“The [Likud] must not bring down a Likud government," said the young Knesset Member, “and I have no intention of repeating past mistakes that led to the fall of the Shamir and Netanyahu governments.”
One of the leaders of the original anti-disengagement camp within the Likud, Gamliel’s name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for a deputy-ministerial post since her recent decision to lend her support to the Sharon government. She says that she has been consistent all along in not letting her opposition to the disengagement get in the way of her support for the Sharon government.
MK Gamliel says she is currently involved in negotiations with the Shas Party, with the aim of bringing it into the government coalition as well.
“The Likud Central Committee made a unambiguous decision giving legitimacy to the Prime Minister’s coalition negotiations with the Labor, UTJ and Shas parties,” Gamliel told Arutz-7’s Uzi Baruch, “and Shas, with G-d’s help, will join the government in the coming days.”
Gamliel refused to refer to the new government coalition as a “disengagement government.” She said such terminology is “completely incorrect,” and could even be harmful to anti-withdrawal efforts in the long run. "With Ministers Yisrael Katz, Tzachi HaNegbi, Danny Naveh, Natan Sharansky, Silvan Shalom, Binyamin Netanyahu and Limor Livnat in the government, anything is possible on the day of the [disengagement] vote in the Cabinet – and when Shas’s ministers also join, the whole picture will be different.”
Gamliel also said that the knowledge that there are only 24 places on the Likud Knesset list has induced “many members, unfortunately, to wage personal, ineffective battles instead of uniting around the goal of opposing the disengagement.” Criticizing the sincerity of the 13 so-called “rebels” within the Likud, she added that the very Likud members who voted against the coalition on Monday, “when they knew it would pass anyway,” will vote in favor of the budget, because “they know that Meretz/Yahad and the Arab parties will not [come to the Likud’s aid to] pass the budget.”
In the event, Gamliel was correct, and the 13 MKs in question did vote for the budget.
Baruch asked her why she would not want to topple the government in the confidence that the next Likud party list would be much more pro-Land of Israel. Gamliel responded that those who toppled right-wing governments in the past “never imagined they would receive Oslo, the Labor Party in power and Ehud Barak as Prime Minister... Today, as well, when they talk about toppling the government, they are not considering the fact that this could bring about an even worse situation.”
Gamliel claimed that if Likud primaries were held today, Sharon would win and there would only be minor changes to the Likud Knesset list. She further said it was doubtful the right-wing would come out of elections any stronger.
With regard to the swearing-in of the new Labor Party government ministers, Gamliel said, “It was not an easy day – seeing the celebrations of the Labor party as they accepted their government portfolios. It is clear to all of us that if it were possible, we would have expanded the coalition in a different way.”
The end-goal, according to Gamliel, is to bring Shas into the coalition in order to reduce the influence of the Labor party and create a majority against the disengagement within the coalition. “The entry of Shas into the government would change the balance of power,” she insisted.
One of the leaders of the original anti-disengagement camp within the Likud, Gamliel’s name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for a deputy-ministerial post since her recent decision to lend her support to the Sharon government. She says that she has been consistent all along in not letting her opposition to the disengagement get in the way of her support for the Sharon government.
MK Gamliel says she is currently involved in negotiations with the Shas Party, with the aim of bringing it into the government coalition as well.
“The Likud Central Committee made a unambiguous decision giving legitimacy to the Prime Minister’s coalition negotiations with the Labor, UTJ and Shas parties,” Gamliel told Arutz-7’s Uzi Baruch, “and Shas, with G-d’s help, will join the government in the coming days.”
Gamliel refused to refer to the new government coalition as a “disengagement government.” She said such terminology is “completely incorrect,” and could even be harmful to anti-withdrawal efforts in the long run. "With Ministers Yisrael Katz, Tzachi HaNegbi, Danny Naveh, Natan Sharansky, Silvan Shalom, Binyamin Netanyahu and Limor Livnat in the government, anything is possible on the day of the [disengagement] vote in the Cabinet – and when Shas’s ministers also join, the whole picture will be different.”
Gamliel also said that the knowledge that there are only 24 places on the Likud Knesset list has induced “many members, unfortunately, to wage personal, ineffective battles instead of uniting around the goal of opposing the disengagement.” Criticizing the sincerity of the 13 so-called “rebels” within the Likud, she added that the very Likud members who voted against the coalition on Monday, “when they knew it would pass anyway,” will vote in favor of the budget, because “they know that Meretz/Yahad and the Arab parties will not [come to the Likud’s aid to] pass the budget.”
In the event, Gamliel was correct, and the 13 MKs in question did vote for the budget.
Baruch asked her why she would not want to topple the government in the confidence that the next Likud party list would be much more pro-Land of Israel. Gamliel responded that those who toppled right-wing governments in the past “never imagined they would receive Oslo, the Labor Party in power and Ehud Barak as Prime Minister... Today, as well, when they talk about toppling the government, they are not considering the fact that this could bring about an even worse situation.”
Gamliel claimed that if Likud primaries were held today, Sharon would win and there would only be minor changes to the Likud Knesset list. She further said it was doubtful the right-wing would come out of elections any stronger.
With regard to the swearing-in of the new Labor Party government ministers, Gamliel said, “It was not an easy day – seeing the celebrations of the Labor party as they accepted their government portfolios. It is clear to all of us that if it were possible, we would have expanded the coalition in a different way.”
The end-goal, according to Gamliel, is to bring Shas into the coalition in order to reduce the influence of the Labor party and create a majority against the disengagement within the coalition. “The entry of Shas into the government would change the balance of power,” she insisted.