The Knesset faction met with Prime Minister Sharon today, the day before the end of the party's 14-day ultimatum. The NRP had said that if Sharon does not agree to a referendum on the disengagement/withdrawal plan, it would quit the government - but that if he did consent, the NRP would remain in the coalition until the end of its term.
Today, the party's four coalition MKs - two others quit the government several months ago when the Cabinet passed the disengagement "statement of intentions" - met with Sharon and presented him a refined version of their ultimatum. It stipulated that the party would not quit if one of the following conditions was met: a referendum is held; new elections are called; or Sharon agrees to freeze all disengagement decisions for a month until the post-Arafat situation stabilizes. The Prime Minister refused to agree even to the third condition; he has in fact said recently that Arafat's demise would not change a thing regarding the disengagement.
The NRP's Central Bureau convened this evening, and made the final decision to quit the government. Thirty of the Bureau's fifty members were present, and decided by majority vote to leave the government tomorrow evening.
The decision to quit the government is not expected to mend the rift between party leader Effie Eitam and Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev. Orlev led the faction that remained in the coalition after Eitam and MK Yitzchak Levy quit, and tensions between the two over the party leadership have intensified since then. Chaim Falk, a leading party activist, has suggested a way of heading off what might be a split in the party. "What I propose is that we run, in the next elections, in two parties but on one joint list," Falk said today. "This is what the National Union did (Tekumah, Moledet, and Yisrael Beiteinu), and so did Labor-Meimad, and the same with Meretz in the past. This will make it easier for the religious-Zionist voter." He acknowledged that this would help head off a threat by the National Union party in the coming elections, following what is widely perceived as the NRP's weakness in not quitting the government earlier.
Today, the party's four coalition MKs - two others quit the government several months ago when the Cabinet passed the disengagement "statement of intentions" - met with Sharon and presented him a refined version of their ultimatum. It stipulated that the party would not quit if one of the following conditions was met: a referendum is held; new elections are called; or Sharon agrees to freeze all disengagement decisions for a month until the post-Arafat situation stabilizes. The Prime Minister refused to agree even to the third condition; he has in fact said recently that Arafat's demise would not change a thing regarding the disengagement.
The NRP's Central Bureau convened this evening, and made the final decision to quit the government. Thirty of the Bureau's fifty members were present, and decided by majority vote to leave the government tomorrow evening.
The decision to quit the government is not expected to mend the rift between party leader Effie Eitam and Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev. Orlev led the faction that remained in the coalition after Eitam and MK Yitzchak Levy quit, and tensions between the two over the party leadership have intensified since then. Chaim Falk, a leading party activist, has suggested a way of heading off what might be a split in the party. "What I propose is that we run, in the next elections, in two parties but on one joint list," Falk said today. "This is what the National Union did (Tekumah, Moledet, and Yisrael Beiteinu), and so did Labor-Meimad, and the same with Meretz in the past. This will make it easier for the religious-Zionist voter." He acknowledged that this would help head off a threat by the National Union party in the coming elections, following what is widely perceived as the NRP's weakness in not quitting the government earlier.