Among the four MKs of the National Religious Party who remain in the coalition, Nissan Slomiansky and Gila Finkelstein lean slightly towards quitting, while Minister Zevulun Orlev and MK Sha'ul Yahalom are strongly in favor of remaining in the government. Some say that the position of the latter stems from their strong opposition to party leader Effie Eitam, though they say that the best way to counter the disengagement is from within the government.
Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri spoke with Slomiansky and asked him if, in light of Orlev's vote, anything was left of the NRP's "fight from within" strategy. Slomiansky responded, "To be fair, keep in mind that this law that Orlev voted for is barely more than a statement of intention to budget the disengagement - no different, in essence, than the vote [of June 6] declaring the government's intention to implement the disengagement."
Slomiansky said that the strategy of "fighting from within" has not changed: "We set ourselves two goals: to prevent Labor from entering the government, and to stop the disengagement from actually being implemented. The Likud has prevented Labor from joining, but only because we are still in the government; if we were to leave, the Likud membership would agree to include Labor, since the alternative would be new elections. We have to remain in the government, otherwise the Likud will, in its next Central Committee convention three weeks from now, change its mind and allow Labor to enter."
Informed that Likud MK Ehud Yatom told Arutz-7 just two days ago that he would choose new elections over allowing the disengagement to go through, Slomiansky said, "Unfortunately, he is the exception among the Likud Knesset faction."
Correspondent Kahane noted that in the end, "no one can really know how the Likud will react if the NRP leaves - but it would certainly force them to decide whether they want disengagement or not."
Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri spoke with Slomiansky and asked him if, in light of Orlev's vote, anything was left of the NRP's "fight from within" strategy. Slomiansky responded, "To be fair, keep in mind that this law that Orlev voted for is barely more than a statement of intention to budget the disengagement - no different, in essence, than the vote [of June 6] declaring the government's intention to implement the disengagement."
Slomiansky said that the strategy of "fighting from within" has not changed: "We set ourselves two goals: to prevent Labor from entering the government, and to stop the disengagement from actually being implemented. The Likud has prevented Labor from joining, but only because we are still in the government; if we were to leave, the Likud membership would agree to include Labor, since the alternative would be new elections. We have to remain in the government, otherwise the Likud will, in its next Central Committee convention three weeks from now, change its mind and allow Labor to enter."
Informed that Likud MK Ehud Yatom told Arutz-7 just two days ago that he would choose new elections over allowing the disengagement to go through, Slomiansky said, "Unfortunately, he is the exception among the Likud Knesset faction."
Correspondent Kahane noted that in the end, "no one can really know how the Likud will react if the NRP leaves - but it would certainly force them to decide whether they want disengagement or not."