Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman received his letter of dismissal around 11 AM today, while his colleague Tourism Minister Benny Elon, as of noon, had not yet received his. The dismissals of the National Union party ministers are to come into effect immediately before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presents his withdrawal/expulsion plan for a Cabinet vote.
Sharon said last night that he was going to fire the two, in the knowledge that this was the only way his plan would pass a Cabinet vote. With their firing, 11 ministers now support the plan - Sharon himself, as well as Olmert, Mofaz, Livni, Sheetrit, Ezra and the five Shinui Party ministers - while 10 object: Netanyahu, Livnat, Shalom, Naveh, HaNegbi, Sharansky, Landau, Katz, and the two NRP ministers.
Sharon's disengagement plan includes a unilateral retreat from Gaza and the northern Shomron, the expulsion of over 8,000 Jews from their homes, and the abandonment of the areas to terrorist control. Sharon insists that the plan provides the only hope for Israel's future security.
Within the Likud, eight ministers oppose the plan, while only six support it. Minister Lieberman noted that it was peculiar that Sharon had chosen to fire ministers of another party, "when actually the problem is within his own party."
"This will be the first time," Lieberman said today, "that a minister is fired not because he didn't do his job, and not because he acted in opposition to the government - but only because he doesn't agree with the Prime Minister! Is a minister not allowed to express his opinion? This shows Sharon's weakness and his inability to persuade his own ministers. And then he tries to shrug off his failures on to the National Union party, which shows his lack of ability to make correct decisions. He has made mistake after mistake, including in the diplomatic sphere: first the Road Map, which failed; then he tried to build on Abu Mazen, and this failed; then the Tenenbaum deal, with all its weird results; then the Likud referendum; then this plan, where he failed to receive a majority in the Cabinet. Instead of accepting the fact that he was unable to convince his government, he goes and fires ministers in order to obtain an artificial majority!"
Housing Minister Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party said that Sharon's firing of Elon and Lieberman is an "immoral and undemocratic act."
Sharon said last night that he was going to fire the two, in the knowledge that this was the only way his plan would pass a Cabinet vote. With their firing, 11 ministers now support the plan - Sharon himself, as well as Olmert, Mofaz, Livni, Sheetrit, Ezra and the five Shinui Party ministers - while 10 object: Netanyahu, Livnat, Shalom, Naveh, HaNegbi, Sharansky, Landau, Katz, and the two NRP ministers.
Sharon's disengagement plan includes a unilateral retreat from Gaza and the northern Shomron, the expulsion of over 8,000 Jews from their homes, and the abandonment of the areas to terrorist control. Sharon insists that the plan provides the only hope for Israel's future security.
Within the Likud, eight ministers oppose the plan, while only six support it. Minister Lieberman noted that it was peculiar that Sharon had chosen to fire ministers of another party, "when actually the problem is within his own party."
"This will be the first time," Lieberman said today, "that a minister is fired not because he didn't do his job, and not because he acted in opposition to the government - but only because he doesn't agree with the Prime Minister! Is a minister not allowed to express his opinion? This shows Sharon's weakness and his inability to persuade his own ministers. And then he tries to shrug off his failures on to the National Union party, which shows his lack of ability to make correct decisions. He has made mistake after mistake, including in the diplomatic sphere: first the Road Map, which failed; then he tried to build on Abu Mazen, and this failed; then the Tenenbaum deal, with all its weird results; then the Likud referendum; then this plan, where he failed to receive a majority in the Cabinet. Instead of accepting the fact that he was unable to convince his government, he goes and fires ministers in order to obtain an artificial majority!"
Housing Minister Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party said that Sharon's firing of Elon and Lieberman is an "immoral and undemocratic act."