"In light of the ideological collapse of the Likud, which has long carried the banner of the nationalist camp, a new large political grouping has to be formed for the next elections." So says NRP leader Effie Eitam, who is currently at odds with his own party.
Eitam has long held that his party's six Knesset Members must quit the coalition government, in light of the decisions to carry out the unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. He and party colleague Yitzchak Levy in fact resigned, but the other four MKs, led by Eitam-opponent Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev, remained in the government, with their motto being, "We will fight the disengagement from within."
A recent NRP Central Committee decision supported Orlev's approach.
Eitam said last night that in the coming elections, "many Likud supporters will not vote for the Likud, which no longer represents the nationalist line, and we will have to form a body to attract them." He said that he is not talking about taking practical steps "tomorrow morning," but that this should be the direction taken. He mentioned the National Union, the NRP, and anti-disengagement forces within the Likud as potential partners of such an alliance.
Eitam's spokesman Avi Lerner said that Eitam hopes that the elections will take place before the disengagement is scheduled to be carried out: "This depends solely on the [the remaining MKs of the] NRP. If they quit, this will force Sharon to hold new elections - as the danger of Labor joining the government has passed - but if not, he will keep holding on."
"There is still a large force in Israel of those who believe that terrorism can and should be defeated, and that we must not cave in by expelling Jews from their homes," Eitam said. Of his party, he said, "There are those in the NRP who, with strange and irrelevant calculations, prefer to provide Sharon with the political base that otherwise would not exist, in light of Labor's involvement in its internal wars and the fact that the time for its joining the government has passed."
See accompanying article for an opposing opinion within the NRP, and a "third party" opinion by political commentator Menachem Rahat.
Eitam has long held that his party's six Knesset Members must quit the coalition government, in light of the decisions to carry out the unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. He and party colleague Yitzchak Levy in fact resigned, but the other four MKs, led by Eitam-opponent Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev, remained in the government, with their motto being, "We will fight the disengagement from within."
A recent NRP Central Committee decision supported Orlev's approach.
Eitam said last night that in the coming elections, "many Likud supporters will not vote for the Likud, which no longer represents the nationalist line, and we will have to form a body to attract them." He said that he is not talking about taking practical steps "tomorrow morning," but that this should be the direction taken. He mentioned the National Union, the NRP, and anti-disengagement forces within the Likud as potential partners of such an alliance.
Eitam's spokesman Avi Lerner said that Eitam hopes that the elections will take place before the disengagement is scheduled to be carried out: "This depends solely on the [the remaining MKs of the] NRP. If they quit, this will force Sharon to hold new elections - as the danger of Labor joining the government has passed - but if not, he will keep holding on."
"There is still a large force in Israel of those who believe that terrorism can and should be defeated, and that we must not cave in by expelling Jews from their homes," Eitam said. Of his party, he said, "There are those in the NRP who, with strange and irrelevant calculations, prefer to provide Sharon with the political base that otherwise would not exist, in light of Labor's involvement in its internal wars and the fact that the time for its joining the government has passed."
See accompanying article for an opposing opinion within the NRP, and a "third party" opinion by political commentator Menachem Rahat.