Peres blames Shinui for power of religious party / Knesset rejects No-confidence votes

Yedioth Ahronoth ^ | 28 Febraury 2005 | Attila Somfalvi and Ilan Marciano and

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Knesset rejects 3 no-confidence votes

The Knesset rejected by wide majority three no-confidence votes issued by opposition parties. (Ilan Marciano)

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Peres blames Shinui for power of religious party

Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Monday blamed the Shinui party for the power the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party has to demand changes in the state budget.

"If Shinui would vote in favor of the budget, United Torah Judaism would not have bargaining power," Peres said. (Attila Somfalvi)

(02.28.05, 15:27)

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Two related stories:

There simply aren't enough votes in the Knesset to unseat the Prime Minister. With Likud alone holding 40 seats the Prime Minister can always reshuffle the deck to make sure he has 61 MKs backing him. The opposition is deeply divided between left and right as well.

What Shimon Peres cannot accept is that there are a lot of haredim amd datim in Israel and they vote. So long as religious Jews vote they will have a say in government. This is why Shinui has never had more than the 15 seats they have now and they only got as many seats as they did by campaigning as centrists between Likud and Labour and downplaying their secularism. If Peres ever wants Labour to hold power again he should not be alienating the religious community, some of whom are left-leaning.

[sanchez810]

Too true. The Euro-Israelis have always looked down on the Frums with a sense of entitlement to govern.

[sanchez810]

Too true. The Euro-Israelis have always looked down on the Frums with a sense of entitlement to govern.

[sanchez810]

to govern them.