Yesha settler leader Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz - a long-time army acquaintance of Ariel Sharon, who served under then-Housing Minister Ariel Sharon as Assistant for Settlement Affairs from 1991-93, and who has been described in HaTzofeh as \"the man directly responsible for the construction in eastern Jerusalem, and communities in the Golan and in Yesha\" - spoke with Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal today about the changes that have overcome Ariel Sharon over the past years:
\"I have seen the deterioration in Sharon\'s relationship to the Land of Israel and the People of Israel for several years. It was manifest clearly in his decision to detach himself from people in Yesha, and not to include them among his aides, advisors, and members of his inner circle. Instead, he has begun to think along the \'practical\' and faithless lines of the left wing, all based on his conception that the People of Israel do not have the strength to deal with the problems that face them.
\"I have heard him say several times, including to me, \'It would be great if the entire nation was as strong as you guys in Judea and Samaria, but unfortunately this is not the case, the people of Israel are weak, and we must therefore compromise and be flexible...\' He simply does not believe in the country\'s strength, which is basically the post-Zionist approach of Peres and his friends, and the same approach that he was elected to oppose. He is making a bitter mistake: The residents of Israel are very strong, and not only in Yesha, but in Netanya and Jerusalem, they are not running away. The only one who is weak is Arik Sharon, as well as his advisors who point him only to what is being said in the media, and are constantly caught up in the tactical questions of how to run away from the problems that face us today. A leader who talks to his great nation only in terms of tactics and not vision brings upon it mourning and destruction and murders...
\"The Arik Sharon of today has no vision, and is instead just like the other Galut [Diaspora]-mentality leaders that Israel has had... One of the messages here is that nationalist camp Knesset Members like Benny Elon should not speak in cliches about \'loyalty\' to Sharon, but rather with vision. Courage comes before loyalty, and if this is not clear to Sharon, then he will be replaced. I don\'t think it will take long before this happens... The Jewish people must speak with vision, and cannot allow residents of Yesha to be wantonly killed, just like anti-Semites used to freely kill Jews in the street in Germany and Poland without anyone opening his mouth to protest. Our MKs must speak with courage and strength and -
Segal: \"- and quit the coalition?\"
Ketzaleh: \"I don\'t want to speak now about that detail. This situation cannot continue. Arik Sharon called the previous government a \'washrag\' leadership because of the murders that took place here, and now he must look in the mirror and see if the same cannot be said about him.\"
MK Benny Elon\'s response:
\"First of all, when speaking to Army Radio today, I said there that I agree with every word that [MK] Tzvi Hendel said, but I only added that I would not publicly criticize Ariel Sharon in the media, because I am part of the coalition and we must show loyalty. We offer the criticism where it needs to be offered... I agree that we must always be breathing down Sharon\'s neck. If I am correct that we are on the eve of real war - and it might not only be in Judea and Samaria - and if I am right that Sharon\'s strategy is to strengthen the unity in the country so that we can go out to fight the war without half the country protesting against the other half - if this is in fact Sharon\'s strategy, then I believe that I am doing the right thing.
\"If, however, Sharon is simply trying to fool me and is really taking the path of negotiations and withdrawals and diplomatic defeats and the like - then I am very wrong. But as long as I am a member of the coalition, I will continue to try to ascertain the truth from within, and at the same time abide by the [loyalty] rules that come with being a member of the coalition. If people think I should leave the coalition, then they have the right to criticize me - but Ketzaleh did not answer you when you asked if we should remain in the government... My feeling at present is that Sharon does, in fact, have a plan to fight terrorism very strongly. I can only add that the second I am shown to be wrong and that we are being used, we will not only leave the government, we will do everything we can to topple it.\"
\"I have seen the deterioration in Sharon\'s relationship to the Land of Israel and the People of Israel for several years. It was manifest clearly in his decision to detach himself from people in Yesha, and not to include them among his aides, advisors, and members of his inner circle. Instead, he has begun to think along the \'practical\' and faithless lines of the left wing, all based on his conception that the People of Israel do not have the strength to deal with the problems that face them.
\"I have heard him say several times, including to me, \'It would be great if the entire nation was as strong as you guys in Judea and Samaria, but unfortunately this is not the case, the people of Israel are weak, and we must therefore compromise and be flexible...\' He simply does not believe in the country\'s strength, which is basically the post-Zionist approach of Peres and his friends, and the same approach that he was elected to oppose. He is making a bitter mistake: The residents of Israel are very strong, and not only in Yesha, but in Netanya and Jerusalem, they are not running away. The only one who is weak is Arik Sharon, as well as his advisors who point him only to what is being said in the media, and are constantly caught up in the tactical questions of how to run away from the problems that face us today. A leader who talks to his great nation only in terms of tactics and not vision brings upon it mourning and destruction and murders...
\"The Arik Sharon of today has no vision, and is instead just like the other Galut [Diaspora]-mentality leaders that Israel has had... One of the messages here is that nationalist camp Knesset Members like Benny Elon should not speak in cliches about \'loyalty\' to Sharon, but rather with vision. Courage comes before loyalty, and if this is not clear to Sharon, then he will be replaced. I don\'t think it will take long before this happens... The Jewish people must speak with vision, and cannot allow residents of Yesha to be wantonly killed, just like anti-Semites used to freely kill Jews in the street in Germany and Poland without anyone opening his mouth to protest. Our MKs must speak with courage and strength and -
Segal: \"- and quit the coalition?\"
Ketzaleh: \"I don\'t want to speak now about that detail. This situation cannot continue. Arik Sharon called the previous government a \'washrag\' leadership because of the murders that took place here, and now he must look in the mirror and see if the same cannot be said about him.\"
MK Benny Elon\'s response:
\"First of all, when speaking to Army Radio today, I said there that I agree with every word that [MK] Tzvi Hendel said, but I only added that I would not publicly criticize Ariel Sharon in the media, because I am part of the coalition and we must show loyalty. We offer the criticism where it needs to be offered... I agree that we must always be breathing down Sharon\'s neck. If I am correct that we are on the eve of real war - and it might not only be in Judea and Samaria - and if I am right that Sharon\'s strategy is to strengthen the unity in the country so that we can go out to fight the war without half the country protesting against the other half - if this is in fact Sharon\'s strategy, then I believe that I am doing the right thing.
\"If, however, Sharon is simply trying to fool me and is really taking the path of negotiations and withdrawals and diplomatic defeats and the like - then I am very wrong. But as long as I am a member of the coalition, I will continue to try to ascertain the truth from within, and at the same time abide by the [loyalty] rules that come with being a member of the coalition. If people think I should leave the coalition, then they have the right to criticize me - but Ketzaleh did not answer you when you asked if we should remain in the government... My feeling at present is that Sharon does, in fact, have a plan to fight terrorism very strongly. I can only add that the second I am shown to be wrong and that we are being used, we will not only leave the government, we will do everything we can to topple it.\"