Israel Beiteinu This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. www.momentmag.com

   www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/20 - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/1/2007   Last Visited: 7/24/2007

   Israel Beiteinu won 11 seats and Olmert, in need of political allies, was forced to invite Lieberman to join his cabinet, inventing a new portfolio for him called "minister of strategic affairs."
   ...
   The fact that, as strategic affairs minister, Lieberman is now in charge of drafting Israel's post-Lebanon foreign policy makes his opponents, who've dubbed their nemesis "minister for threats," nervous.
   ...
   What made Lieberman's role as Israel's power-broker possible was not only Olmert's need for a political ally but the leadership vacuum in Israel, observes Gad Barzilai, a political scientist from Tel Aviv University.
   ...
   For years Lieberman has been preaching that the real threat to the future of Israel comes not from the Palestinians beyond the Green Line but from the million plus within the state of Israel who are full Israeli citizens. As he once put it, "If we want to stop the conflict, we must separate the two peoples.
   ...
   In practical terms, this means redefining the borders of Israel in a way that regions heavily populated by Israeli Arabs would be annexed to a future Palestinian state. In exchange, Israel would get to keep clusters of settlements and the so-called "demographic threat" posed by Israeli Arabs would be diminished. Israeli Arabs who no longer live within Israel would have their Israeli citizenship revoked. Those who remain would be asked to pledge an oath of loyalty and perform military or alternative national service (from which they are currently exempted) in order to keep their citizenship. The proposal has drawn international condemnation, but only one Israelcabinet minister,Labor's Ophir Paz-Pines,stepped down to protest Lieberman's appointment. All the others found pretexts to stick to their chairs.
   
   Paz-Pines argues that Lieberman's "racist declarations harm the democratic nature of Israel."
   ...
   Lieberman's uncompromising approach may have something to do with his upbringing as an only child in an adamantly Jewish family in Kishinev, Moldova, then part of the U.S.S.R. "We all spoke Yiddish and breathed Israel," he says.
   ...
   But his debut on the public stage in Israel came as an activist in a radical right-wing students' movement at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he studied international relations. Later, he served in the army and had a short, unhappy experience at an ulpan on a kibbutz. "I soon realized I hate this kolkhoz," he says, using the Russian term for the hated Soviet collective farm. This seems like a strange statement coming from an urbane Soviet immigrant who has chosen to make his home in a small settlement in the Judean desert, and I ask about the discrepancy. "That's different," he explains.
   ...
   This differentiates Lieberman from his long-time rival, Natan Sharansky, who may be a hero to George W. Bush but is no longer popular in Israel.
   ...
   The differences don't stop there: Sharansky spent nine years in a Soviet jail for the Zionist cause and arrived in Israel as a hero.
   ...
   In the 1999 elections, Lieberman threw his own hat directly into the electoral ring with Beiteinu, which won just four Knesset seats.
   ...
   At the same time, Lieberman has stayed on message with his mantra of "Israel is our home,Palestine is theirs," delighting his former Soviet compatriots.
   ...
   Little is known about his business dealings, which include the importation of wood from the former Soviet Union to Israel, through which Lieberman made his fortune during breaks between government stints.
   ...
   Recently, one of Israel's most popular TV shows, A Wonderful Country, had an actor impersonating him demand to be greeted with "hi Lieberman," accompanied by the infamous "heil Hitler" salute.

2. 2. Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World

   www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellit - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/26/2006   Last Visited: 3/26/2006

   Promoting cooperation to support Israel.
   ...
   With no historic figure to promote because it was founded in 1999, Israel Beiteinu focused on Lieberman.
   ...
   It told the rags-to-riches story of how Lieberman came to Israel from the former Soviet Union without knowing a word of Hebrew, served in the army, brought up a family and made a name for himself in politics.
   ...
   Israel Beiteinu reminded voters that even current members of the Likud voted for disengagement.

3. 3. February 2007-A Jewish Life

   www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/20 - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/1/2007   Last Visited: 2/18/2007

   Israel Beiteinu won 11 seats and Olmert, in need of political allies, was forced to invite Lieberman to join his cabinet, inventing a new portfolio for him called "minister of strategic affairs."
   ...
   The fact that, as strategic affairs minister, Lieberman is now in charge of drafting Israel's post-Lebanon foreign policy makes his opponents, who've dubbed their nemesis "minister for threats," nervous.
   ...
   What made Lieberman's role as Israel's power-broker possible was not only Olmert's need for a political ally but the leadership vacuum in Israel, observes Gad Barzilai, a political scientist from Tel Aviv University.
   ...
   For years Lieberman has been preaching that the real threat to the future of Israel comes not from the Palestinians beyond the Green Line but from the million plus within the state of Israel who are full Israeli citizens. As he once put it, "If we want to stop the conflict, we must separate the two peoples.
   ...
   In practical terms, this means redefining the borders of Israel in a way that regions heavily populated by Israeli Arabs would be annexed to a future Palestinian state. In exchange, Israel would get to keep clusters of settlements and the so-called "demographic threat" posed by Israeli Arabs would be diminished. Israeli Arabs who no longer live within Israel would have their Israeli citizenship revoked. Those who remain would be asked to pledge an oath of loyalty and perform military or alternative national service (from which they are currently exempted) in order to keep their citizenship. The proposal has drawn international condemnation, but only one Israelcabinet minister,Labor's Ophir Paz-Pines,stepped down to protest Lieberman's appointment. All the others found pretexts to stick to their chairs.
   
   Paz-Pines argues that Lieberman's "racist declarations harm the democratic nature of Israel."
   ...
   Lieberman's uncompromising approach may have something to do with his upbringing as an only child in an adamantly Jewish family in Kishinev, Moldova, then part of the U.S.S.R. "We all spoke Yiddish and breathed Israel," he says.
   ...
   But his debut on the public stage in Israel came as an activist in a radical right-wing students' movement at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he studied international relations. Later, he served in the army and had a short, unhappy experience at an ulpan on a kibbutz. "I soon realized I hate this kolkhoz," he says, using the Russian term for the hated Soviet collective farm. This seems like a strange statement coming from an urbane Soviet immigrant who has chosen to make his home in a small settlement in the Judean desert, and I ask about the discrepancy. "That's different," he explains.
   ...
   This differentiates Lieberman from his long-time rival, Natan Sharansky, who may be a hero to George W. Bush but is no longer popular in Israel.
   ...
   The differences don't stop there: Sharansky spent nine years in a Soviet jail for the Zionist cause and arrived in Israel as a hero.
   ...
   In the 1999 elections, Lieberman threw his own hat directly into the electoral ring with Beiteinu, which won just four Knesset seats.
   ...
   At the same time, Lieberman has stayed on message with his mantra of "Israel is our home,Palestine is theirs," delighting his former Soviet compatriots.
   ...
   Little is known about his business dealings, which include the importation of wood from the former Soviet Union to Israel, through which Lieberman made his fortune during breaks between government stints.
   ...
   Recently, one of Israel's most popular TV shows, A Wonderful Country, had an actor impersonating him demand to be greeted with "hi Lieberman," accompanied by the infamous "heil Hitler" salute.