Sharon Signs Agreements for New Israeli Govt

Jerusalem Post | Feb 24, 2003 | Gil Hoffman

[UncleSamUSA]

Shinui and NRP deals seal 61-seat coalition for PM (UPDATE) ------------ Gil Hoffman Feb. 24, 2003 ------------

The Likud signed coalition deals with Shinui and the National Religious Party on Sunday, giving Prime Minister Ariel Sharon the 61 MKs needed to form a coalition.

Talks began late last night with the seven-member National Union faction in an effort to widen the coalition. The faction was expected to be offered the Transportation and Immigrant Absorption portfolios. If Histadrut chief Amir Peretz's Am Ehad Party joins the coalition, it will reach 71 MKs.

Sharon ordered the coalition talks accelerated after it became clear that Labor would not be joining the government. The prime minister hopes to complete all coalition agreements by Tuesday and present his government to the Knesset for approval on Wednesday.

In an agreement initialed at 11 p.m. Sunday night, Shinui received the Justice, Interior, National Infrastructure, Environment, and Science portfolios.

The portfolios are expected to be given to the top five Shinui MKs, Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, Avraham Poraz, Yehudit Naot, Yossi Paritzky, and Eliezer Sandberg, pending approval by the Shinui council. Shinui requested the Finance Ministry, but the Likud insisted on keeping the three top portfolios. Instead, the Likud broke its commitment to maintain control over the Interior and Justice portfolios.

Sharon promised that the Likud would keep the former in a meeting with the party's mayors. The latter was expected to remain within the party due to the many investigations involving Likud figures, including Sharon and his sons.

A deal with the NRP was reached earlier Sunday, shortly after 6 a.m., following a marathon nine-hour meeting. According to the agreement, the NRP will receive two cabinet seats.

NRP leader Effi Eitam will likely be appointed Construction and Housing minister, with MK Zevulun Orlev being appointed Social Affairs minister. The party will also receive a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office, who will be in charge of implementing the dismantling of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

However, Orlev told Israel Radio that it would be up to the NRP central committee to decide who would be the party's ministers. Former NRP leader Yitzhak Levy announced that he would run for a ministerial position and would not accept the position of deputy minister.

The NRP said that a letter had been appended to the agreement, stating that they are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and that any such move must be brought before the cabinet for ratification. US President George W. Bush's road map will not be included in the new government's guidelines, but Sharon will mention the plan in his Knesset speech upon forming the government.

The NRP received assurances that religious education would remain independent and budget cuts for national service for religious women would be repealed.

The coalition guidelines will include an agreement reached between the NRP and Shinui which calls for the Tal Law that grants IDF service deferments to all yeshiva students to be canceled and replaced by a new arrangement. The Large Families Law, under which state support for families increases sharply from the fifth child, will be replaced by a law granting an equal allotment for each child.

The Religious Affairs Ministry, which has a budget of some NIS 1 billion, will be closed, as will religious councils. As for civil marriage, the two parties only agreed to search for a civil solution for couples who cannot be married by the Chief Rabbinate.

Shas and United Torah Judaism slammed Eitam for agreeing to join a government with Shinui, leaving them outside the government. They accused the NRP of harming the Jewish character of the state in return for seats in the government.

"This is a black day for Israeli democracy," Shas chairman Eli Yishai said. "This unholy covenant between the NRP and Shinui will be short-lived." UTJ MK Meir Porush accused Sharon of betraying Orthodox voters. He said he expects Sharon will soon betray right-wing voters as well by forming a Palestinian state.

Eitam responded that his party would act a bridge between religious and secular, creating a true national-unity government

[anotherview]

This is very good news for Israel. It is especially significant that the Prime Minister was able to bring in both a religious (though not haredi) party and the secularist/centrist Shinui (Change). I suspect he will end up with 71 seats and a very stable government.

[SJackson]

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Apprehension in the Religious Public

The hareidi parties are embittered, and the religious public in general is very apprehensive, following the announcement of the ministerial portfolios to be granted to the ultra-secularist Shinui party. Shinui leader Tommy Lapid will be Justice Minister; Interior - Avraham Poraz; Infrastructures - Yosef Paritzky; Environment - Yehudit Naot; and Science - Modi Zandberg.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef of Shas had very sharp words for both Ariel Sharon and the National Religious Party for their roles in bringing Shinui into the government. He predicted that the new government will not last long, but that until then every effort must be made to preserve Shas' educational network, El HaMa'yan. United Torah Judaism spokesmen had strong words for the NRP, calling party leader Effie Eitam "Minister of Destruction of Judaism." MK Yisrael Eichler (UTJ) said that the NRP banded together with "those who caused G-d to be hated" to take resources from those who study Torah and impoverished children.

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MK Elon Sees "Moral Problem" in Gov't with Shinui

MK Rabbi Benny Elon of National Union said that he sees a "moral problem" in having an avowedly anti-hareidi politician such as Tommy Lapid hold the Justice Portfolio. "A government without the hareidim makes me cringe somewhat, from an ethical standpoint," he told Arutz-7 today. "During the election campaign, Lapid and Paritzky spoke in a racist and ugly manner against the hareidi public, and it therefore does not seem fair to have only Shinui and not the hareidim." Elon also blamed Sharon for his "divide and conquer" method, causing some parties to be afraid to join a right-wing bloc for fear of losing their chance to join the coalition.

Coalition negotiations between the National Union and the Likud are continuing today, though prospects for their success have dimmed somewhat. The National Union is upset not only about Justice Minister-to-be Lapid, but also about the NRP's agreement to have Sharon's Herzliya speech - in which he expressed support for a Palestinian state - included as part of the government guidelines. If the National Union should join, it will receive two of the following three portfolios: Industry and Trade, Absorption, and Transportation.

The Likud's Ehud Olmert appears headed to replace Silvan Shalom as Finance Minister, who will probably not be a minister at all.

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NRP Response

What is the NRP's response to the charges? For the meanwhile they are reserving the right to remain silent, but Rabbi Yitzchak Levy did tell Arutz-7 last week that, "There is a very important goal here, and that is to rid Shinui of all its hatred for Torah and Judaism, and pull it away from its exaggerated demands, and to try to be a bridge between the religious and the secular." He also said that the NRP was "very very concerned about the possibility of a Likud-Labor-Shinui government," which would have been totally secular and largely anti-religious.

Rabbis identified with the NRP have so far refused to comment. It is not clear whether Rabbis Shapira, Druckman, Aviner, and Begun gave their blessing to the party's agreement with Shinui, and they do not wish to comment.

[anotherview]

Effi Eitam, leader of the NRP, was quoted a few days ago as saying that Tommy Lapid may be the man to bridge the gulf between secular Israelis (70% of the population) and the religious community. I hope so.

Those in Israel who are not religious or masortim (traditional, but not Haredim or Datim) worried over the control that the Orthodox had over daily life. I believe including both Shinui and the NRP in government will bring some much needed balance. I also find it very hard to believe that this coalition will do anything to hurt the Haredim, but it will make some much needed budget cuts that will now affect all segments of socienty, including Haredi interests, equally.

Prime Minister Sharon had to deal with reality. Shinui is the third largest party with 15 seats, and the largest party willing to sit in coalition with him. If Labor continues to take deeply unpopular positions I expect Shinui may be the second largest party after Likud in the future.