From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Ministers Michaeli, Shaked trade barbs over potential Palestinian peace talks
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Right-wing Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and left-wing Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli trade barbs during and after today’s cabinet meeting.
Following the meeting, Channel 12 reported that Michaeli and Shaked clashed after the former called on ministers to advance peace talks with the Palestinians. According to the report, Shaked retorted that there was no need and that such a move “doesn’t interest the United Arab Emirates,” Israel’s new Arab ally.
In a Twitter exchange seemingly confirming the report, Shaked says that “Merav got confused. I recommend that we wean ourselves off of the obsession with bowing down to the Palestinians. The Arab world understands Israel’s strength and is interested in ties with us without separating us from our property and our land.”
Michaeli retorts: “Dear Ayelet — the one who has been confused over the past year is not me.”
Michaeli adds that “the greatest danger to the State of Israel is the loss of its identity as a Jewish and democratic state due to combining with 3 million Palestinians. Shutting our eyes to this existential danger due to political fears threatens the existence and the future of the State of Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.