Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been actively courting Yisrael Beiteinu, hoping that its 11 MKs will prop up the coalition and give it room to maneuver without constant fear of being toppled. The coalition currently numbers four parties and 66 MKs, giving any one party the ability to threaten to bring it down at any given time.
However, Yisrael Beiteinu leader MK Avigdor Lieberman - who is interested in joining the government - has set several conditions for his entry. Among them are a complete halt to plans for further unilateral withdrawals from the Land of Israel and to uproot outposts, and a changeover to a presidential political system.
Most of the coalition currently objects to Yisrael Beiteinu's entry. The Labor Party's Knesset faction - second in size only to Kadima in the coalition - largely objects to Lieberman's entry. The faction decided this morning (Sunday) to have its representatives vote against Lieberman's bill for a presidential system in the ministerial legislative committee session later this week.
Within Labor, only three MKs - Ministers Ben-Eliezer, Herzog, and Simchon - as well as possibly Orit Noked, support Lieberman's entry. Three others say they could live with it if Lieberman accepts the government's current guidelines. Over ten others, including Party Chairman and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, are outspokenly against sitting at the same government table as Yisrael Beiteinu.
Shas and the Pensioners
In addition, the Shas Party strongly objects to another Lieberman demand - the enactment of a civil marriage system. Shas and the other religious parties insist that the status quo giving rabbinic authorities full control over marriage and divorce not be changed.
Yet another blow to Lieberman's chances was delivered this morning from the smallest coalition partner, the Pensioners. Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri said this morning that the entry of Yisrael Beiteinu into the government "means a diplomatic freeze." Ben-Yizri's remarks appear to be a prelude to his party's meeting tomorrow to decide its official stance on the issues of Yisrael Beiteinu's entry and the presidential system.
Amidst the commotion over Yisrael Beiteinu, Shimon Peres - Israel's longest-serving politician, currently a Kadima government minister - denied today that he had met with Labor leader Peretz in an attempt for form a united front against Lieberman. Peres even said he does not object in principle to having Lieberman join.
However, Yisrael Beiteinu leader MK Avigdor Lieberman - who is interested in joining the government - has set several conditions for his entry. Among them are a complete halt to plans for further unilateral withdrawals from the Land of Israel and to uproot outposts, and a changeover to a presidential political system.
Most of the coalition currently objects to Yisrael Beiteinu's entry. The Labor Party's Knesset faction - second in size only to Kadima in the coalition - largely objects to Lieberman's entry. The faction decided this morning (Sunday) to have its representatives vote against Lieberman's bill for a presidential system in the ministerial legislative committee session later this week.
Within Labor, only three MKs - Ministers Ben-Eliezer, Herzog, and Simchon - as well as possibly Orit Noked, support Lieberman's entry. Three others say they could live with it if Lieberman accepts the government's current guidelines. Over ten others, including Party Chairman and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, are outspokenly against sitting at the same government table as Yisrael Beiteinu.
Shas and the Pensioners
In addition, the Shas Party strongly objects to another Lieberman demand - the enactment of a civil marriage system. Shas and the other religious parties insist that the status quo giving rabbinic authorities full control over marriage and divorce not be changed.
Yet another blow to Lieberman's chances was delivered this morning from the smallest coalition partner, the Pensioners. Health Minister Yaakov Ben-Yizri said this morning that the entry of Yisrael Beiteinu into the government "means a diplomatic freeze." Ben-Yizri's remarks appear to be a prelude to his party's meeting tomorrow to decide its official stance on the issues of Yisrael Beiteinu's entry and the presidential system.
Amidst the commotion over Yisrael Beiteinu, Shimon Peres - Israel's longest-serving politician, currently a Kadima government minister - denied today that he had met with Labor leader Peretz in an attempt for form a united front against Lieberman. Peres even said he does not object in principle to having Lieberman join.