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Aug. 1, 2004 20:10 | Updated Aug. 2, 2004 17:45 Shinui reverses objections to coalition with Haredim By GIL HOFMAN AND NINA GILBERT Avraham Ravitz: "kick them in some sensitive spot" Photo: Knesset Lapid: "Sometimes you need to risk being asked 'why did you promise'." Photo: AP "There is a moment when you need to give up a bit of your ego and risk being asked 'why did you promise'," Shinui leader Yossef Lapid told reporters Monday after his Shinui faction voted overwhelmingly to consider staying in the government if United Torah Judaism becomes a supporter as long as the...

Sharon and Lapid discuss coalition negotiations Ilil Shahar Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Shinui Chairman Yossef Lapid are meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the latest developments in the coalition negotiations. Sharon-Yishai meeting ends NRG Maariv The meeting between premier Ariel sharon and Shas leader Eli Yishai has ended. Both men praised the "positive atmosphere". (2004-07-22 16:26:21.0)

Justice Minister Lapid slams 'barbaric' behavior of settlers By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Staff Justice Minister Yosef Lapid on Thursday launched a verbal assault on residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements, describing their behavior as "barbaric," and accusing them of having "de facto" control in Israel. Lapid said that the settlers "in their heart of hearts dream of the transfer of Palestinians to the [Eastern] banks of the Jordan [river], a solution which is not only barbaric but also utterly impossible." Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, a showcase conference on Israeli security, Lapid said that,...

Dec. 11, 2003 The Turbo touch The panel entrusted with the task of choosing a new attorney-general earlier in the week disqualified Justice Minister Yosef Lapid's candidate, Yoram Turbowicz, seemingly on a technicality. In fact, the commission's motives went deeper. Much was made of the fact that the committee nixed Turbowicz because by its count he hadn't spent the minimum time required – 10 years – in legal practice. By Turbowicz's own reckoning it was a full dozen years. But to quibble over these details is to miss the point. The committee never got to seriously deliberate Turbowicz's credentials, nor...

Nov. 4, 2003 Shinui to formally propose evacuating Netzarim By ASSOCIATED PRESS JERUSALEM (1) Two Israeli soldiers comfort each other after the bodies of three of their comrades were taken away at the Netzarim Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. (2) Justice Minister Tommy Lapid and (3) Interior Minister Avraham Poraz Photo: AP Shinui, the second largest party in the coalition, proposes dismantling a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip and halting targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists to revive peace talks, a spokesman said Tuesday. The proposal by the moderate Shinui party, to be formally presented next week, would be...

Following murderous attack, debate heats up over future of isolated Netzarim By Ellis Shuman October 26, 2003 An Israeli soldier on patrol at Netzarim in the central Gaza Strip. (AFP) Following a Palestinian terrorist's infiltration on Friday into an army base in Netzarim, killing three Israeli soldiers and wounding two others, left-wing politicians called for an immediate withdrawal from the isolated settlement. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says any evacuation of Netzarim "under fire" would only encourage terrorism. The army is also checking why soldiers failed to detect and prevent the attack. The funeral of Sgt. Adi Osman, 19, from...

Oct. 26, 2003 The people want a plan By NACHMAN SHAI Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, the justice minister, has sharp instincts, possibly going back to the time he was a journalist and later a television commentator in the early days of the television shoutfest Popolitica. As a panelist he always knew how to find the right word, the right reaction. It is very possible that those qualities, and others, are what carried him to the peaks of politics. He became a minister and head of the second-biggest party with 16 seats. Last week, he unexpectedly stood up and admitted: We made...

Oct. 13, 2003 Ministers steer clear of 'Geneva' deal By GRACE B. MCMILLAN Not a single minister in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet is expected to support the Geneva Initiative hammered out over the weekend by a team of Israeli leftists and Palestinians in Amman. Former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, who initiated the plan, had expressed hope of attracting support from Shinui and Likud MKs. The two sides in Amman agreed to bring the deal to their governments for approval. But Shinui leader Yosef (Tommy) Lapid released a statement criticizing the initiative and National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Partitzky, who considers...

