Likud rebels blocking unity gov't (Israeli politics)

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 29 December 2004 | GIL HOFFMAN

[anotherview]

Dec. 29, 2004 20:09 | Updated Dec. 29, 2004 22:12
Likud rebels blocking unity gov't
By GIL HOFFMAN

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's troubles forming a national unity government intensified on Wednesday when 13 so-called Likud rebel MKs vowed not to support the appointment of Labor ministers and the disengagement implementation bill.

The MKs made the commitment in a letter to United Torah Judaism MKs, in an effort to persuade UTJ not to join the coalition. The letter is seen as a last-ditch effort by the rebels to prevent the implementation of the disengagement plan by forcing Sharon to initiate early elections or a national referendum.

"We are not trying to topple the government, but we are trying to stop the disengagement, even if it means toppling the government," a source in the rebels said. "We are against elections but in the current situation, in which we were elected according to a platform that is being disregarded against the will of our voters, we have no choice but to seek a national referendum."

Sharon's associates reacted skeptically to the rebels' maneuver. One Sharon adviser kept a list of the 13 signatories in his pocket and spent the day pressuring the 13 and collecting apologies from MKs who disassociated themselves from the letter.

"There is no chance that even a single MK will vote against the formation of the government, because they know that if they do, they will not return to the Knesset," a Sharon adviser said.

The adviser noted that the Likud's law committee decided on Tuesday that in an effort to bring new blood into the Knesset, the party's 40 current MKs will be restricted to the first 24 slots on the list to the next Knesset. If the restriction is approved in next week's Likud central committee meeting, many of the rebels may not return to the Knesset.

The letter marks a change in the rebels' strategy. At first the rebels said that they would vote in favor of the new government because the Likud central committee approved widening the coalition. But the rebels decided that the central committee decision is invalid because it was passed under the assumption that Sharon would make a serious effort to bring Shas into the coalition.

The rebels said that they fear Sharon will form a government with only Likud and Labor in order to implement disengagement. Coalition talks with UTJ are deadlocked over issues related to the independence of the haredi school system.

"The Likud must take our legitimate demands very seriously or face early elections," UTJ MK Avraham Ravitz said.

The five UTJ MKs are under pressure not to join the coalition from Shas MKs as well as the Likud rebels, but Sharon's associates said they are confident that the remaining obstacles with UTJ will be solved, allowing the faction to join the coalition.

"UTJ will play the game until the last minute and then they will smell the money and give in," a Likud MK loyal to Sharon said.

The letter was intended to appeal to UTJ rabbis to withdraw their approval for UTJ joining the coalition. The rabbis allowed the faction to join under the assumption that UTJ MKs would not maintain the balance of power because the coalition would have at least 61 Likud, Labor, and Am Ehad MKs to lean on without them.

Without the 13 rebels, the coalition would number less than 61 even if Yahad's six MKs vote in favor of approving Labor ministers. The rebels' letter shifted the focus of Sharon's problems in forming a coalition from the mainly semantic debate over how to appoint Labor chairman Shimon Peres vice premier.

Knesset Law Committee chairman Michael Eitan said on Wednesday that the bill changing the Basic Law to allow Peres to become vice premier could be voted on by the Knesset next Wednesday, thereby solving the dispute. But Likud rebel MKs said they would also vote against the Peres bill, making it difficult to pass.

[anotherview]

This is a dangerous game for Likud as a whole. If the rebels succeed they will force new elections. It is entirely possible that someone other than Ariel Sharon will win the Likud primary. The reason Likud has 40 seats in the Knesset now is the Prime Minister's huge personal popularity. People remember Binyamin Netanyahu as a weak Prime Minister.

It gest worse. Disengagement is very popular right now, with polls showing nearly 70% support. If an anti-disengagement candidate were to win the Likud primary we could see Labour or possibly even Shinui winning the next election. The thought of Binyamin Ben Eliezer or Shimon Peres as Prime Minister does not appeal to me.

[E Rocc]

Disengagement is very popular right now, with polls showing nearly 70% support

You'd never know it from some of the posts around here. Some posters all but call Sharon a traitor for even thinking about the slightest concession to the Palestinians.

-Eric

[anotherview]

You are absolutely right. If Freepers were the ones voting in Israeli elections I believe National Union (far right, ultranationalist coalition) would have an outright majority in the Knesset.

[E Rocc]

You are absolutely right. If Freepers were the ones voting in Israeli elections I believe National Union (far right, ultranationalist coalition) would have an outright majority in the Knesset.

Hell, I suspect that Kleiner's party would hold at least a significant minority position, instead of having gotten about the same number of votes as the "legalize pot" party.

I commented on another thread about how the most radical "no compromise" views vis a vis the settlements seem to come from people who actually live in the US.

-Eric