A senior Labor MK, Avraham Shochat, welcomed Sharon's speech, saying it would pave the way for Labor's entry into a coalition with the Likud without the right-wing parties. "I am very happy that Sharon is moving in the direction of Labor's policies," he said, "and it's important to me to see that even in the Likud there are those who are in favor of a Palestinian state and negotiations even while terrorism continues - and therefore [Labor Party leader Amram] Mitzna need not go so far to the left... This will pave the way for a national unity government without Lieberman and the others, and even without some elements in the Likud who will never agree to a Palestinian state..."
MK Benny Elon (National Union) said that Ariel Sharon now suffers from the same problem as did the late Yitzchak Rabin: "Sharon, like Rabin, has strong self-confidence that he will be able to give the Palestinians an entity - in this case, a state - but that he will be able determine its exact dimensions... He thinks that he's in control, and that if he doesn't give them a state, it will be even worse - but he doesn't realize that he will lose control over the events..."
Asked on Arutz-7 today how the right-wing can stop this scenario, Elon said, "We can do so if we are strong [i.e., receive many Knesset seats in the coming election] and can provide him with an alternative to a national unity government with Labor. If a government with Labor is established without the National Union, this will be a catastrophe... But I believe that Amram Mitzna himself doesn't want to enter into a national unity government, even though he will be pressured to do so by the Labor MKs and the millionaires who surround him... We on the right must be strong so that we can not only win the election but also help the right-wing learn how to rule."
MK Benny Elon (National Union) said that Ariel Sharon now suffers from the same problem as did the late Yitzchak Rabin: "Sharon, like Rabin, has strong self-confidence that he will be able to give the Palestinians an entity - in this case, a state - but that he will be able determine its exact dimensions... He thinks that he's in control, and that if he doesn't give them a state, it will be even worse - but he doesn't realize that he will lose control over the events..."
Asked on Arutz-7 today how the right-wing can stop this scenario, Elon said, "We can do so if we are strong [i.e., receive many Knesset seats in the coming election] and can provide him with an alternative to a national unity government with Labor. If a government with Labor is established without the National Union, this will be a catastrophe... But I believe that Amram Mitzna himself doesn't want to enter into a national unity government, even though he will be pressured to do so by the Labor MKs and the millionaires who surround him... We on the right must be strong so that we can not only win the election but also help the right-wing learn how to rule."