Sharon accuses rival Netanyahu of being unfit to rule

[IndianaGreen]

This is like having to choose between a DINO and Bush. For all of his faults, Sharon is preferable to the demagogue Bibi, the closest thing that Israel has to a Tom DeLay.

Sharon accuses rival Netanyahu of being unfit to rule
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 30 August 2005

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, has accused Benjamin Netanyahu, his main rival for leadership of the dominant Likud party, of being a " stressed" person "who panics and loses his senses".

Mr Sharon fired the first shots in what promises to be a bitterly fought contest by declaring last night that the man who served as his finance minister until three weeks ago "was not fit to lead a government".

He said Mr Netanyahu ­ who was Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 ­ had "run away from his responsibilities" by resigning in protest over the Gaza disengagement less than a week before he was due to present his budget, after having voted for the withdrawal.

The latest polls show that Mr Netanyahu, who is going all-out to secure the hard-right vote in the party, is the front-runner among party members, but he trails Mr Sharon in popularity among the electorate at large.

As Israel Radio reported that Mr Netanyahu was likely to announce his candidacy today, Mr Sharon said in an interview on Israel's Channel 10: " Benjamin Netanyahu is a stressful and stressed person, who panics and loses his senses ­ and a person like this cannot lead a state." He added that Mr Netanyahu was "not fit to lead a government ­ certainly not a government like Israel's. Here one needs emotional calm."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article308966.ece

[punpirate]

1. Hmmph... more like having to choose...

... between Bush and Cheney.

[Maple]

2. Well I'll agree with Sharon on that

Netanyahu had his chance and blew it.

Israel needs new leaders all around. But then, so do many other countries.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. Hopefully

Sharon looses so they get a far right winger. The moderate/left would then have a better chance of winning.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Right now Sharon is the only hope for peace!

Sure, Sharon won't give up a good chunk of the West Bank or Jerusalem, but it is the only game in town!

[3waygeek]

5. And the war criminal Sharon is fit to rule? n/t

[Maple]

6. Neither one of them are

but Israel, like many other countries right now, doesn't have a lot of choices.

[IndianaGreen]

7. I hate to puncture your balloon, but Clinton is a war criminal too!

Clinton's Plan Colombia is a program of genocide and counter-insurgency disguised as counter-narcotics. Clinton starved and bombed Iraq for 8 years. Clinton's war in the Balkans, and his bombing of Sudan, was in violation of international law.

As you can see, one's hero can easily be someone else's war criminal.

When it comes to the Middle East there is not shortage of war criminals. Arafat was such a man!

We can either back Sharon, knowing full well what his final offer to the Palestinians is going to look like, or back Bibi, who won't even bother to make any sort of offer.