Danon is Dangerous

Submitted by Eric (Israel), Aug 6, 2013 at 08:31

It has been a long time since I disagreed with Daniel's opinions and analysis. But I do think he this time he is missing some related information. I reside here in Jerusalem so my perspective may be a bit different.

I am not a fan of Netanyahu's decision regarding the prisoner release. As you can tell from the polls here in Israel, it is not popular with much of the population. But, I think that most people are cutting Netanyahu some slack here as no one is fully privy to just what is being swapped behind the scenes and what this may or may not have bought the country. No one here believes for a minute that these current talks will lead to anything one might qualify as peace. But most people think that we need to try, hopefully without sacrificing too much in the process. As a consequence of Netanyahu's decision to release these prisoners, Likud is suffering a bit in popularity. Hard to say at this time if will last or not. The Jewish Home party has gained a bit perhaps a result of Israeli's worrying about the government giving too much, not clear.

But now back to Danon. It is very easy to sit on the sidelines, like Danon, and pontificate that Netanyahu shouldn't release the terrorists. It is much harder to be put in the center and have to make the difficult decisions required of a true leader. The country needs to engage in these talks even if it is pre-ordained that they will fail because not to participate is a non-sequitor. Appearances are important here.

My big problem with Danon, however, is not so much his policies but his understanding of what democracy is about, the collateral damage he leaves in the wake of his methods and the philosophical deviation from the founding tenets of the Herut Party and its Revisionist roots. He has announced on more than one occasion that the Israeli Supreme Court is rendering verdicts against the government and should be subjected to an election process from the Knesset. This shows to me a very profound misunderstanding of how democracy works and the importance of separation of powers. Indeed there are better procedures for nominating and appointing the Supreme Court Justices here, but subjecting them to a vote from the Knesset is a disaster! And I am much more concerned about the government following the basic tenets of democracy than I am about a specific policy decision here or there.

I actually think that Danon is dangerous and if he continues, unchecked, he will lead the Likud far away from the Revisionist Policies at its root core. Those principles laid out by Menachem Begin and Zeev Jabotinsky have a very strong respect for all the fundamental principles of a modern democracy. Specifically, I regret that Danon and his party hacks forced Benny Begin and Dan Meridor out of the Likud party during the primaries. It was an ugly display of Danon at his worst. Benny Begin was the most principled and ethical MK of his day. And he was a hawk to boot. But he knew when compromises had to be structured for the benefit of the country. What Danon did along with Moshe Feiglin was ugly, both of whom are outright dangerous to this country.

If Danon continues to rise amongst the ranks of the party, unchecked, it is my opinion that the Likud party will start to lose support overall... for good reasons.

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