Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud-Beytenu) earlier this week to explain his comment that any Likud member who supports a provisional agreement with the Palestinians needs to be expelled from the party.
Danon told the prime minister that his comments were in no way aimed at him.
During the meeting, the contents of which were first reported by the Walla web portal, Danon said his comments were only intended for anyone who tried working toward an interim agreement.
The deputy defense minister stressed that because the prime minister was opposed anyhow to such an agreement with the Palestinians, it was implausible to interpret his comments as being against Netanyahu.
Danon, according to Walla, added that he was unapologetic for his words, but was merely explaining that they were misrepresented.
On September 3, speaking to an audience of Likud activists in Judea and Samaria, Danon, who won the fifth spot on the Likud party list and who chairs the Likud Central Committee, said, "I say here, to [Likud] members very clearly: If [an interim agreement] comes up, the Likud movement needs to come out and say that whoever tries to promote a deal like this, his place is not in Likud."
Colleagues of Danon said a provisional agreement with the Palestinians would go against the party platform, and therefore Danon voiced his opposition.
Danon has been particularly active since the resumption of peace talks, forming, together with other Likud MKs, a "nationalist camp" within the party to prepare for "future diplomatic developments."
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