The reaction of Tourism Minister Benny Elon (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) to today\'s decision:
\"I\'m not happy with it, because we have already resolved that Arafat is irrelevant, yet look how much time we spend talking about him. I don\'t care about Arafat; I want actions, not words - we\'re already in a war, so let it be short and to the point, just like Arik Sharon always knew how to do.\"
Arutz-7\'s Ariel Kahane interjected, \"But you know that Sharon has already announced that he will strike hard at terrorism, but will not dismantle the PA - so your hopes seem to be in vain?\" Elon responded,
\"I know that Sharon said he would not listen to the Achitofel-like advice [of those who say to dismantle the PA] - but he doesn\'t realize that Achitofel\'s advice to Absalom [Sam. II 17] was the sounder advice, and that if Absalom had taken it he would have remained alive. Hushai the Arkite was the one who gave the bad advice - not to attack so fast, take it easy, wait to regroup and unite all the forces, etc. Achitofel told him to strike hard and fast - and I am proud to be the Achitofel of today. It is true, though, that Sharon is definitely not taking my advice. So now you\'ll ask why we don\'t leave the government, and my answer is as follows: Our goals are not measured in terms of remaining in or leaving the government. Our goal is rather to make sure that we dismantle the PA, that no Palestinian state arises, and that we defeat terrorism. In the past I felt that we were fairly influential - such as when the decisions to declare the PA a terrorist-sponsoring entity and Arafat irrelevant were made - and lately less so. Over the past few days, though, we feel a little stronger [probably in light of today\'s decision], and so we continue to keep our fingers on the government\'s pulse…\"
\"I\'m not happy with it, because we have already resolved that Arafat is irrelevant, yet look how much time we spend talking about him. I don\'t care about Arafat; I want actions, not words - we\'re already in a war, so let it be short and to the point, just like Arik Sharon always knew how to do.\"
Arutz-7\'s Ariel Kahane interjected, \"But you know that Sharon has already announced that he will strike hard at terrorism, but will not dismantle the PA - so your hopes seem to be in vain?\" Elon responded,
\"I know that Sharon said he would not listen to the Achitofel-like advice [of those who say to dismantle the PA] - but he doesn\'t realize that Achitofel\'s advice to Absalom [Sam. II 17] was the sounder advice, and that if Absalom had taken it he would have remained alive. Hushai the Arkite was the one who gave the bad advice - not to attack so fast, take it easy, wait to regroup and unite all the forces, etc. Achitofel told him to strike hard and fast - and I am proud to be the Achitofel of today. It is true, though, that Sharon is definitely not taking my advice. So now you\'ll ask why we don\'t leave the government, and my answer is as follows: Our goals are not measured in terms of remaining in or leaving the government. Our goal is rather to make sure that we dismantle the PA, that no Palestinian state arises, and that we defeat terrorism. In the past I felt that we were fairly influential - such as when the decisions to declare the PA a terrorist-sponsoring entity and Arafat irrelevant were made - and lately less so. Over the past few days, though, we feel a little stronger [probably in light of today\'s decision], and so we continue to keep our fingers on the government\'s pulse…\"