Mitzna rejects Shinui appeal to join ranks in a Sharon gov't

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 30 January 2002 | THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF

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Jan. 30, 2003
Mitzna rejects Shinui appeal to join ranks in a Sharon gov't
By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF

Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna today rejected a proposal from Shinui head Yosef Lapid to join ranks in a Likud-led government.

In their first meeting after Tuesday's election, Lapid, now the head of Israel's third largest party, suggested that Mitzna bend on his refusal to join a government under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and present him with a list of demands for a partnership.

Mitzna stood fast to his refusal to join a government with Sharon, and asked Lapid to join him in the opposition.

"I said we should go together to the opposition to try together to defeat the right," Mitzna told reporters after their meeting. "We decided to continue talking."

"I didn't succeed today," to persuade him, Lapid acknowledged. "I said we should work together in the government....he didn't give me a satisfactory answer."

Lapid said that staying in the opposition may be good for rebuilding the Labor Party, but he thought Mitzna should weigh the thought that "in the meantime the country is deteriorating into a catstrophic situation" if it lacks a stable government.

Labor won only 19 seats in the Knesset election, down from 26 in the last poll, while the centrist Shinui leaped from six to 15 seats.

Sharon is seeking to include both Labor and Shinui in a new governing coalition. While he could form a purely right-wing coalition, Sharon would prefer a broader public base for the difficult decision-making ahead on the Palestinian issue.

Shinui is balking at such a union because it objects to including any religious parties in a coalition. If Labor joins, no religious parties would be needed.

Labor objects to joining forces with Sharon for fear of losing further public support by not maintaining itself as a distinct party from Likud.

However, some Labor members have softened their position.

A bitter argument erupted at a Labor meeting today over the subject, between Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, who opposes going into a government with Sharon, and former foreign minister Shimon Peres who has hinted Labor should agree to a national unity government.

"Your opinion is hurting the party," Burg shouted at Peres.

"This isn't a Bolshevik party," Peres replied. "The party institutions will decide."

[Alouette]

Lapid, now the head of Israel's third largest party, suggested that Mitzna bend on his refusal to join a government under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and present him with a list of demands for a partnership.

Yo Tommy: the winner (that's Sharon) gets to choose the coalition partners.

[Petronski]

Hooray. Israel will be spared (for now) the idiotic and suicidal notion that the Jewish state should adopt separation of synagogue and state.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I always thought that Mitzna Kapture was hot in "Silk Stockings"...

Not too bad on "Baywatch", either...