Monday, November 17, 2008

Ya'alon 'About to Join Likud'

From Arutz Sheva, 17/11/08, by Gil Ronen:

Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe "Bogey" Ya'alon is expected to hold a joint news conference with Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu and announce that he is joining the party's ranks, according to a report in Ma'ariv/NRG Sunday.

Ya'alon is one of the only potential MKs who enjoys a relatively high degree of popularity in Israel. Netanyahu is said to be very interested in him as a member of his list, but Ya'alon has been wavering until now, saying that he is not sure that he wants to enter politics at all....

Opposed Disengagement
Ya'alon was appointed Chief of Staff at the height of the Oslo Terror War and stepped down in 2004 when then-Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz refused to extend his term of service by a year, because of Ya'alon's opposition to the Disengagement from Gaza.

In a book he published recently, Ya'alon was extremely critical of the Disengagement and said that then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carried it out because he wished to evade a criminal investigation.

National Union/National Religious Party representatives also contacted Ya'alon and asked him to head the new united nationalist Knesset list, without the need for primaries. Israel National News has learned that Ya'alon has not given an answer to the offer until now.

Another contender for the Likud list is Attorney Ehud Danoch, the former Consul-General in Los Angeles. During the Second Lebanon War, Danoch spearheaded a high-profile campaign of public support which included more than 80 Hollywood stars, including current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adam Sandler.

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