Livni Stating the Obvious and Netanyahu's Election Strategy

ראש החודש השישי תשע״ה

Arutz 7: Danny Danon Will Be UN Ambassador
Science and Space Minister will replace Ron Prosor. Zionist Union's Livni says the choice is politically motivated.

Gil Ronen, 8/14/2015

Danny Danon
Minister of Science and Space

Science and Space Minister Danny Danon will replace Ron Prosor as Israel's UN Ambassador, according to Channel 2 reporter Amit Segal.

If the report is true, Danon will resign from the Knesset, allowing in Sharren Haskel, who was number 31 on Likud's Knesset list in the last elections.

In a Ynet interview in June, Haskel was depicted as a “moderate” who could easily fit into a leftist party – whose top political issues include animal rights and the environment, and who believes in coexistence with Israel's Arabs and “understanding” them as a top priority.

"Okay, I understand that you are trying to be politically correct, but it cannot be possible that you are not awaiting the moment that will enable you to become a Knesset Member,” the interviewer asked Haskel.

"I am waiting patiently and I am excited. I am already ready for the difficult work that will stand before me if I enter,” she replied.

Danon, 44, is also Chairman of the Likud's Central Committee. In the previous government, he served as Deputy Defense Minister but was fired by the prime minister when he voiced harsh criticism of the government in the initial phase of Operation Protective Edge.

The accepted political wisdom among pundits is that Netanyahu wanted to appoint Danon to the UN as a way of removing him from the internal Likud political arena for several years. Danon was making Netanyahu's life miserable in power struggles within the Likud Central Committee and Secretariat.

The Zionist Union's MK Tzipi Livni reacted badly to the news of Danon's appointment. “Netanyahu is abandoning Israel in the difficult diplomatic battle in the international arena, and preferring his personal interest inside the Likud Central Committee over Israel's security interests."

The Zionist Union's response began with a jab at Danon's present job as Science and Space Minister, for which he was mocked by many snobbish leftists as being intellectually unfit.

"Houston, we have a problem,” read the party's statement. “The appointment of the Space Minister as UN Ambassador is another nail that Bibi is hammering into the coffin of Israel's foreign relations. The prime minister is behaving like a low-tier Likud functionary who arranges jobs for people, and not as a leader who has Israel's interests as his top priority.”

Esser Agaroth (2¢):

What can I say about Livni? When she's right, she's right.

Christian "Zionists'" buddy Danny Danon does not seem to be complaining, though, about being pushed out of the way.

MK Miri Regev is interested in the position Likud Central Committee Chair. I could think of anyone better to take over from Danon.

On the other hand, I am not at all thrilled with the prospects of a future MK Sharren Haskel.

Could Prime Minister Netanyahu finally be accepting the possibility of elections breathing down his neck?

Stay tuned!