Monday afternoon no-confidence motions have become a weekly tradition in the Knesset. However, last week was an exception, given the abduction of the soldier Gilad Shalit and the warfare in northern Gaza. This week, things are back to normal, and eight different parties are submitting seven no-confidence motions against the Olmert government.
The National Religious Party/National Union and United Torah Judaism are submitting a joint motion in protest of the gay-pride parade to be held in Jerusalem next month. The proposal puts the other hareidi-religious party, coalition party Shas, in an awkward position: Shas must either vote against the government, thus endangering its future membership in it, or side against the religious parties on a religious matter of principle.
It appears that coalition spokesmen will take the position that the parade is not in its sphere of authority and that it cannot intervene in an internal municipal matter. At the same time, the government will ask Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky to cancel the parade. City spokesmen have said that only the police can call off the march, for security reasons.
If the government takes this position, Shas will be able to claim that the government has done what it can to have the march canceled, and that it need not quit or vote against it.
Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev took a somewhat tougher stance, saying that if he did not receive a promise that the parade would not be held in Jerusalem, he and other Shas MKs would vote against the government. "If the government is deaf on a subject that is so sensitive to the entire populace of Jerusalem and wants to force us to our knees," Ze'ev said, "we say that this outrage will not be." He admitted that the Shas ministers could not vote against, lest they find themselves thrown out of the coalition, in accordance with past tradition.
However, analysts say that the lower-ranking Shas MKs will be "called to order" by the party bigwigs, and will be forced to vote for the government.
The other no-confidence motions scheduled for this afternoon are:
* by the Likud, because of the Kassam attacks on Ashkelon;
* by Yisrael Beiteinu, because of "faults in Israel's public relations network";
* by the left-wing Meretz/Yachad Party, because of the government's diplomatic activity.
* three by the Arab parties because of the government's socioeconomic policies towards the Arabs, its policies regarding the crisis of the local municipalities, and its socio-economic-political policies.
None of the motions are expected to pass. In general, Minister Yaakov Edry - the liaison minister between the Government and the Knesset - usually responds from the Knesset podium to no-confidence motions. However, today, Foreign Minister Tzippy Livny will respond to the motions regarding Israel's public relations and diplomatic activity. Edry was appointed Minister of Jerusalem Affairs today.
The National Religious Party/National Union and United Torah Judaism are submitting a joint motion in protest of the gay-pride parade to be held in Jerusalem next month. The proposal puts the other hareidi-religious party, coalition party Shas, in an awkward position: Shas must either vote against the government, thus endangering its future membership in it, or side against the religious parties on a religious matter of principle.
It appears that coalition spokesmen will take the position that the parade is not in its sphere of authority and that it cannot intervene in an internal municipal matter. At the same time, the government will ask Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky to cancel the parade. City spokesmen have said that only the police can call off the march, for security reasons.
If the government takes this position, Shas will be able to claim that the government has done what it can to have the march canceled, and that it need not quit or vote against it.
Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev took a somewhat tougher stance, saying that if he did not receive a promise that the parade would not be held in Jerusalem, he and other Shas MKs would vote against the government. "If the government is deaf on a subject that is so sensitive to the entire populace of Jerusalem and wants to force us to our knees," Ze'ev said, "we say that this outrage will not be." He admitted that the Shas ministers could not vote against, lest they find themselves thrown out of the coalition, in accordance with past tradition.
However, analysts say that the lower-ranking Shas MKs will be "called to order" by the party bigwigs, and will be forced to vote for the government.
The other no-confidence motions scheduled for this afternoon are:
* by the Likud, because of the Kassam attacks on Ashkelon;
* by Yisrael Beiteinu, because of "faults in Israel's public relations network";
* by the left-wing Meretz/Yachad Party, because of the government's diplomatic activity.
* three by the Arab parties because of the government's socioeconomic policies towards the Arabs, its policies regarding the crisis of the local municipalities, and its socio-economic-political policies.
None of the motions are expected to pass. In general, Minister Yaakov Edry - the liaison minister between the Government and the Knesset - usually responds from the Knesset podium to no-confidence motions. However, today, Foreign Minister Tzippy Livny will respond to the motions regarding Israel's public relations and diplomatic activity. Edry was appointed Minister of Jerusalem Affairs today.