mount, perhaps the best illustration of Uzi
Landau's performance in office was the dramatic change in the handling of
Israeli Arab rioters during his tenure. The deaths of Israeli Arab rioters
in Wadi Ara during the Barak administration poisoned the atmosphere creating
a situation that law enforcement officials seemed to have to choose between
enforcing the law and avoiding potentially dangerous confrontation. Under
Landau's leadership the police achieved both. Rioters were photographed in
the act but only detained on the scene as a last resort in the case of a
truly life threatening situation. Instead the rioters were arrested in the
middle of the night as their neighbors slept. As a finishing touch, the
police came equipped with the incriminating photographs to silence families
protesting the innocence of the rioters being detained. The incidents of
rioting plummeted.
But is Landau's candidacy relevant?
It depends in part on the situation in the country when the primaries are
held. If there is relative calm and only minor diplomatic pressure on Israel
at the time of the vote then we may be in for a horse race between Netanyahu
and Sharon with Landau far behind. On the other hand, if the seeds of
retreat already begin bearing their poisoned fruit along with heavy
diplomatic pressure on Israel for more concessions an angry Likud membership
may opt to punish the politicians responsible for the disaster and reward
Landau for his steadfast opposition to retreat.
In the meantime Landau's challenge is to rebuff efforts by the media, and
his competition, to marginalize him. Only time will tell if he has the
resources to contend with the well financed Sharon and Netanyahu campaigns.
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The Landau Candidacy
Previous
commentaries:
What will Israel do when the Palestinians renew their rocket attacks?
Read the article in Dr. Lerner's Column.
*******
What President Katsav Could Have Said.
The false disengagement assertions.
It remains unclear at this writing if the Jewish terrorist attack this afternoon in a Druze community in Israel will be successfully exploited to effectively put an end to what little debate there has been regarding the upcoming Israeli expulsion retreat from Gush Katif and northern Samaria...Read the full article.
Israel Police to deny basic rights inside Green
Line?
When Israel Television Channel 10 broadcast a recording of Israel Police
Lieutenant-Commander Nisso Shaham's shocking instructions to use
violence against disengagement opponents it was hoped that a
healthy reaction of embarrassment would cause the police brass
bend over backwards to avoid the appearance of abusing police
power against protesters....Read
full article
Israeli Police Commissioner and IDF COS fail
under pressure.
The test of leaders is how they perform under
pressure. Unfortunately, Israel's new Police Commissioner Moshe
Karadi and new Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Haluz appear to have
dropped the ball this week as pressure rose from anti-retreat
protests...Read
full article
Post retreat issues that cannot be ignored
It is far from clear if the disengagement plan will actually be
implemented. In many respects Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in a
race against time as he pushes to complete the retreat before the
retreat coalition breaks up. After all, there are more fingers on
Sharon's right hand than Israeli. Decision makers who actually buy
into the overall logic of his retreat "plan"... Read
full article
With implementation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan slated for implementation only weeks away, retreat supporters continue to rely on clichés to justify possibly the most reckless move the Jewish State has undertaken since it was created over half a century ago. Disengagement has been justified as an "experiment" and its detractors accused of "not offering a new alternative". But the Gaza Strip.....Read full article
Israel doesn't have a "thought police"
To suppress public protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan...Read full article
Bibi's Choice: ..Read full article
Will disengagement take place?
Mr. Sharon isn't fiddling as Israel burns - he has a full orchestra .Read full article
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