PM Sharon vehemently denied the claim, saying it was a “baseless lie.” Sharon added, “I am the last person who would divide Jerusalem. I have said this on many occasions. I don’t plan to discuss any division of Jerusalem.”
Army Radio reported that Rivlin was planning on accusing the Prime Minister publicly during the Knesset Speaker’s Memorial Day speech of handing the eastern half of Jerusalem over to Arab sovereignty. Up until the 1967 Six-Day War, the city of Jerusalem was a divided city, with the eastern half occupied by Jordan.
Rivlin has reportedly rewritten his speech 8 times, in an attempt to balance his criticism of government policy to expel Jews from Jewish Gaza with the atmosphere of national unity on Remembrance and Independence Days.
Rivlin dedicated last year’s Memorial Day torch, which he lit, to the Jews of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This year, Rivlin is accusing Sharon of delegitimizing those same citizens and leading the country to disaster.
"During the Lebanon war,” Rivlin, a long-time Likud member and close personal friend of Sharon, told Haaretz, “there were members of the Herut Party who objected to Arik's [Sharon's] handling of the war, and considered the war to be a mistake. But the minute that people on the left delegitimized him, we stood behind him, and said, `This is where it stops.' We will not permit the delegitimization of a hero of Israel. And now, the same Sharon, with a stroke of his pen, delegitimizes the settlers.”
Rivlin added that if he knew this withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria was the only planned withdrawal he would be able to reluctantly accept it. "I fear that if we give in now, it will only be the first stage in a series of concessions regarding the existence of the state.”
The Knesset Speaker says that Sharon’s current coalition partners aim to see a full withdrawal from all parts of Israel liberated in the 1967 Six-Day War. He says that after this summer’s withdrawal, Sharon will immediately embark on further withdrawals using the excuse that his coalition partners demand it. He says that Sharon will turn to the parties representing those he has just expelled from their homes and say, "Now that the disengagement is fact, let's establish a new government with Shinui, because otherwise we will be forced to surrender to pressure from the Labor Party and the left-wing to implement further withdrawals, which I oppose."
Rivlin’s spokesman told Arutz-7 that he could not confirm or deny the content of the Knesset Speaker’s intended Memorial Day address, but invited the public to attend the ceremony he will be addressing, which will take place at the Mount of Olives at 11 AM Wednesday.
Army Radio reported that Rivlin was planning on accusing the Prime Minister publicly during the Knesset Speaker’s Memorial Day speech of handing the eastern half of Jerusalem over to Arab sovereignty. Up until the 1967 Six-Day War, the city of Jerusalem was a divided city, with the eastern half occupied by Jordan.
Rivlin has reportedly rewritten his speech 8 times, in an attempt to balance his criticism of government policy to expel Jews from Jewish Gaza with the atmosphere of national unity on Remembrance and Independence Days.
Rivlin dedicated last year’s Memorial Day torch, which he lit, to the Jews of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This year, Rivlin is accusing Sharon of delegitimizing those same citizens and leading the country to disaster.
"During the Lebanon war,” Rivlin, a long-time Likud member and close personal friend of Sharon, told Haaretz, “there were members of the Herut Party who objected to Arik's [Sharon's] handling of the war, and considered the war to be a mistake. But the minute that people on the left delegitimized him, we stood behind him, and said, `This is where it stops.' We will not permit the delegitimization of a hero of Israel. And now, the same Sharon, with a stroke of his pen, delegitimizes the settlers.”
Rivlin added that if he knew this withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria was the only planned withdrawal he would be able to reluctantly accept it. "I fear that if we give in now, it will only be the first stage in a series of concessions regarding the existence of the state.”
The Knesset Speaker says that Sharon’s current coalition partners aim to see a full withdrawal from all parts of Israel liberated in the 1967 Six-Day War. He says that after this summer’s withdrawal, Sharon will immediately embark on further withdrawals using the excuse that his coalition partners demand it. He says that Sharon will turn to the parties representing those he has just expelled from their homes and say, "Now that the disengagement is fact, let's establish a new government with Shinui, because otherwise we will be forced to surrender to pressure from the Labor Party and the left-wing to implement further withdrawals, which I oppose."
Rivlin’s spokesman told Arutz-7 that he could not confirm or deny the content of the Knesset Speaker’s intended Memorial Day address, but invited the public to attend the ceremony he will be addressing, which will take place at the Mount of Olives at 11 AM Wednesday.