Rabbi Benny Elon (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) was sworn in today as Israel\'s new Tourism Minister, succeeding the assassinated Rehavam Ze\'evi. He told Arutz-7 today, \"I would have been happy to assume this position under other conditions, both personal and political. I would be happy to sit in a government that not only talked about winning, but would actually do so.\"
So then why are you joining it? he was asked. Elon: \"Our faction and party made a difficult decision, after much deliberation, to remain in the government. This was based on information that Sharon is in fact on the right path, and that he is leading towards a military option. If it turns out that this is not true, then our entire faction of 7 MKs, including Minister Lieberman, will leave the government - and as we have seen, this has a great domino effect; when we handed in our resignations before the assassination, Sharansky [and his 4 MKs] began to consider leaving, and even within the Likud other voices were beginning to be heard…\"
Elon said, \"Our job is not to topple the government, but to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to remind the world that there already is one - Jordan. We have a clear promise, without which we wouldn\'t have stayed in the government, from the Prime Minister that negotiations about a Palestinian state will not even begin without a clear decision to this effect by the Cabinet. He promised that there would be no secret talks and fait-accomplis as was the case with the Oslo Agreements. I want to emphasize, however, that if any of the listeners are now calmed by my words, then I have failed; no one must let up, and I cannot let up, and we must be constantly on guard.\"
So then why are you joining it? he was asked. Elon: \"Our faction and party made a difficult decision, after much deliberation, to remain in the government. This was based on information that Sharon is in fact on the right path, and that he is leading towards a military option. If it turns out that this is not true, then our entire faction of 7 MKs, including Minister Lieberman, will leave the government - and as we have seen, this has a great domino effect; when we handed in our resignations before the assassination, Sharansky [and his 4 MKs] began to consider leaving, and even within the Likud other voices were beginning to be heard…\"
Elon said, \"Our job is not to topple the government, but to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to remind the world that there already is one - Jordan. We have a clear promise, without which we wouldn\'t have stayed in the government, from the Prime Minister that negotiations about a Palestinian state will not even begin without a clear decision to this effect by the Cabinet. He promised that there would be no secret talks and fait-accomplis as was the case with the Oslo Agreements. I want to emphasize, however, that if any of the listeners are now calmed by my words, then I have failed; no one must let up, and I cannot let up, and we must be constantly on guard.\"