Wow

Recently, I raised the possibility that there is a real power struggle going on within the government of Israel. (Scroll to near the bottom of the item.) I could be way off base, but still, this item from Haaretz seems to point to that same conclusion.

A source close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon complained Monday night that several of the proposals made by Likud convention activists for changes to the party constitution were reminiscent "of how the Nazis came to power in Germany."

According to the source, the proposals made by representatives of the far right in the party - calling for the government and Knesset to be subject to the decisions of the Likud Central Committee and preventing Likud MKs and ministers that vote against central committee decisions from running again for Likud positions - are "blatantly unconstitutional" and would never get through the High Court of Justice.

"This is exactly how the Nazis came to power in Germany," said the Sharon associate. "With various bills that passed one after the other, they totally hollowed out the central authority. It's a phenomenon that repeated itself in other fascist regimes in Europe."

For an Israeli government source, especially one close to the prime minister, to describe another Israeli political bloc, especially one that's part of the governing coalition, as acting just like the Nazis seems to me quite amazing and indicates how bitter the dispute has become.

As I said before, this bears watching.