Opponents of the disengagement/expulsion plan continued to hold out hope - until last night - that Ministers Netanyahu, Shalom and Livnat would oppose the plan in today's vote. Once again, however, as most observers have noted, the three ministers' basic opposition to the plan has not stood the political tests to which it has been put. This was placed in basic relief last night when they decided to vote unconditionally in favor of the plan.
The three had considered making their vote conditional on the holding of a national referendum on the issue. However, in light of Sharon's strong opposition to a plebiscite, as well as his threat to fire any minister who votes against the plan, they decided to withdraw this ultimatum. The original Cabinet decision of June 7, '04 - the subject of today's Knesset vote - was actually a compromise proposal formulated largely by these three ministers. The chief aspect of the compromise was that another government decision would be necessary to mandate the actual removal of the 25 Jewish communities.
Ministers Netanyahu, Shalom and Livnat continue to support a referendum, and Livnat even predicted today that Sharon would not be able to withstand the increasing calls for such a vote. Foreign Minister Shalom said last night that the only way to carry out such important processes, like the disengagement, is by consulting the nation.
MK Benny Elon (National Union) addressed much of his remarks in the Knesset today to the five Likud ministers who plan to vote for the withdrawal even though they object to it:
"You five - Silvan Shalom, Limor Livnat, Binyamin Netanyahu, Tzachi HaNegbi, and Danny Naveh - wish to remain 'loyal' to the Prime Minister. But the simple arithmetic is that you could all vote against it and thus lead to its defeat. Sharon fired Avigdor Lieberman and myself merely in order to scare you - and he has succeeded! With just a drop of courage, you could lead to a situation in which he would be forced to resign - and then one of you could become Prime Minister."
Elon said that some of these ministers say that they are voting only for the formulation agreed upon by the Cabinet last June, which does not stipulate the removal of communities - "but this is just a technical matter. The disengagement ball is rolling - just as the compensation law that was approved in the Cabinet this week, and that will come up for a Knesset vote in a few days, assumes that there will be an evacuation..."
Minister Shalom, in his remarks, addressed himself to this point and said that all the relevant legislation is based on the wording of the Cabinet decision of June 6, which stated that it does not "include the removal of communities."
Many MKs do not accept this explanation. Minister HaNegbi, for instance, who plans to vote in favor, said, "It's true that the vote is not on the actual implementation of the disengagement, but it's certainly accurate to say that it brings the disengagement closer..."
HaNegbi also said, "It is clear to all of us that this government is on very wobbly legs. The question is, is now the right time to bring it to its end? ... This disengagement plan will clearly not bring about better security, nor does it make any claims to do so... The plan is dangerous for Israel, and in general, its damage is greater than its benefits... I didn't like Sharon's speech yesterday, and I specifically didn't like how he criticized the settlers by attributing to them 'Messianic' motives. You can call some of them fanatics, or whatever, but where would we be today without Messianism? When we sat on the rivers of Babylon and cried for Zion, that wasn't Messianism?"
The three had considered making their vote conditional on the holding of a national referendum on the issue. However, in light of Sharon's strong opposition to a plebiscite, as well as his threat to fire any minister who votes against the plan, they decided to withdraw this ultimatum. The original Cabinet decision of June 7, '04 - the subject of today's Knesset vote - was actually a compromise proposal formulated largely by these three ministers. The chief aspect of the compromise was that another government decision would be necessary to mandate the actual removal of the 25 Jewish communities.
Ministers Netanyahu, Shalom and Livnat continue to support a referendum, and Livnat even predicted today that Sharon would not be able to withstand the increasing calls for such a vote. Foreign Minister Shalom said last night that the only way to carry out such important processes, like the disengagement, is by consulting the nation.
MK Benny Elon (National Union) addressed much of his remarks in the Knesset today to the five Likud ministers who plan to vote for the withdrawal even though they object to it:
"You five - Silvan Shalom, Limor Livnat, Binyamin Netanyahu, Tzachi HaNegbi, and Danny Naveh - wish to remain 'loyal' to the Prime Minister. But the simple arithmetic is that you could all vote against it and thus lead to its defeat. Sharon fired Avigdor Lieberman and myself merely in order to scare you - and he has succeeded! With just a drop of courage, you could lead to a situation in which he would be forced to resign - and then one of you could become Prime Minister."
Elon said that some of these ministers say that they are voting only for the formulation agreed upon by the Cabinet last June, which does not stipulate the removal of communities - "but this is just a technical matter. The disengagement ball is rolling - just as the compensation law that was approved in the Cabinet this week, and that will come up for a Knesset vote in a few days, assumes that there will be an evacuation..."
Minister Shalom, in his remarks, addressed himself to this point and said that all the relevant legislation is based on the wording of the Cabinet decision of June 6, which stated that it does not "include the removal of communities."
Many MKs do not accept this explanation. Minister HaNegbi, for instance, who plans to vote in favor, said, "It's true that the vote is not on the actual implementation of the disengagement, but it's certainly accurate to say that it brings the disengagement closer..."
HaNegbi also said, "It is clear to all of us that this government is on very wobbly legs. The question is, is now the right time to bring it to its end? ... This disengagement plan will clearly not bring about better security, nor does it make any claims to do so... The plan is dangerous for Israel, and in general, its damage is greater than its benefits... I didn't like Sharon's speech yesterday, and I specifically didn't like how he criticized the settlers by attributing to them 'Messianic' motives. You can call some of them fanatics, or whatever, but where would we be today without Messianism? When we sat on the rivers of Babylon and cried for Zion, that wasn't Messianism?"