Oct. 10, 2003 India signs $1b PHALCON arms deal By ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW DELHI, India India, Israel and Russia on Friday signed an agreement for the US$1 billion sale of PHALCON airborne early warning systems to India, a defense official told The Associated Press. India's rival, Pakistan, has said the system would upset the balance of power in South Asia, where the two major powers have fought three wars since 1947 and now have nuclear weapons. The advanced Israeli-made PHALCON radar systems are to be fitted on converted Russian-made Ilyushin transport plane that India will purchase from Moscow. The deal,...

Last Update: 08/10/2003 23:05 NRP MKs to urge coalition exit over Religious Ministry row By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Staff Members of the National Religious Party faction in the Knesset decided Wednesday evening that they would recommend for the party to quit the government unless its demands are met regarding the breakup of the Religious Affairs Ministry and the regional religious councils. The party's central committee will meet after the Sukkot holiday, which begins Friday evening and lasts until the following Saturday. During the meeting, which came in the wake of a cabinet decision earlier in the day...

Oct. 8, 2003 Rabbinical courts transferred to 'secular' Justice Ministry By HERB KEINON The cabinet voted to dismantle the Religious Affairs Ministry Wednesday and transfer authority over the rabbinical courts to the Justice Ministry headed by Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, a move that infuriated the National Religious Party and triggered a coalition crisis. The NRP, which threatened to leave the government over the issue, wants the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbinical courts to remain united and come under the purview of the Prime Minister's Office, in order to keep them out of Lapid's administrative orbit. The NRP faction decided Wednesday...

Delhi Statement on Friendship and Cooperation between India and Israel September 10, 2003 Joint statement issued on conclusion of visit to India by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 1. At the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, paid a State visit to India from September 8-10 2003, the first-ever by an Israeli Prime Minister. 2. Prime Minister Sharon was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Yosef Lapid, Minister of Culture, Education and Sport, Limor Livnat (-together with a cultural delegation) and Minister of Agriculture, Israel Katz. The...

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Yosef Lapid showing a sword presented by All India Anti-Terror Front chairman Ms. Bitta at a function in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 9, 2003 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (L) talks to President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam during a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan (The Presidential Palace) in New Delhi on September 9, 2003. Sharon kicked off his visit to India, the first by an Israeli leader, on Tuesday promising to build closer ties, a move that has raised concerns in neighbouring Pakistan. SnipSharon, who arrived Monday night, visited Rajghat, the tranquil memorial to the father...

Jewish Nazis raise heil in Israel By CORKY SIEMASZKODAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Hamas, Islamic Jihad - and now Jewish Nazis. As if they didn't have enough trouble with Palestinian militants, Israelis now have to contend with threats from a homegrown neo-Nazi group called Israeli White Unity. And they don't just hate Arabs - they hate their fellow Jews as well. Worse, they've infiltrated the Israeli Army and operate a Russian-language Web site on which they deny the Holocaust, make concentration camp jokes - and maintain links to other neo-Nazi groups elsewhere. "It's not a big group, but unfortunately it's...

Apr. 8, 2003 Editorial: 'To Joshka Fischer' Dear Joschka: It is nice to have you here, because we appreciate the visit of every friend, and we see in you one of Israel's most credible and reliable friends in Europe. Anyone who doubts this need only read the speech you gave on your last visit in May, when you received an honorary doctorate (your first degree, as you happily confessed) from the University of Haifa. You spoke candidly about German history and the hope that "through this unwavering solidarity of democratic Germany with Israel, trust and sometimes even friendship could develop...

Coalition Permutations Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Shinui Party leader Tommy Lapid met privately this morning for the first time since the election. They agreed during their two-hour chat to work towards the goal of forming a joint government - without the National Union. The two did not come to an agreement on Shas, however, though Lapid said he would accept United Torah Judaism as a coalition partner. Shinui's main campaign promise was that it would not sit in a coalition government together with the hareidi parties Shas and UTJ. Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on said, "It's not even 24 hours...

Sharon to offer Labor either treasury or foreign portfolio By Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz CorrespondentPrime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet Labor Party Chairman Amram Mitzna on Monday to ask him to join his government. Sharon will offer the party either the finance or foreign portfolio, according to senior Likud sources. On Friday, Sharon met Shinui leader Yosef Lapid, and the two agreed to set up coalition negotiation teams. MK Shimon Peres, who supports entering into coalition negotiations with the Likud, denied Saturday that he was secretly negotiating, directly or indirectly, with Sharon. Although the chances of Labor's joining the government are...