"Most of the Likud's Knesset Members are not in favor of the Prime Minister's policies," the Knesset Speaker said. "The Prime Minister is conducting a policy that is a 180-degree change from the positions of the movement he heads."



Sharon now sees his disengagement plan as "some kind of holy process," Rivlin told Army Radio yesterday, "and not just a 'need for painful concessions.'" He said that the party must undergo a process of "introspection" and decide whether it wishes to continue to carry on the ideology of the Revisionist Zionist Movement of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, or whether it wishes to abandon these ideas and replace them with others.



Jabotinsky (1880-1940) is considered the founder and spiritual leader of Revisionist Zionism. He worked for the establishment of the Jewish Legion and participated in battles against the Turkish and British rulers. He founded the youth movement Betar, aimed at educating its members with a military/nationalistic spirit. Two years later, in 1925, he established the Union of Zionists-Revisionists, which called for the immediate establishment of a Jewish State. In 1935, after the Zionist Executive refused to clearly define that the aim of Zionism was the establishment of a Jewish state, Jabotinsky resigned from the Zionist Movement and founded the New Zionist Organization. In 1937, the Irgun Tzvai Leumi (Etzel) became the military arm of the movement, with Jabotinsky as its commander. Throughout these years, he continued to write poetry, novels, short stories and articles on politics, social and economic problems. He was the mentor of future Prime Minister Menachem Begin.



Rivlin, in his interview with Army Radio, said that it appears that Sharon is turning his back on the Jabotinsky tradition. "I was sorely offended by Sharon's speech at the memorial to David Ben-Gurion [a bitter personal rival of both Jabotinsky and Begin - ed.], in which he strongly implied that Ben-Gurion was correct in his policies against the Revisionists, including the shooting at the Etzel's ship Altalena."



Sharon said in his speech that Ben-Gurion "knew that this talented and intelligent people is sometimes plagued by factionalism, sectarianism, and in-fighting, and that there were, in its history, unrealistic visions that served as obstacles... Ben-Gurion always emphasized the importance of national authority, the authority of law, and the authority of the rule of the State's official institutions."



Notably, a predecessor of Rivlin - former Likud MK Dov Shilansky, who served as Knesset Speaker from 1988 to 1992 - implied similar disappointment with Sharon yesterday. Shilansky was a Holocaust survivor and an Etzel officer who arrived in Israel on the Altalena. Speaking with Arutz-7 yesterday, he said that Menachem Begin arrived every year at the Altalena memorial ceremony, "standing in line like a soldier at attention. All the Likud leaders always attended, including Ariel Sharon - although, for some reason, Sharon informed me last time that he would not attend..."



Sixteen Etzel fighters were killed in the Altalena affair, when Prime Minister Ben-Gurion ordered what he called "holy cannon" fire on the ship carrying arms for the Etzel.



Rivlin continued yesterday that he was "astonished to see Prime Minister Sharon taking off his gloves and even the mask that was on his face for the past generation, showing that he views the Revisionists as 'factional separationists' or even 'rebels.'" He said that he was personally offended by what appeared to be Sharon's "revulsion" at Revisionist principles that "for many years he would proudly speak of at Likud movement gatherings, with Jabotinsky's portrait behind him."



Asked if he would raise his hand to topple the government if it came down to his vote, Rivlin evaded the question and said that the situation has not yet reached that point.