For the 5th week in a row, ever since Prime Minister Sharon proposed the plan to retreat from Gaza and evict its Jews, his government has just narrowly squeaked by no-confidence motions. The vote on yesterday's motion, submitted by the Shas Party, was 49-46, with most of the MKs of the National Religious Party and the National Union once again boycotting the vote. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) even voted against, and explained why this morning to Arutz-7: "We are simply making good on our coalition 'promise' to Prime Minister Sharon to fight with all the tools available to us against his Road Map and unilateral-withdrawal plan."
"But it's been a while now, and yet the government is still standing," Arutz-7's Amatzia Eitan noted. "It looks like you're applying the gas while in neutral." Ariel said, "You wouldn't say that if you saw the Prime Minister and his aides yesterday. They are worried, and justifiably so. The government is crumbling, and these things don't happen in one shot. It's not that we want to topple the government; we simply want to stop this terrible plan. But at this rate, the government will soon lose a no-confidence motion [yet not be toppled unless 61 MKs vote against it], and it could even reach 61."
Arutz-7: "Your party has said that you will topple Sharon the moment he presents the plan to the Americans, but in the meantime he has detoured this by sending his aides, such as Dov Weisglass, to present the plan."
MK Ariel: "You're right, this is a big problem. I can only say that our goal is to ensure that this plan does not pass, and at present by leaving the government we will not accomplish this goal - because the moment we and the NRP leave, that leaves 4 fewer ministers to vote against the withdrawal, and it will thus be passed immediately... No date has yet been set for Sharon to visit Washington to present the plan; the Americans have not yet invited him, because they themselves don't support it as yet. But in any event, at present he does not have a majority in his Cabinet to pass the plan. We have to maintain this majority and make sure that he doesn't erode it by saying that the Americans promised all sorts of things to convince us to run away [from Gaza] under fire. This is a very hard task, and we have no 100% guarantee that it will work, but we do have to make a 100% effort."
"But it's been a while now, and yet the government is still standing," Arutz-7's Amatzia Eitan noted. "It looks like you're applying the gas while in neutral." Ariel said, "You wouldn't say that if you saw the Prime Minister and his aides yesterday. They are worried, and justifiably so. The government is crumbling, and these things don't happen in one shot. It's not that we want to topple the government; we simply want to stop this terrible plan. But at this rate, the government will soon lose a no-confidence motion [yet not be toppled unless 61 MKs vote against it], and it could even reach 61."
Arutz-7: "Your party has said that you will topple Sharon the moment he presents the plan to the Americans, but in the meantime he has detoured this by sending his aides, such as Dov Weisglass, to present the plan."
MK Ariel: "You're right, this is a big problem. I can only say that our goal is to ensure that this plan does not pass, and at present by leaving the government we will not accomplish this goal - because the moment we and the NRP leave, that leaves 4 fewer ministers to vote against the withdrawal, and it will thus be passed immediately... No date has yet been set for Sharon to visit Washington to present the plan; the Americans have not yet invited him, because they themselves don't support it as yet. But in any event, at present he does not have a majority in his Cabinet to pass the plan. We have to maintain this majority and make sure that he doesn't erode it by saying that the Americans promised all sorts of things to convince us to run away [from Gaza] under fire. This is a very hard task, and we have no 100% guarantee that it will work, but we do have to make a 100% effort."