The Tikvah Chadasha (aka New Hope) faction of the Knesset, headed by Minister Gideon Saar, came to Bet Shemesh yesterday to meet with city leadership on various issues.

I have no intention of voting Likud in the coming elections. Inr ecent years it seems the Likud leadership is investing tremendous efforts to make it difficult and prevent me from voting for it. There is a price to pay for acting in a haughty and arrogant manner..

  -- former Minister Benny Begin

I would be curious to know what party he does intend to vote for and support. It is a shame he did not say. Begin is a reasonable, measured, decent, and thoughtful person and I, and probably many others, would like to know which party he considers a party worthy of the leadership. The state of the Likud today is really not his style.

A person that was entirely committed to opposing the establishment of a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria is not acceptable to them, but a person that is committed to [establishing such a state] but wants the death penalty for terrorists is kosher lmehadrin to them, and that made me realize that there are three types of right-ringers - there is the moderate right, the extreme right, and the idiotic right.... I did not say Lieberman is in the third group, but those that supported his appointment are.

  -- MK Benny Begin (Likud)

does Begin include in his idiotic right the prime minister and other members of his own party who actually made the appointment and support it? or does he only refer to those from other parties who supported it?

I don't see a significant difference between establishing a coalition before or after the elections, since the two parties are keeping their independence and are competing in the elections as one political bloc...
Those who are trying to blacken the face of Lieberman, when they refer to him with all sorts of expressions, will need to explain to their public how Yisrael Beiteinu was a relevant partner. Even now they want him to go to a different coalition, and that finally they will be able to throw the Likud out of rule. There is a certain amount of hypocrisy... The Left should also establish a large political bloc of all their parties...

  -- Minister Benny Begin

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Today has been a difficult day for the Quote Of The Day. There were too many options of great quotes to choose from. So, instead of picking one, I am bringing you the top three that i foudn for today that i found provocative enough to qualify...

Quotes Of The Day

I was, by chance, on Chol HaMoed Pesach two years ago in Tel Aviv. I was very surprised. Chametz and Chametz and Chametz and Chametz. Is {Tel Aviv] Jewish? How many tons of gefilte fish must one eat in tel Aviv to that it will be jewish anyway? There is a squaring of a circle, and an attempt to square a circle or to circle a square. It cannot work.Among other things, why? Because we do not agree among ourselves what is a jewish State in the categorical sense. It is a noun, a word that should be descriptive, to make known what is the style of the country. So, I dont know. At times i asked people - is Tel Aviv a Jewish city?

  --- Minister Benny Begin

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Unfortunately, when I turn on Channel 10 I see entertainment programs that deal with how nice it is to be gay. And they interview i a recorded session his mother, how unfortunate she is, suffering, divorced from her husband and her son is gay. I want to ask what happened to the chil at a young age when he was 3 and why they got divorced. I think most of the homosexuals are people who experienced a very difficult experience of sexual molestation at a very young age, and it deteriorates further....
Where does Channel 10 have the right to broadcast this type of a program? Content that my children might just happen to see. How nice and fun and cute it is to dress up in skirts.... So there is a request to cooperate with those gays, because they are unfortunate, those homosexuals. In the end they commit suicide at the age of 40, and it is the same people who want to be women....

  -- MK Anastasia Michaeli (Yisrael Beiteinu)

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The Haredi MKs made a mistake when they voted against the Ulpana Arrangement Bill. Gafni and Maklev actually supported the position that the Knesset cannot have its say - after any decision of the Supreme Court. When we come to the discussions about the Tal Law, the other side will remind Gafni about their opposition.

  -- MK (and director of the coalition) Zeev Elkin

(I wonder if Zeev Elkin is also planning revenge against his fellow Likudniks who voted against the bill...)

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Just when it looked like the Bank of Israel had come to a simple and easy decision, and there was not much to fight about, the decision on the new bills, and what images would grace them, has been put on hold.

Turns out, nothing is an easy decision.

Menachem Begin's family, his son Benny Begin and others, oppose his image being used. he was a very private and modest person and would not want his image on the bills.

The haredi reps said that while they would not turn it into a crisis, they oppose having the image of a woman on the bills.

A new proposal, put forth by many, is to have a religious leader's image grace the bills, and that would be the image of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l.

So, in the meantime, the decision has been put on hold while all these issues get debated and worked out. As they say, it ain't over till the fat lady sings...

Israel won`t offer concessions on Jerusalem again

------- Minister Benny Begin

When discussing an even slight relinquishment of even remote territory in Jerusalem, it leads, logically, to Israeli relinquishment of Temple Mount, as it was in the past. Just two weeks ago we heard the words of the PA ambassador to Lebanon who said: "If Israel does not retreat to the '67 lines, it will become reality on the ground. With the implementation of the Two-State solution, the State of Israel will collapse and we will move forward.". This is the Torah on one foot. This is how even those who see themselves as moderates see the situation.

------MK and Minister Benny Begin (Likud)