Shamir and Netanyahu: It takes one to know one

Ami Kaufman By Ami Kaufman June 30, 2012 | Edit

Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir passed away yesterday at the age of 96.  To me he will be remembered as the man who loved the status quo. The man who did nothing, and for years. The man who basically taught Benjamin Netanyahu the art of stalling. Shamir can rest in peace knowing his pupil has outdone him in the field of inactivity.

Shamir, the man who executed his own Lehi friend for treason.

Shamir, the man who said “For Eretz Yisrael, it is permissible to lie.”

Shamir, the man who said “The Arabs are the same Arabs, and the sea is the same sea.” [Heb]

Shamir, the man who said that Netanyahu was “the angel of destruction.” It takes one to know one.

And destroy he did. As David Landau points out today in Haaretz, “His long years in power did enormous damage. His shooting down of Shimon Peres’ ‘London Agreement’ with King Hussein of Jordan was arguably the most disastrous decision an Israeli leader ever took… Every day of non-progress that passed was a victory for him. He notched up ten years of them.”

How many will Netanyahu notch up?

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Whyp-GrcypU[/youtube]

 

Ami Kaufman

Ami Kaufman was chief night editor for Haaretz, for the prominent Israeli financial daily Calcalist, and correspondent on Israeli affairs for 93.6 RAM FM, a joint Palestinian-Israel radio station. His interest in food and cooking led to culinary studies at the "Israeli CIA" (Tadmor, Herzliya) and a brief stint in the restaurant business. Born in Tel Aviv, Ami lives in Bat Yam with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time he blogs at Half & Half.

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