The NRP has suspended its membership in the coalition. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev made the announcement late this afternoon, after Minister of Labor, Industry and Trade Ehud Olmert (Likud) said that he would no longer send inspectors - of non-Jewish faiths - to enforce the laws preventing stores from opening on the Sabbath. Olmert took the step at the request of the anti-religious Shinui party.
"We will not accept this abandonment of the Sabbath," Orlev told Ynet. "This is a blatant violation of the coalition agreement with Shinui to maintain the status-quo, and from our standpoint, it's a serious coalition crisis." MK Sha'ul Yahalom of the NRP, Chairman of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee, said, "The Likud wishes to divide Israel into two: those who have a good time on Shabbat, and those who have to work and serve them. The Likud is trying to liquidate this masterpiece of Judaism." Despite the status-quo agreement, Shinui party sources said, "The NRP has to understand that with us, there will not be religious coercion."
Ministers Orlev and Effie Eitam will not attend Cabinet meetings, and the party's MKs will feel free to vote against the government, until the matter is resolved. NRP leader Eitam has demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Sharon.
"We will not accept this abandonment of the Sabbath," Orlev told Ynet. "This is a blatant violation of the coalition agreement with Shinui to maintain the status-quo, and from our standpoint, it's a serious coalition crisis." MK Sha'ul Yahalom of the NRP, Chairman of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee, said, "The Likud wishes to divide Israel into two: those who have a good time on Shabbat, and those who have to work and serve them. The Likud is trying to liquidate this masterpiece of Judaism." Despite the status-quo agreement, Shinui party sources said, "The NRP has to understand that with us, there will not be religious coercion."
Ministers Orlev and Effie Eitam will not attend Cabinet meetings, and the party's MKs will feel free to vote against the government, until the matter is resolved. NRP leader Eitam has demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Sharon.