Government Ministers Benny Elon and Avigdor Lieberman of the National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu party submitted their letters of resignation this morning. The resignations will take effect 48 hours afterwards. Lieberman predicted last night that national elections would be held this autumn, almost a year before their scheduled date.
This afternoon, the two departing ministers held a press conference where Lieberman listed the reasons for leaving: \"To my sorrow, the current IDF offensives are only a tactical step, while in truth, Ariel Sharon has decided on a new strategic approach. This is manifest by his decisions to free Arafat, to host [American mediator] Gen. Zinni along with international observers, and to allow talks to proceed under fire; Peres\' talks with Abu Ala are diplomatic in every sense. This shows Israel\'s inability to stand up to the conditions that we ourselves set.\" Lieberman admitted that the present timing was not a positive one, but asked, \"Our soldiers are in Ramallah, very close to the PA prison where the assassins of Rehavam Ze\'evi are being held; why don\'t our soldiers go in and arrest them? ... We have no clear objective... The government has begun to lean leftwards and we have no choice but to leave - but Sharon is the one who did it... The man who dismantled the national unity government is the man who crossed the red lines that he himself set.\"
Minister Elon said, \"As soon as Sharon declares the PA an enemy and takes all steps to dismantle it, we will return to the government - and we will even bring others with us.\" Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson asked Rabbi Elon afterwards how he felt about the \"victory\" his resignation grants the Labor Party: \"After all, since the beginning of the national unity government, it\'s been a competition between you and Labor to see who could get the other one to quit. Now Labor\'s influence in the government will be that much greater.\" Minister Elon responded,
\"We are hoping that Sharon will sense that he will suffer heavy political damage among his own constituency if he adopts the Labor party line. He will have to constantly wink towards us if he wants to remain strong within the Likud. In a sense, the leverage that we thought we would have from within the government, we can now better wield from without.\"
This afternoon, the two departing ministers held a press conference where Lieberman listed the reasons for leaving: \"To my sorrow, the current IDF offensives are only a tactical step, while in truth, Ariel Sharon has decided on a new strategic approach. This is manifest by his decisions to free Arafat, to host [American mediator] Gen. Zinni along with international observers, and to allow talks to proceed under fire; Peres\' talks with Abu Ala are diplomatic in every sense. This shows Israel\'s inability to stand up to the conditions that we ourselves set.\" Lieberman admitted that the present timing was not a positive one, but asked, \"Our soldiers are in Ramallah, very close to the PA prison where the assassins of Rehavam Ze\'evi are being held; why don\'t our soldiers go in and arrest them? ... We have no clear objective... The government has begun to lean leftwards and we have no choice but to leave - but Sharon is the one who did it... The man who dismantled the national unity government is the man who crossed the red lines that he himself set.\"
Minister Elon said, \"As soon as Sharon declares the PA an enemy and takes all steps to dismantle it, we will return to the government - and we will even bring others with us.\" Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson asked Rabbi Elon afterwards how he felt about the \"victory\" his resignation grants the Labor Party: \"After all, since the beginning of the national unity government, it\'s been a competition between you and Labor to see who could get the other one to quit. Now Labor\'s influence in the government will be that much greater.\" Minister Elon responded,
\"We are hoping that Sharon will sense that he will suffer heavy political damage among his own constituency if he adopts the Labor party line. He will have to constantly wink towards us if he wants to remain strong within the Likud. In a sense, the leverage that we thought we would have from within the government, we can now better wield from without.\"