If the budget is not passed by the end of March, the government automatically falls and new elections must be held within three months. The majority that Sharon enjoyed for the disengagement vote yesterday was based on the left-wing parties and the Arabs' abstentions – which he is not likely to receive for the budget vote.
Shas, which had been toying with the idea of supporting the budget and/or joining the government for the past several weeks, announced yesterday it would do neither.
"From the day it was formed, the government has been going from bad to worse," Shas MK Ya'ir Peretz told Arutz-7 last night. "It started with budget cuts and decrees to the weaker sectors, and now it passed this miserable disengagement plan, uprooting families that worked hard to build their homes."
Peretz explained why his party opposes the withdrawal/transfer plan: "Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has always championed the principle that saving lives [pikuach nefesh] overrules everything else. Therefore, as long as there are no negotiations – and we have no trust in the Palestinian Authority, and there is good evidence why not – there is no reason to make unilateral concessions and to wait for the PA to allow the terrorists to come in there and start firing Kassams at us."
"If the PA does its all and actually stops terrorism for a long period," Peretz said, "then there can be trust – but in light of the past few years, we cannot rely on them."
MK Nissan Slomiansky (National Religious Party) says he regrets that Shas voted against his proposed amendment to make the entire disengagement contingent upon a referendum: "It hurts to see them vote against it; they didn't even abstain. If Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef changes his mind on this matter, then the pressure on the Likud will be so great that the Prime Minister won't be able to object any longer."
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leading rabbi of the Ashkenazi hareidi public, has said that he would not oppose a referendum if it is stipulated that referenda are not held on questions other than the giveaway of parts of the Land of Israel.
Ultimately, Slomiansky said, the issue of a referendum "is all up to Shas."
Shas leader MK Eli Yishai met with Sharon yesterday, but the two did not reach an agreement. Yishai announced afterwards that his party will not join the government, will vote against the budget, and will continue the struggle on behalf of Israel's children and poor. This position is not final, however, as Yishai added that he would reexamine his position if circumstances change in the coming days.
Shas MK Peretz told Arutz-7 that if Sharon "submits an economic program that will benefit the weaker classes, we'll be able to abstain in the budget vote... There is no reason not to support the budget if it restores the child allowances [to their previous levels], takes care of mortgage loans, and shows concern for pensioners and the disabled. In any event, if Sharon doesn’t have our support, he'll turn to others for their support; without us he'll also have a majority."
Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit (Likud) said confidently last night that the government would have a majority for its budget with or without Shas. "It has never happened in Israel that a government fell because of the budget," Sheetrit said, "and it won't happen this time."
Sharon is not likely to ask the left-wing anti-religious Shinui Party to rejoin the coalition, because this is likely to mean the departure of the hareidim and the formation of a Likud-Labor-Shinui coalition. The Likud Central Committee has turned down this permutation. Sharon might, however, try to negotiate Shinui's support for the budget from within the opposition.
Shas, which had been toying with the idea of supporting the budget and/or joining the government for the past several weeks, announced yesterday it would do neither.
"From the day it was formed, the government has been going from bad to worse," Shas MK Ya'ir Peretz told Arutz-7 last night. "It started with budget cuts and decrees to the weaker sectors, and now it passed this miserable disengagement plan, uprooting families that worked hard to build their homes."
MK Ya'ir Peretz
"If the PA does its all and actually stops terrorism for a long period," Peretz said, "then there can be trust – but in light of the past few years, we cannot rely on them."
MK Nissan Slomiansky (National Religious Party) says he regrets that Shas voted against his proposed amendment to make the entire disengagement contingent upon a referendum: "It hurts to see them vote against it; they didn't even abstain. If Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef changes his mind on this matter, then the pressure on the Likud will be so great that the Prime Minister won't be able to object any longer."
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leading rabbi of the Ashkenazi hareidi public, has said that he would not oppose a referendum if it is stipulated that referenda are not held on questions other than the giveaway of parts of the Land of Israel.
Ultimately, Slomiansky said, the issue of a referendum "is all up to Shas."
Shas leader MK Eli Yishai met with Sharon yesterday, but the two did not reach an agreement. Yishai announced afterwards that his party will not join the government, will vote against the budget, and will continue the struggle on behalf of Israel's children and poor. This position is not final, however, as Yishai added that he would reexamine his position if circumstances change in the coming days.
Shas MK Peretz told Arutz-7 that if Sharon "submits an economic program that will benefit the weaker classes, we'll be able to abstain in the budget vote... There is no reason not to support the budget if it restores the child allowances [to their previous levels], takes care of mortgage loans, and shows concern for pensioners and the disabled. In any event, if Sharon doesn’t have our support, he'll turn to others for their support; without us he'll also have a majority."
Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit (Likud) said confidently last night that the government would have a majority for its budget with or without Shas. "It has never happened in Israel that a government fell because of the budget," Sheetrit said, "and it won't happen this time."
Sharon is not likely to ask the left-wing anti-religious Shinui Party to rejoin the coalition, because this is likely to mean the departure of the hareidim and the formation of a Likud-Labor-Shinui coalition. The Likud Central Committee has turned down this permutation. Sharon might, however, try to negotiate Shinui's support for the budget from within the opposition.