The drama-ridden Likud convention will begin at 4:00 this afternoon, and Prime Minister Sharon may have found a "Zionist" solution to extricate him from the problems he faces.
The anti-disengagement forces in the Likud, led by Minister Uzi Landau, are preparing to vote against including Labor in the coalition. This will force Sharon to either ignore his party's opinion once again, or head for new elections - or both. He has come up with an alternative resolution, however, that the party delegates may be hard-pressed to turn down: to allow coalition negotiations with any Zionist party that accepts the coalition's guidelines. The idealistic wording of this proposal, plus the tireless efforts of MK Omri Sharon and others on behalf of his father, may provide the margin of victory for the Sharon camp - despite the majority that the anti-disengagement side appears to currently enjoy.
Alternatively, it could be that both resolutions could pass. This would leave open the question as to what should be done: Would the approval of the Sharon proposal mean that Labor is "approved" for the government, or would that be overridden by the Landau proposal?
Manhigut Yehudit, the party faction led by Moshe Feiglin and which strongly opposes the disengagement/expulsion plan, has announced that it will vote for both proposals. This, after learning that the party's legal counsel has looked into the above question and found that if both proposals pass, the bottom line would be that Labor could not be included in the coalition.
Convention chairman Minister Yisrael Katz said this morning that the fact that Sharon made his own proposal has led to a relaxation of the tensions, "showing that he is taking the party's opinions into account."
Minister Uzi Landau says that Labor's membership in the government would simply be a source of pressure on the Likud. "Labor MK Matan Vilnai said that after Labor helps the Likud implement the disengagement from Gaza," Landau said, "Labor will quit the government in order to pressure Sharon to withdraw even more, all the way up to the pre-1967 borders. This is just an example of the pressures that the Likud is liable to face if Labor joins."
Scheduled to speak tonight are Uzi Landau, followed by MKs Gilad Erdan and David Levy against the Sharon position, as well as Ministers Tzippy Livny and Limor Livnat in favor of Sharon. Prime Minister Sharon himself is scheduled to address the convention close to 8 PM, when the evening's main television news broadcast begins. It is not yet known whether Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who objects to Labor's inclusion in the government more strongly than he objects to the disengagement plan, will agree to speak.
Regarding Labor, it is far from clear whether Labor even wants to join the government. Senior Labor MKs Ephraim Sneh and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, as well as their more junior Knesset colleagues Ophir Pines and Danny Yatom, have come out strongly against joining the Likud in the government.
The anti-disengagement forces in the Likud, led by Minister Uzi Landau, are preparing to vote against including Labor in the coalition. This will force Sharon to either ignore his party's opinion once again, or head for new elections - or both. He has come up with an alternative resolution, however, that the party delegates may be hard-pressed to turn down: to allow coalition negotiations with any Zionist party that accepts the coalition's guidelines. The idealistic wording of this proposal, plus the tireless efforts of MK Omri Sharon and others on behalf of his father, may provide the margin of victory for the Sharon camp - despite the majority that the anti-disengagement side appears to currently enjoy.
Alternatively, it could be that both resolutions could pass. This would leave open the question as to what should be done: Would the approval of the Sharon proposal mean that Labor is "approved" for the government, or would that be overridden by the Landau proposal?
Manhigut Yehudit, the party faction led by Moshe Feiglin and which strongly opposes the disengagement/expulsion plan, has announced that it will vote for both proposals. This, after learning that the party's legal counsel has looked into the above question and found that if both proposals pass, the bottom line would be that Labor could not be included in the coalition.
Convention chairman Minister Yisrael Katz said this morning that the fact that Sharon made his own proposal has led to a relaxation of the tensions, "showing that he is taking the party's opinions into account."
Minister Uzi Landau says that Labor's membership in the government would simply be a source of pressure on the Likud. "Labor MK Matan Vilnai said that after Labor helps the Likud implement the disengagement from Gaza," Landau said, "Labor will quit the government in order to pressure Sharon to withdraw even more, all the way up to the pre-1967 borders. This is just an example of the pressures that the Likud is liable to face if Labor joins."
Scheduled to speak tonight are Uzi Landau, followed by MKs Gilad Erdan and David Levy against the Sharon position, as well as Ministers Tzippy Livny and Limor Livnat in favor of Sharon. Prime Minister Sharon himself is scheduled to address the convention close to 8 PM, when the evening's main television news broadcast begins. It is not yet known whether Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who objects to Labor's inclusion in the government more strongly than he objects to the disengagement plan, will agree to speak.
Regarding Labor, it is far from clear whether Labor even wants to join the government. Senior Labor MKs Ephraim Sneh and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, as well as their more junior Knesset colleagues Ophir Pines and Danny Yatom, have come out strongly against joining the Likud in the government.