Katz, one of the ministers who voted in favor of Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement plan despite his strong opposition to it, said this morning that the current situation is intolerable. "If the government continues to rely on the votes of the Arabs and the left-wing, we have to go to new elections," he told Army Radio.
The next test of whether the Likud can weather the coming storms together will be this week, when the budget comes up for a vote. The Knesset debate on the issue begins this afternoon.
Last night's vote to approve the new coalition, which narrowly passed by a slim 58-56 margin, was actually dependent on the votes of the left-wing, but not of the Arabs. Of the 8 Arab-party MKs, six voted against, while two, who did not want to take a chance on defeating the disengagement, abstained.
Other interesting votes in last night's tally were the following:
* Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin abstained, for possibly only the second time that a Speaker did not vote in favor of his own party's government in a confidence motion. Rivlin said this morning that if his vote would have made the difference, he would have voted in accordance with the Likud's platform against the government, thus toppling it.
* Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) defied his party's new coalition agreement with the Likud, and abstained.
* Gila Gamliel (Likud), one of the leaders of the original anti-disengagement camp within the Likud, voted in favor. Her name has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for a deputy-ministerial post.
* Other former members of this camp who voted in favor were Daniel Ben-Lulu and coalition whip Gideon Saar.
* Yossi Paritzky went against his party, which all but threw him out last year, and voted in favor.
* Michael Nudelman (National Union) continued his long-time opposition to his party's position, and voted in favor of the government.
* Yossi Sarid, former Meretz party leader, abstained, in defiance of his party's decision to support the government. Sarid, who faces disciplinary action from his party colleagues, said before the vote that his stomach was turning at the thought of having to support Sharon.
The 13 Likud "loyalists" – they say they are not rebels, as the press calls them, because they are loyal to the party platform against destroying Jewish communities in the Land of Israel - who voted against the coalition are:
Naomi Blumental, Yuli Edelstein, Gilad Erdan, Michael Gorlovsky, Ayoub Kara, Chaim Katz, Moshe Kachlon, Uzi Landau, Leah Ness, David Levy, Michael Ratzon, Ehud Yatom, and Yechiel Hazan (who reportedly considered abstaining until the last moment).
Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau say that if the 13 vote against the government in this week's budget vote, Sharon will head for new elections. Some of the 13 have consistently refused to bring down the government on issues other than the disengagement/expulsion plan.
The new composition of the government as of last night includes new Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson of the Likud, and eight Labor Party ministers. Heading the Labor list is Shimon Peres, who will bear the new title of Associate Prime Minister, followed by Interior Minister Ophir Pines, Housing Minister Yitzchak Herzog, Communications Minister Dalia Itzik, Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Environment Minister Shalom Simhon, and Ministers without Portfolio Matan Vilnai and Chaim Ramon.
The next test of whether the Likud can weather the coming storms together will be this week, when the budget comes up for a vote. The Knesset debate on the issue begins this afternoon.
Last night's vote to approve the new coalition, which narrowly passed by a slim 58-56 margin, was actually dependent on the votes of the left-wing, but not of the Arabs. Of the 8 Arab-party MKs, six voted against, while two, who did not want to take a chance on defeating the disengagement, abstained.
Other interesting votes in last night's tally were the following:
* Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin abstained, for possibly only the second time that a Speaker did not vote in favor of his own party's government in a confidence motion. Rivlin said this morning that if his vote would have made the difference, he would have voted in accordance with the Likud's platform against the government, thus toppling it.
* Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) defied his party's new coalition agreement with the Likud, and abstained.
* Gila Gamliel (Likud), one of the leaders of the original anti-disengagement camp within the Likud, voted in favor. Her name has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for a deputy-ministerial post.
* Other former members of this camp who voted in favor were Daniel Ben-Lulu and coalition whip Gideon Saar.
* Yossi Paritzky went against his party, which all but threw him out last year, and voted in favor.
* Michael Nudelman (National Union) continued his long-time opposition to his party's position, and voted in favor of the government.
* Yossi Sarid, former Meretz party leader, abstained, in defiance of his party's decision to support the government. Sarid, who faces disciplinary action from his party colleagues, said before the vote that his stomach was turning at the thought of having to support Sharon.
The 13 Likud "loyalists" – they say they are not rebels, as the press calls them, because they are loyal to the party platform against destroying Jewish communities in the Land of Israel - who voted against the coalition are:
Naomi Blumental, Yuli Edelstein, Gilad Erdan, Michael Gorlovsky, Ayoub Kara, Chaim Katz, Moshe Kachlon, Uzi Landau, Leah Ness, David Levy, Michael Ratzon, Ehud Yatom, and Yechiel Hazan (who reportedly considered abstaining until the last moment).
Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau say that if the 13 vote against the government in this week's budget vote, Sharon will head for new elections. Some of the 13 have consistently refused to bring down the government on issues other than the disengagement/expulsion plan.
The new composition of the government as of last night includes new Tourism Minister Avraham Hirschson of the Likud, and eight Labor Party ministers. Heading the Labor list is Shimon Peres, who will bear the new title of Associate Prime Minister, followed by Interior Minister Ophir Pines, Housing Minister Yitzchak Herzog, Communications Minister Dalia Itzik, Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Environment Minister Shalom Simhon, and Ministers without Portfolio Matan Vilnai and Chaim Ramon.