Likud cabinet minister Yisrael Katz warned Saturday night that if the Likud does not hold the Interior and other major posts, "we will go to elections."
The showdown will come Thursday when the Likud Central Committee is to discuss the coalition proposal which it turned down last August. Uzi Landau, the Likud MK who was fired as cabinet minister after voting against the so-called disengagement plan, said Saturday that Sharon is misleading the public by claiming the only options are a coalition with Labor or new elections.
"We will make it clear to the committee that including Labor in the coalition is a giant step for disengagement," Landau said Saturday night. "It is inconceivable that members of the Likud Party, which is against disengagement, give the government the tools to carry it out."
Landau suggested a national referendum on the plan to dismantle 25 Jewish communities and transfer the property to Arabs. Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership faction in the Likud, called on Sharon to form a coalition with religious and nationalist parties.
Sharon, however, is pressuring party members to support the coalition with Labor. Likud has 40 Knesset members, and will comprise the entire government on Sunday morning. Shinui's five ministers officially vacated their positions Saturday night, 48 hours after Sharon fired them. They were relieved of their positions following Shinui's vote last week against the first reading of the budget, which failed to win a majority.
Sharon and Labor party leader Shimon Peres reportedly have agreed on a coalition, and the Likud committee meeting Thursday is the only major obstacle in Sharon's way.
The government currently includes only 13 ministers, the smallest it has been in over 50 years. The firing of the five Shinui Party ministers has left vacancies in the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Science, Environment and Infrastructures. Until these spots are filled, the responsibility for the ministries goes automatically to Prime Minister Sharon. The Prime Minister's Bureau announced yesterday that Minister Tzippy Livni would assume the position of Justice Minister, succeeding Shinui chairman Tommy Lapid. Other ministerial changes are expected if Sharon succeeds in bringing Labor and/or other parties into the government.
Sharon has refused to say whether he would honor whatever decision is reached by the Likud Central Committee. Asked by reporters if he would abide by the party's decision, the Prime Minister said Thursday, "I know how to handle things... I expect to win the vote." This past summer, Sharon said he would abide by the results of a party referendum on his disengagement plan – but proceeded with his program even after it was defeated in the vote.
Health Minister Danny Naveh, who opposes the disengagement/expulsion plan, said Friday that he would rather have the Likud "renew our historic alliance with the religious parties," and not be beholden to Labor.
Sharon, however, has said that all future coalition partners must agree in advance to support the disengagement. This rules out Shas, whose spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has come out strongly against a unilateral withdrawal. United Torah Judaism, however, has been more circumspect. Though the party voted against the withdrawal and expulsion in the recent Knesset vote, some of its MKs made it clear that this did not necessarily mean the party was absolutely opposed to the plan.
No matter how the coalition negotiations develop, the religious parties are celebrating the departure of the anti-religious Shinui Party from the government. Even Prime Minister Sharon said this week, “Whenever a topic connected with Judaism came up in the Cabinet, Shinui would always attack it." MK Shlomo Benizri of Shas said, "I think that the entire Jewish community in Israel should celebrate the departure of those 'Israel-persecutors' from the government."
The showdown will come Thursday when the Likud Central Committee is to discuss the coalition proposal which it turned down last August. Uzi Landau, the Likud MK who was fired as cabinet minister after voting against the so-called disengagement plan, said Saturday that Sharon is misleading the public by claiming the only options are a coalition with Labor or new elections.
"We will make it clear to the committee that including Labor in the coalition is a giant step for disengagement," Landau said Saturday night. "It is inconceivable that members of the Likud Party, which is against disengagement, give the government the tools to carry it out."
Landau suggested a national referendum on the plan to dismantle 25 Jewish communities and transfer the property to Arabs. Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership faction in the Likud, called on Sharon to form a coalition with religious and nationalist parties.
Sharon, however, is pressuring party members to support the coalition with Labor. Likud has 40 Knesset members, and will comprise the entire government on Sunday morning. Shinui's five ministers officially vacated their positions Saturday night, 48 hours after Sharon fired them. They were relieved of their positions following Shinui's vote last week against the first reading of the budget, which failed to win a majority.
Sharon and Labor party leader Shimon Peres reportedly have agreed on a coalition, and the Likud committee meeting Thursday is the only major obstacle in Sharon's way.
The government currently includes only 13 ministers, the smallest it has been in over 50 years. The firing of the five Shinui Party ministers has left vacancies in the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Science, Environment and Infrastructures. Until these spots are filled, the responsibility for the ministries goes automatically to Prime Minister Sharon. The Prime Minister's Bureau announced yesterday that Minister Tzippy Livni would assume the position of Justice Minister, succeeding Shinui chairman Tommy Lapid. Other ministerial changes are expected if Sharon succeeds in bringing Labor and/or other parties into the government.
Sharon has refused to say whether he would honor whatever decision is reached by the Likud Central Committee. Asked by reporters if he would abide by the party's decision, the Prime Minister said Thursday, "I know how to handle things... I expect to win the vote." This past summer, Sharon said he would abide by the results of a party referendum on his disengagement plan – but proceeded with his program even after it was defeated in the vote.
Health Minister Danny Naveh, who opposes the disengagement/expulsion plan, said Friday that he would rather have the Likud "renew our historic alliance with the religious parties," and not be beholden to Labor.
Sharon, however, has said that all future coalition partners must agree in advance to support the disengagement. This rules out Shas, whose spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has come out strongly against a unilateral withdrawal. United Torah Judaism, however, has been more circumspect. Though the party voted against the withdrawal and expulsion in the recent Knesset vote, some of its MKs made it clear that this did not necessarily mean the party was absolutely opposed to the plan.
No matter how the coalition negotiations develop, the religious parties are celebrating the departure of the anti-religious Shinui Party from the government. Even Prime Minister Sharon said this week, “Whenever a topic connected with Judaism came up in the Cabinet, Shinui would always attack it." MK Shlomo Benizri of Shas said, "I think that the entire Jewish community in Israel should celebrate the departure of those 'Israel-persecutors' from the government."