Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer are conducting talks on the possibility of leaving Shas and United Torah Judaism out of the coalition. Sharon wants a Labor commitment not to pull out of the coalition in the coming year to force early elections. In return, Sharon is willing to restructure the government without the hareidi parties. Sharon fired Shas and UTJ ministers and deputy ministers when they voted against the government\'s emergency economic plan, but he has since made conciliatory gestures towards them.
The chances for the non-hareidi government do not look good, however. Likud sources are skeptical that Ben-Eliezer will be able to impose party discipline on his MKs for that long. Minister Dalia Itzik (Labor) said that her party will not be able to make such a promise without certain guarantees from Sharon. The Shinui party, which has promised never to sit in the same government as a hareidi party, congratulated Sharon on the idea, and said that this could lead to a year free of \"hareidi blackmail.\"
The chances for the non-hareidi government do not look good, however. Likud sources are skeptical that Ben-Eliezer will be able to impose party discipline on his MKs for that long. Minister Dalia Itzik (Labor) said that her party will not be able to make such a promise without certain guarantees from Sharon. The Shinui party, which has promised never to sit in the same government as a hareidi party, congratulated Sharon on the idea, and said that this could lead to a year free of \"hareidi blackmail.\"