Shinui Party spokesperson Adi Binyamini told IMRA ("www.imra.org.il") last week that the Shinui Party has yet to charge its official position opposing unilateral withdrawal. The official Shinui position, as explained on the party's website, is that "we will not withdraw without an agreement, since the Palestinians would interpret this as a victory for terror that would invite the continuation of terror from the point we withdraw from."
This does not jibe, however, with recent statements by party leaders, particularly Justice Minister Yosef Lapid. Lapid has been demanding a unilateral withdrawal and evacuation from at least some Gush Katif communities, and veiled threats have emanated from Shinui leaders that the party will consider resigning from the government if no "diplomatic progress" is made.
In this connection, Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri has learned that at a Shinui Knesset faction meeting before the Likud referendum, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz of Shinui said that though he personally is against unilateral actions, there is no choice but to support the Prime Minister's disengagement plan. "What else can we do?" Poraz is reported to have said. "This is the plan that the Prime Minister has presented, perhaps it will lead to some movement on the diplomatic front, and we have to support it." Minister Lapid, it was learned, is said to agree "to a large extent" with these sentiments. Others in the party, such as Minister Modi Zandberg and MK Chemi Doron, and, to a lesser extent, MKs Victor Brailovsky and Yigal Yasinov, are more to the right.
This does not jibe, however, with recent statements by party leaders, particularly Justice Minister Yosef Lapid. Lapid has been demanding a unilateral withdrawal and evacuation from at least some Gush Katif communities, and veiled threats have emanated from Shinui leaders that the party will consider resigning from the government if no "diplomatic progress" is made.
In this connection, Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri has learned that at a Shinui Knesset faction meeting before the Likud referendum, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz of Shinui said that though he personally is against unilateral actions, there is no choice but to support the Prime Minister's disengagement plan. "What else can we do?" Poraz is reported to have said. "This is the plan that the Prime Minister has presented, perhaps it will lead to some movement on the diplomatic front, and we have to support it." Minister Lapid, it was learned, is said to agree "to a large extent" with these sentiments. Others in the party, such as Minister Modi Zandberg and MK Chemi Doron, and, to a lesser extent, MKs Victor Brailovsky and Yigal Yasinov, are more to the right.