Background: Beyond the spins - some facts about replacement of Defense
Minister Yaalon
Dr. Aaron Lerner 22 May 2016
#1. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was determined to start this Knesset
session with a larger coalition. He did this after finding that with a
majority of only 61, individual Likud MKs were blackmailing him.
#2. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon lost his position as defense minister
because a condition set by Yisrael Beiteinu to join the ruling coalition was
that the head of Yisrael Beiteinu, Avigdor Lieberman, would be minister of
defense.
#3. Lieberman has consistently stated that this was his non-negotiable
requirement.
#4. Numerous initiatives to replace the Netanyahu government with a
coalition headed by someone else - including initiatives from the left -
included Avigdor Lieberman as minister of defense. [1]
#5. Some of the same politicians and talking heads now attacking the
appointment of Lieberman supported initiatives to oust Netanyahu with
Lieberman becoming DM. [1]
#6. Herzog has stated for the record that the deal he was negotiating with
Netanyahu included replacing Yaalon with someone from Herzog's party. The
only difference was that the ouster of Yaalon was to be postponed for a
period. [2] While the logic behind the delay was not explicitly explained,
it
should be noted that the leaked State Comptroller’s draft report on the 2014
Operation Protective Edge is absolutely devastating against Yaalon and the
leaked security cabinet protocols only paint a worse picture. Thus, it
might have been assumed by Herzog-Netanyahu that Yaalon's replacement was
inevitable.
===============
Notes
[1] Channel 10 TV News correspondent Raviv Druker speculates on coalition
headed by Lapid with Lieberman defense minister - 11 November 2014
http://drucker10.net/?p=2463
[2] "An immediate opening of political negotiations, the establishment of a
regional peace council, the foreign affairs portfolio, the economy portfolio
and seven other portfolios, five deputy minister positions, four committee
head positions, including that of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
and the transfer of the defense portfolio to the Zionist Union within a
year."
Herzog explains negotiations failure, slams Yachimovich
Ynetnews Published: 05.18.16, 21:01 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4804925,00.html
[3] State Comptroller Yosef Shapira intends to publish a scathing report
about Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. The expected critique
condemns the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister
Moshe Ya’alon and former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, according to television
news channels reporting Thursday.
Itamar Eichner Published: 05.06.16, 11:02 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4800107,00.html
[4] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4800107,00.html
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