The Knesset voted last night (Monday) 53-44 to turn down Prime Minister Sharon's diplomatic speech, in which he laid out, once again, his timetable for a unilateral retreat from Gaza. The vote signals, according to some commentators and politicians, the beginning of the end of the present government - even though it has no practical consequences.
Sharon was rebuffed, most importantly, by members of his own party who object to the disengagement plan. They are known as the Likud "rebels," even though they maintain that they "represent the original Likud views as presented in the election campaign," as Minister Uzi Landau - the leader of this camp - said this morning.
Almost as significant was the vote by Labor against the Likud. The vote was preceded by a stormy Labor party session, in which MK Chaim Ramon tried to convince his colleagues to support Sharon. Ramon's position is that Labor must abandon all considerations other than what will advance the disengagement plan. Former Labor MK Haggai Merom mocked Ramon by saying, "Ramon has only one goal: to make sure his son doesn't have to serve in Gaza. For him, the whole issue is just a countdown until the date his son turns 18."
Countering Ramon were MKs Yuli Tamir and Matan Vilnai, who managed to convince a small majority of the party to vote like an opposition party. "We will not let the government fall over the disengagement issue," Vilnai said today, but insisted that the party must object to the government in other areas - mainly regarding the budget and economic issues. In the end, the party decided, by a 12-9 vote, to vote against Sharon.
The National Religious Party, as well, did not come through for Sharon. MKs Eitam and Levy voted against, as expected, but the other four - who have not yet left the coalition - abstained in the vote.
Sharon and his aides made efforts to garner support for the speech, and even used the oratory skills of Minister Meir Sheetrit to stall for time with a long-winded speech on various topics while the behind-the-scenes labors continued. Sharon made it more difficult by turning down compromise proposals to hold the vote only on one part or another of the speech. Finally, the Prime Minister ordered all efforts called off, and the vote was held: 53 against, 44 in favor, and, for the first time, an opening Prime Ministerial statement of a winter Knesset session was defeated.
The vote was based on Mr. Sharon's address to the Knesset, in which he reiterated his commitment to both his own Disengagement Plan from Gush Katif and northern Shomron and the Road Map plan. He also talked of the governments fiscal recovery plan, and stated, "We have a mandate to make critical decisions." He said that as long as we have no partner in the PA, Israel must make its own decisions as to what is in its interest, and said that he will bring the Evacuation Bill - under which 8,500 residents of Yesha will be expelled from their homes, relocated, and compensated for their troubles - to the Knesset for its first reading in two weeks' time.
Sharon's son, MK Omri Sharon, took yesterday's defeat unkindly, walking up to the podium and accusing Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin of allowing MKs to disturb his father's speech. Rivlin angrily denied the charges and walked away in a huff.