Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres is expected to plead with Rav Ovadia Yosef, spiritual mentor of the Shas party, to join Prime Minister Sharon’s fragile governing coalition at meeting scheduled for tonight at the Rabbi’s home.
Peres will try to convince Rav Yosef, who has come out in opposition to the government’s plan to expel Jews from their homes in Gaza and Northern Samaria, that measures allowing for coordinating the withdrawal with the PA warrant a change in his stance.
"Rabbi Ovadia wanted disengagement to be coordinated, and now it is, so he should support the plan and allow it to become a reality,” said Peres’ spokesperson.
Another factor in Shas’ reluctance to join the coalition is its opposition to the economic policies of Finance Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Peres and Sharon need Shas’ support in the Knesset in order for the state budget to be approved by March 31, 2005. If a majority of the Knesset does not approve the budget by this date, the government will fall and new elections would have to be called, an eventuality that would likely disrupt, delay, or even derail the government’s expulsion plans.
The government needs Shas’ 11 Knesset seats to offset Likud loyalists who hold 13 Knesset seats. These Likud MK’s have announced that they will not vote in favor of the budget so long as Sharon pursues his expulsion policy without bringing the issue before a national referendum.
Although as opposition leader, Peres characterized the Netanyahu’s economic policies as “piggish capitalism”, Peres will attempt to convince the Rabbi that joining the coalition will bring economic benefits to Shas’ economically hard-pressed constituency. According to Peres’ spokesperson, “Peres will explain to the Rabbi that withdrawing from the Gaza Strip will bring economic benefits that will help the weakest sectors of the population.”
Peres, therefore, cannot attend the meeting empty handed, and is expected to offer Shas some sort of added funding for the poor in return for its support of the state budget. In a meeting with Shas party chairman, MK Eli Yishai, last Thursday, Peres asked Yishai to back down from his demand that government child allowances be raised in exchange for Shas’ support of the budget. Much of Shas’ constituency is comprised of large, low-income, traditional Jewish families, making the restoration of large child allowances a centerpiece of Shas policy.
Yishai, has frozen negotiations with the government until new proposals are submitted to Shas by tomorrow. In case such proposals fail to materialize, Sharon has already scheduled a meeting with Yishai for Wednesday.
Sharon and Netanyahu have so far strongly opposed reducing cuts to child allowances which were introduced at the behest of the anti-religious Shinui party when Sharon’s government took office in 2003.
If coalition talks with Shas fail, the government can still turn to Shinui and Yahad for support on the budget, hoping that these left wing parties would rather support the budget than risk having new elections lead to the demise of the expulsion plan.
Peres will try to convince Rav Yosef, who has come out in opposition to the government’s plan to expel Jews from their homes in Gaza and Northern Samaria, that measures allowing for coordinating the withdrawal with the PA warrant a change in his stance.
"Rabbi Ovadia wanted disengagement to be coordinated, and now it is, so he should support the plan and allow it to become a reality,” said Peres’ spokesperson.
Another factor in Shas’ reluctance to join the coalition is its opposition to the economic policies of Finance Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Peres and Sharon need Shas’ support in the Knesset in order for the state budget to be approved by March 31, 2005. If a majority of the Knesset does not approve the budget by this date, the government will fall and new elections would have to be called, an eventuality that would likely disrupt, delay, or even derail the government’s expulsion plans.
The government needs Shas’ 11 Knesset seats to offset Likud loyalists who hold 13 Knesset seats. These Likud MK’s have announced that they will not vote in favor of the budget so long as Sharon pursues his expulsion policy without bringing the issue before a national referendum.
Although as opposition leader, Peres characterized the Netanyahu’s economic policies as “piggish capitalism”, Peres will attempt to convince the Rabbi that joining the coalition will bring economic benefits to Shas’ economically hard-pressed constituency. According to Peres’ spokesperson, “Peres will explain to the Rabbi that withdrawing from the Gaza Strip will bring economic benefits that will help the weakest sectors of the population.”
Peres, therefore, cannot attend the meeting empty handed, and is expected to offer Shas some sort of added funding for the poor in return for its support of the state budget. In a meeting with Shas party chairman, MK Eli Yishai, last Thursday, Peres asked Yishai to back down from his demand that government child allowances be raised in exchange for Shas’ support of the budget. Much of Shas’ constituency is comprised of large, low-income, traditional Jewish families, making the restoration of large child allowances a centerpiece of Shas policy.
Yishai, has frozen negotiations with the government until new proposals are submitted to Shas by tomorrow. In case such proposals fail to materialize, Sharon has already scheduled a meeting with Yishai for Wednesday.
Sharon and Netanyahu have so far strongly opposed reducing cuts to child allowances which were introduced at the behest of the anti-religious Shinui party when Sharon’s government took office in 2003.
If coalition talks with Shas fail, the government can still turn to Shinui and Yahad for support on the budget, hoping that these left wing parties would rather support the budget than risk having new elections lead to the demise of the expulsion plan.