Dr. Aaron Lerner is co-founder of IMRA, Independent Media Review and Analysis, an Israel-based news organization which provides an extensive digest of media, polls and significant interviews and events relating to the Israeli-Arab conflict. imra@netvision.net.il
Netanyahu's Tuesday evening challenge: setting the agenda
By Dr. Aaron Lerner
August 10, 2007 Bookmark to del.icio.us
Next Tuesday night, when the polls close for the Likud Party primaries, much of the Israeli media can be expected to launch a full court press to neutralize Binyamin Netanyahu in an effort to block him from using the momentum of the event to jump start efforts to break up the Olmert Government before it commits the Jewish State to more disastrous moves regarding Arab-Israeli relations.
Instead of addressing the issues, the media can be expected to focus on the significance of the Feiglin vote -- whatever its size -- and if that vote serves to somehow challenge the legitimacy of the Likud Party or to taint its "moderate" standing. By the same token, the absence of MK Shalom from the race may be exploited to question the legitimacy of the outcome.
The challenge for Netanyahu is to use the first 35 to 45 seconds of his victory speech to make the headlines that then become the focus of the coverage.
And there certainly is something for Netanyahu to say.
Netanyahu has to explain both the dangerous and reckless nature of the Olmert team's agenda as well as the immediacy of the damage they can cause -- in particular in light of the involvement of third parties that have an interest in accelerating the process of creating a sovereign Palestinian state come-what-may.
At the same time, Netanyahu needs to put the onus on Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and others to leave the ruling coalition.
Yes, it is a tall order.
But the alternative is a continuation of the Olmert team's march down the Roadmap gangplank.
A gangplank that is considerably shorter -- what with provisions for a sovereign Palestinian state without a final status agreement -- than most Israelis appreciate.
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