Infrastructures Minister Effie Eitam, head of the National Religious Party (NRP), expressed regret today that the right-wing leaders of the National Union-Yisrael Beitenu (NUYB) bloc had refused to enter into the Sharon government. "After all, they had already served under the existing government platform... Whether refusing to join the coalition is considered ‘causing the fall’ or merely 'preventing its establishment' is a question to which there may be either evasive or clever answers, but the bottom line is the same…” Minister Eitam said that the charge of the hour is to unite the religious-Zionist parties into one list for the upcoming elections, "and I will make this call every day, from every forum."
MK Michael Kleiner (Herut), who many consider the most right-wing Knesset Member of all, blames both Ariel Sharon and Avigdor Lieberman for "missing a historic opportunity to form a narrow nationalist government." He said that Sharon "plans to establish a unity government after the elections, and Lieberman played into his hands. Both Sharon and Lieberman have not yet learned that in politics, a government in the hand is better than mandates in the bush."
NUYB leader MK Avigdor Lieberman angrily rejected all accusations that once again the right-wing, and he in particular, had toppled a right-wing government: "Sharon is the one who toppled this government. He announced that he plans to form a unity government after the elections - meaning that he was planning to use us just so that he could get over the current stormy period, and would then throw us to the dogs in favor of Peres and Labor... Sharon says that he made the decision after hearing me in the Knesset yesterday at around 6:30 PM. But actually, he invited us last night at 10 PM to a meeting today; we even stayed up last night preparing our responses... If a right-wing government is acceptable to him now, then it should be acceptable to him after the elections as well."
Labor leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer continued what will apparently be his party's line in the coming campaign by accusing Sharon of choosing to give money to the "settlers" instead of to the poor. The Yesha Council accused Labor of waging a campaign of "incitement, lies, and libels against the settlers;" others called Labor's strategy a "campaign based on hatred and setting one group against the other." "There will be no peace without removing the settlements," Ben-Eliezer said, and attacked Sharon for toppling the government on the basis of "discriminating between settlements and pensioners and development towns... Two years of nothing," Ben-Eliezer summarized the Sharon-government in which he himself was a senior member.
MK Michael Kleiner (Herut), who many consider the most right-wing Knesset Member of all, blames both Ariel Sharon and Avigdor Lieberman for "missing a historic opportunity to form a narrow nationalist government." He said that Sharon "plans to establish a unity government after the elections, and Lieberman played into his hands. Both Sharon and Lieberman have not yet learned that in politics, a government in the hand is better than mandates in the bush."
NUYB leader MK Avigdor Lieberman angrily rejected all accusations that once again the right-wing, and he in particular, had toppled a right-wing government: "Sharon is the one who toppled this government. He announced that he plans to form a unity government after the elections - meaning that he was planning to use us just so that he could get over the current stormy period, and would then throw us to the dogs in favor of Peres and Labor... Sharon says that he made the decision after hearing me in the Knesset yesterday at around 6:30 PM. But actually, he invited us last night at 10 PM to a meeting today; we even stayed up last night preparing our responses... If a right-wing government is acceptable to him now, then it should be acceptable to him after the elections as well."
Labor leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer continued what will apparently be his party's line in the coming campaign by accusing Sharon of choosing to give money to the "settlers" instead of to the poor. The Yesha Council accused Labor of waging a campaign of "incitement, lies, and libels against the settlers;" others called Labor's strategy a "campaign based on hatred and setting one group against the other." "There will be no peace without removing the settlements," Ben-Eliezer said, and attacked Sharon for toppling the government on the basis of "discriminating between settlements and pensioners and development towns... Two years of nothing," Ben-Eliezer summarized the Sharon-government in which he himself was a senior member.