The National Religious Party's executive committee voted
nearly unanimously to quit Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
coalition on Monday. The government is now clearly a minority
coalition of only 55, with 40 Likud and 15 Shinui MKs. The
opposition is deeply divided, but nonetheless the government
will have a hard time functioning.
Sharon tried to convince NRP to remain in the coalition for
at least a couple more weeks in light of Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's impending death and the
problems passing the 2005 state budget, but the NRP MKs said
they would not remain in the coalition if there is no chance
that Sharon will support a referendum on his unilateral
disengagement plan. The NRP would prefer a referendum, but it
will settle for new elections before implementation of the
Disengagement Plan. Sharon has said that he would prefer new
elections to a referendum. Leaving the government is a step
towards having new elections.
NRP is leaving over the Disengagement Plan in Gaza and
Shomron, but it was not disturbed by the systematic steps
taken by Shinui to disengage the public arena of the State of
Israel from Judaism, including severe cutbacks of state
support for religious education and the dismantling of the
Ministry of Religions, once the stronghold of NRP.
NRP Minister Zevulun Orlev said that he believes that Sharon
can no longer bring Labor or chareidi parties into the
government so that it will fall without his party.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intends to restart efforts to
widen his coalition by adding Labor and chareidi parties
after the National Religious Party's departure from the
coalition takes effect Tuesday night, sources close to Sharon
said Monday.
Both Labor and United Torah Judaism MKs expressed interest on
Monday in replacing the NRP in the coalition.
"We want to join the government but we are waiting for the
prime minister," a source close to Labor leader Shimon Peres
said. "Sharon has to decide between a stable government
together with Labor or early elections before implementing
disengagement."
Sharon was seen talking at length on the Knesset floor with
UTJ MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, who said later that the prime
minister reiterated to him that he wants UTJ in the
coalition.
If Shinui leaves the coalition, UTJ may join — for a
price. UTJ wants to roll back at least a portion of the
severe cuts that chareidi education has suffered in the past
two years. Because of the relatively small size of the
chareidi population, doing so would not destroy the
government's budgetary framework, though it would not be
without some difficulty since the budget is tight.
Sources close to Sharon said contacts with Labor, UTJ, and
Shas may start as early as Wednesday and become more formal
at the beginning of next week.
"If the NRP leaves, Sharon will have no choice but to widen
the coalition," a Sharon associate said. "Sharon has no doubt
that he can expand the coalition with the blessing of the
Likud and all the rebels who don't want elections."
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who also issued an
ultimatum similar to the NRP, announced on Tuesday that he
will remain, according to a report on Israel Radio that was
reported in the electronic media. Netanyahu expressed
satisfaction at the Likud faction's decision on Monday to
allow the Knesset Law Committee to pursue referendum
legislation. Netanyahu's spokesman said the finance minister
views Sharon's support for the move as a personal
achievement. Observers believe that this may mark the excuse
for Netanyahu's not leaving the government. Leaving would
destroy nearly two years of work he has put in as Finance
Minister, and most economic experts have praise for
Netanyahu's performance.
Sharon told the faction on Monday that he opposes holding a
referendum but sees no problem with allowing the Law
Committee to prepare a referendum bill. There is currently no
majority for a referendum in the Law Committee or in the
Knesset.
The Likud faction voted 22 to 1 to endorse the report of a
committee led by Law Committee chairman Michael Eitan, which
states that the government could proceed with disengagement
without a referendum but that the Likud has traditionally
supported holding a referendum on territorial concessions.
The faction unanimously called on Netanyahu not to quit.
