Sharon bemoaned this week what he called "an attempt to take over the Likud from the outside." He was referring to the party's Manhigut Yehudit faction, an ideological movement that has made it its goal to emphasize the importance of the "Land of Israel" in the Likud platform and ideology.
Sharon declared,
"Unfortunately, there is a group within the Likud that is acting in the Knesset against government decisions. This group has gotten smaller, but it still exists. There is an attempt to take over the Likud from the outside. There is incitement, threats and pressure on Knesset Members. This situation is intolerable."
Speaker Rivlin is known to be both a friend of Prime Minister Sharon and a strong opponent of his disengagement plan policies. Writing in Yediot Acharonot yesterday, Rivlin mocked Sharon for implying that party members could not promote their ideology - "especially when [they] are speaking in the name of the loyalty to the Land of Israel and to the principles for which the party stands."
The Knesset Speaker, known for his dry wit, said that Sharon should "look around him" and see that Central Committee members have always "implicitly threatened" MKs when they make various personal requests. Rivlin concluded that "even one whose cynicism is his trade" - a reference to Sharon - should realize, therefore, that such "requests" may obviously be made on an ideological backdrop.
Excerpts from Rivlin's article:
"The Prime Minister has revealed to us, with deep shock, that there is a new phenomenon in the Likud of 2004: Members of the party's Central Committee are threatening the Knesset Members whom they chose, that if they don't vote in the Knesset in accordance with the ideology in which they [the Likud Committee members] believe, they simply won't vote for them again.
"This is a real scandal. A rebellion. Incitement. What can we say?
"... And what can we say if it turns out that the ideology that the Committee members [are promoting] is the same ideology on which the [Likud] movement was built, and for which hundreds of thousands of people joined, and in the name of which they were elected?
"The ones who have strayed from the path are not necessarily those who are 'threatening,' but rather some of the movement's representatives in the government and the Knesset.
"What can be more natural than for them to come and demand of their representatives: 'Be loyal to the path to which you swore allegiance, and if not - we'll replace you!' Isn't that the strength of democracy?...
"Whoever cries out against the 'ideological bullies,' those who are loyal to the idea and not to a person, should understand that this is the way a political party is supposed to operate, and that this is the glory of democracy. [He should also understand] that the political game has rules - such as accepting the choice of the voter, or of the party member, when the party asks his opinion [a reference to the anti-disengagement results of the Likud referendum that Sharon ignored - ed.] - and that these rules must not be changed in the middle of the game..."
Sharon declared,
"Unfortunately, there is a group within the Likud that is acting in the Knesset against government decisions. This group has gotten smaller, but it still exists. There is an attempt to take over the Likud from the outside. There is incitement, threats and pressure on Knesset Members. This situation is intolerable."
Speaker Rivlin is known to be both a friend of Prime Minister Sharon and a strong opponent of his disengagement plan policies. Writing in Yediot Acharonot yesterday, Rivlin mocked Sharon for implying that party members could not promote their ideology - "especially when [they] are speaking in the name of the loyalty to the Land of Israel and to the principles for which the party stands."
The Knesset Speaker, known for his dry wit, said that Sharon should "look around him" and see that Central Committee members have always "implicitly threatened" MKs when they make various personal requests. Rivlin concluded that "even one whose cynicism is his trade" - a reference to Sharon - should realize, therefore, that such "requests" may obviously be made on an ideological backdrop.
Excerpts from Rivlin's article:
"The Prime Minister has revealed to us, with deep shock, that there is a new phenomenon in the Likud of 2004: Members of the party's Central Committee are threatening the Knesset Members whom they chose, that if they don't vote in the Knesset in accordance with the ideology in which they [the Likud Committee members] believe, they simply won't vote for them again.
"This is a real scandal. A rebellion. Incitement. What can we say?
"... And what can we say if it turns out that the ideology that the Committee members [are promoting] is the same ideology on which the [Likud] movement was built, and for which hundreds of thousands of people joined, and in the name of which they were elected?
"The ones who have strayed from the path are not necessarily those who are 'threatening,' but rather some of the movement's representatives in the government and the Knesset.
"What can be more natural than for them to come and demand of their representatives: 'Be loyal to the path to which you swore allegiance, and if not - we'll replace you!' Isn't that the strength of democracy?...
"Whoever cries out against the 'ideological bullies,' those who are loyal to the idea and not to a person, should understand that this is the way a political party is supposed to operate, and that this is the glory of democracy. [He should also understand] that the political game has rules - such as accepting the choice of the voter, or of the party member, when the party asks his opinion [a reference to the anti-disengagement results of the Likud referendum that Sharon ignored - ed.] - and that these rules must not be changed in the middle of the game..."