Following a long and stormy session of MKs and leading figures of the National Religious Party today, party leader Housing Minister Effie Eitam and Deputy Minister Yitzchak Levy decided to quit the government coalition. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev and the other three MKs hope to remain in the coalition, at least for the near future.
Under the terms of a tense compromise worked out this afternoon, Eitam and Levy will resign - but will not immediately join the opposition. Party leaders will continue to convene over the course of the next few days to try to find a way to prevent a split in the party.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu wrote a personal letter this morning to Eitam and Rabbi Levy - the two who specifically asked for his opinion - instructing them to quit the coalition immediately. Rabbi Eliyahu and Rabbi Avraham Shapira, who served together as Israel's Chief Rabbis between 1983 and 1993, are considered the NRP's leading spiritual authorities.
Rabbi Eliyahu wrote today,
"In response to your [plural] question, I hereby express 'Torah opinion' that no person has the right - neither the Prime Minister nor the government itself - to uproot a Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, and most certainly not to give away any portion of the Land to a foreign element. Following the resolution of Sivan 17, 5763, in which the government declares that in any final-status arrangement, communities will be uprooted and Gush Katif will be 'clean of Jews,' one must not remain partners in such a government, and I hereby instruct you to resign at once from the government and the coalition...
Fears of a split in the NRP were palpable throughout the day, and are now closer than ever to coming true. MK Nissan Slomiansky, the party's Knesset faction whip, proposed a compromise yesterday according to which the NRP would remain in the government for another three months, in order to monitor Sharon's intentions vis-a-vis the withdrawal from Gaza. Eitam and Levy did not accept this approach, and are of the opinion that withdrawal preparations will continue apace despite the NRP's objections. It now appears that the four remaining MKs of the NRP will try to exercise this option - if Prime Minister Sharon allows them.
Minister Orlev and MK Slomiansky were visibly upset by the results of the meeting, while MK Yahalom would better be described as enraged: "Whoever leaves the government now depletes our party's strength in the government, and we will not be able to fight against the decision to uproot the settlements. This is a stab in the back of the settlement enterprise." (See ex-MK Yigal Bibi's response below)
Welfare Minister Orlev said, "I am greatly saddened by this decision, but I have not given up hope of trying to find a way to maintain party unity. We have called a time-out until this coming Monday, in an attempt to bridge over the differences."
The National Religious Party suffered a mini-split in its ranks in 1997 when then-MK Chanan Porat and MK Tzvi Hendel quit the party to help form Tekumah, one of the components of the National Union party. Porat, who said today that he is a "loyal son of the Religious Zionist movement," recommends that the NRP quit the government immediately. Asked if he does not fear the immediate entry of Labor into the government in place of the NRP, Porat said,
"On the contrary: the NRP's departure will lead to unrest within the Likud and will hasten the crumbling of this unfortunate government."
Dr. Amnon Shapira of the NRP's Central Committee represents those in the NRP who feel that rabbis should not make critical political decisions. He feels that the party should not quit the government until "there is no longer a reasonable chance that we can have an influence on the events."
Likud leaders such as Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and coalition whip MK Gideon Saar have made efforts to prevent the NRP from leaving the coalition. Many Likud MKs fear the Labor Party's entry into the coalition in place of the NRP.
Under the terms of a tense compromise worked out this afternoon, Eitam and Levy will resign - but will not immediately join the opposition. Party leaders will continue to convene over the course of the next few days to try to find a way to prevent a split in the party.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu wrote a personal letter this morning to Eitam and Rabbi Levy - the two who specifically asked for his opinion - instructing them to quit the coalition immediately. Rabbi Eliyahu and Rabbi Avraham Shapira, who served together as Israel's Chief Rabbis between 1983 and 1993, are considered the NRP's leading spiritual authorities.
Rabbi Eliyahu wrote today,
"In response to your [plural] question, I hereby express 'Torah opinion' that no person has the right - neither the Prime Minister nor the government itself - to uproot a Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, and most certainly not to give away any portion of the Land to a foreign element. Following the resolution of Sivan 17, 5763, in which the government declares that in any final-status arrangement, communities will be uprooted and Gush Katif will be 'clean of Jews,' one must not remain partners in such a government, and I hereby instruct you to resign at once from the government and the coalition...
Fears of a split in the NRP were palpable throughout the day, and are now closer than ever to coming true. MK Nissan Slomiansky, the party's Knesset faction whip, proposed a compromise yesterday according to which the NRP would remain in the government for another three months, in order to monitor Sharon's intentions vis-a-vis the withdrawal from Gaza. Eitam and Levy did not accept this approach, and are of the opinion that withdrawal preparations will continue apace despite the NRP's objections. It now appears that the four remaining MKs of the NRP will try to exercise this option - if Prime Minister Sharon allows them.
Minister Orlev and MK Slomiansky were visibly upset by the results of the meeting, while MK Yahalom would better be described as enraged: "Whoever leaves the government now depletes our party's strength in the government, and we will not be able to fight against the decision to uproot the settlements. This is a stab in the back of the settlement enterprise." (See ex-MK Yigal Bibi's response below)
Welfare Minister Orlev said, "I am greatly saddened by this decision, but I have not given up hope of trying to find a way to maintain party unity. We have called a time-out until this coming Monday, in an attempt to bridge over the differences."
The National Religious Party suffered a mini-split in its ranks in 1997 when then-MK Chanan Porat and MK Tzvi Hendel quit the party to help form Tekumah, one of the components of the National Union party. Porat, who said today that he is a "loyal son of the Religious Zionist movement," recommends that the NRP quit the government immediately. Asked if he does not fear the immediate entry of Labor into the government in place of the NRP, Porat said,
"On the contrary: the NRP's departure will lead to unrest within the Likud and will hasten the crumbling of this unfortunate government."
Dr. Amnon Shapira of the NRP's Central Committee represents those in the NRP who feel that rabbis should not make critical political decisions. He feels that the party should not quit the government until "there is no longer a reasonable chance that we can have an influence on the events."
Likud leaders such as Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and coalition whip MK Gideon Saar have made efforts to prevent the NRP from leaving the coalition. Many Likud MKs fear the Labor Party's entry into the coalition in place of the NRP.