Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was updated about the Ariel attack as he was meeting with Labor Party ministers who were demanding budget cuts to the very towns that were proven today to be on the front line of the terror attacks. The Laborites were in the midst of threatening that if funding for Yesha communities is not cut and transferred to development towns, they will vote against the budget.
The Prime Minister turned them down, and added that whoever votes against the budget will find himself outside the government. Nonetheless, the Labor Knesset faction ratified the anti-Yesha and anti-budget decision today, despite pleas by Sharon for the Labor members to "show national responsibility." "This is not the time to quit the government," the Prime Minister said, "when we will soon be facing serious problems regarding Iraq and other issues."
Likud faction head MK Ze'ev Boim said that the Labor decision is an "irresponsible and wretched one, marked by political and public blindness at a time of emergency."
The Knesset is set to vote on the first reading of the budget this Wednesday. National elections are currently scheduled for a year from tomorrow, but if the Labor ministers quit or are fired, early elections are foreseen. Sharon could either try to form a narrow right-and-center government of 61-65 seats, or he could dissolve the government unilaterally - leading to elections in 90 days' time.
Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, interviewed at the site of the terrorist attack this morning, turned to Labor Party leader Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and his party colleagues and said, "Shame on you for your demands to cut our budget as we struggle with terrorist attacks like this one. Shame on all of you... All the money here goes into fortifications. What, this isn't a front line here? Only Nahariya and the north are on the front lines?!"
Later in the day, at a Labor Party convention in Tel Aviv, Ben-Eliezer took advantage of his appearance there to warn against another political murder. "If you don't take steps now to stop it, you won't be able to say later that you didn't know," he warned right-wing public leaders. Some analysts felt that his words could have been addressed to members of his own camp, whose recent remarks include incitement against the right-wing camp and its spiritual leaders.
The Yesha Council says that it hopes that today's attack in Ariel will put an end to the "campaign of incitement and unrestrained lashing out being waged by the Labor Party and the Defense Minister in the past weeks against the Yesha communities and residents. These times demand that we display unity and responsibility."
The Prime Minister turned them down, and added that whoever votes against the budget will find himself outside the government. Nonetheless, the Labor Knesset faction ratified the anti-Yesha and anti-budget decision today, despite pleas by Sharon for the Labor members to "show national responsibility." "This is not the time to quit the government," the Prime Minister said, "when we will soon be facing serious problems regarding Iraq and other issues."
Likud faction head MK Ze'ev Boim said that the Labor decision is an "irresponsible and wretched one, marked by political and public blindness at a time of emergency."
The Knesset is set to vote on the first reading of the budget this Wednesday. National elections are currently scheduled for a year from tomorrow, but if the Labor ministers quit or are fired, early elections are foreseen. Sharon could either try to form a narrow right-and-center government of 61-65 seats, or he could dissolve the government unilaterally - leading to elections in 90 days' time.
Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, interviewed at the site of the terrorist attack this morning, turned to Labor Party leader Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and his party colleagues and said, "Shame on you for your demands to cut our budget as we struggle with terrorist attacks like this one. Shame on all of you... All the money here goes into fortifications. What, this isn't a front line here? Only Nahariya and the north are on the front lines?!"
Later in the day, at a Labor Party convention in Tel Aviv, Ben-Eliezer took advantage of his appearance there to warn against another political murder. "If you don't take steps now to stop it, you won't be able to say later that you didn't know," he warned right-wing public leaders. Some analysts felt that his words could have been addressed to members of his own camp, whose recent remarks include incitement against the right-wing camp and its spiritual leaders.
The Yesha Council says that it hopes that today's attack in Ariel will put an end to the "campaign of incitement and unrestrained lashing out being waged by the Labor Party and the Defense Minister in the past weeks against the Yesha communities and residents. These times demand that we display unity and responsibility."