Likud sources: Bennett’s comments a lifeline for Lapid

Unnamed sources in the Likud and Shas parties accused Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett on Monday of stirring a diplomatic controversy for the sole reason of helping out his friend, Finance Minister Yair Lapid.

The sources told Hebrew daily Maariv that Bennett made his statements, in which he disparaged the two-state solution and called for annexation of large swathes of the West Bank, in order to distract the media from covering the passing of the budget in the Knesset.

“Instead of today being rife with headlines about the passing of the budget in first reading and the austerity measures that go with it, we are all focusing on what Bennett said,” a source in the Likud said.

The Knesset did end up passing the budget law Monday night, with a tally of 58 for and 44 against, but only after a long and lively discussion in which opposition and coalition members traded barbs and accusations over its harsh financial ramifications, particularly on the lower class.

The source also pointed to the response Lapid’s party Yesh Atid issued following Bennett’s statements, in which the party expressed its support for the two-state solution, while refraining from personal attacks on Bennett, as an indication that the two leaders were in cahoots.

Sources in the religious party Shas had similar comments. One person pointed to a pattern of mutual assistance between the two freshmen politicians, recalling how a coalition crisis broke out over the ultra-Orthodox draft law several weeks ago, just as the finance committee was set to vote on raising the income tax.

Bennett and Lapid, two new faces on the national political scene, led their respective parties to surprising results in the January elections. Lapid led his newly formed Yesh Atid party to 19 Knesset seats, while Bennett, a first-time Jewish Home chairman, returned the religious Zionist party back to its former glory with 13 MKs.

Though they represent different constituencies, the two men apparently hit it off early on and have cooperated on a range of issues. The two leaders presented a united front during coalition talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisting that the new government pass a highly controversial law ordering the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men into military or national service, a move that in effect prevented the ultra-Orthodox parties — long-time coalition partners — from joining the government.

Bennett’s office dismissed the claims, saying the meeting of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in the West Bank, at which Bennett spoke, was scheduled a month ago and had no connection to the passing of the budget.

“The idea of forming a Palestinian state in Israel has reached a dead end,” Bennett said at the event. Never in the history of the Jewish people has so much energy been invested in “something so pointless,” and “we should put the idea behind us,” he added.

“The biggest problem is that the leaders of Israel are not prepared to say clearly that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people,” Bennett said.

The senior minister was reiterating publicly, for the first time since becoming a member of the cabinet, his position that Israel should annex areas of the West Bank with a large concentration of settlers. These sections of the territories, known collectively under the terms of the Oslo Accords as “Area C,” are under full Israeli security and civil control. Area C constitutes some 60 percent of the West Bank and is home to over 150,000 Palestinians in addition to over 300,000 settlers.

The annexation plan is part of the Jewish Home party’s platform, and stands at odds with, but does not directly contradict, the government’s formal position. According to the platform of the Netanyahu government, “Israel will strive to achieve a peace agreement with the Palestinians with the objective of attaining a diplomatic solution that will end the conflict.”

Bennett’s statements elicited condemnation from opposition and coalition members alike.

Such comments, said Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid), “harm the delicate fabric of the relations [with the Palestinians] and the attempts to build bridges and establish confidence-building measures between Israel and the Palestinians. The establishment of a Palestinian state is an existential Israeli interest… the only solution that can avert a binational state and the end of Zionism.”

MK Eitan Cabel (Labor Party) also raised the specter of a binational state and said he was unsurprised by Bennett’s statements.

“That’s only the less unpalatable part of Bennett’s worldview,” he warned. “Bennett has to understand that the question isn’t whether there will be a diplomatic agreement but rather when… because it’s in our interest.” The Jewish Home minister must “stop the rush toward a binational state,” Cabel added.

The Palestinians’ chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, also condemned Bennett’s remarks.

“Within the past few days, several high-ranking Israeli officials, from the ministries of foreign affairs, defense, and religious affairs, have made clear statements regarding their position to actively work against the internationally endorsed two-state solution on the 1967 border,” Erekat was quoted by the Palestinian Wafa news agency as saying.

“These are not isolated events but a reaffirmation of political platforms and radical beliefs. Israel has officially declared the death of the two-state solution,” he added.

Bennett’s comments come in the wake of a political and media firestorm generated by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, who earlier this month told The Times of Israel that the current government would never allow a Palestinian state.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is engaged in an intense effort to coax the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. However, the Palestinians have refused to engage in peace talks with Israel unless it halts construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.