The offer was made by Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz, one of the sole remaining disengagement opponents in the Cabinet. He did not promise to deliver the votes of all 13-15 loyalists, but rather just enough to pass the budget. Prime Minister Sharon has not yet responded to the offer - but he is not expected to agree to it.
Neither is anyone else too enamored with it. Sharon's Labor allies object, saying they would withdraw their support for the budget – and in effect topple the government, most likely – if it means legalizing new neighborhoods in Yesha (Judea and Samaria).
At issue are 71 "new" neighborhoods – known as "outposts" - in Yesha that were built before the year 2001. According to the official "unauthorized outposts" report prepared and submitted last week by Attorney Talia Sasson, these 71 are illegal and should be removed as soon as possible. Sasson herself admitted that her report is incomplete and that there are many things she cannot explain or was unable to investigate.
Yesha Council leaders say they have nothing to do with Katz's offer, and in fact object to it. They were responding to a Channel Two report of last night that alleged that the Katz offer was made in cooperation with the Council.
MK Uzi Landau, leader of the Likud loyalists, also rejected the Katz deal. He said that the only issue is the disengagement, and that "anything else is meant to divert attention from the real issue." MK Yuli Edelstein of the Likud said the same: "We will gladly support the budget - but only if Prime Minister Sharon agrees to a referendum. Period."
In the framework of Prime Minister Sharon's efforts to garner a majority for his budget, he will meet today once again with Shas faction head MK Eli Yishai. Yishai has said that his party of 11 MKs will not vote for a budget that "abuses the weaker classes," and Sharon will try to convince him that the changes he has inserted meet his [Yishai's] demands. However, chances of this are low, as Shas' main demand – increasing child allowance payments – has not been met at all.
The budget must be voted on and passed by March 31, otherwise new elections within 90 days are automatic.
The legislative schedule is as follows: The Finance Committee must pass the amended budget law by this Wednesday, as it will not be able to convene at a later date and still give the Knesset a chance to vote on the budget before the Mar. 31 deadline. Four Likud MKs in the committee oppose the budget, and Sharon may have no choice other than to forcibly remove them and replace them with his supporters. If the committee does not pass the amended budget, the Knesset will have to vote on the original budget law without the recent improvements.
The votes of the Shinui Party and Arab parties on the budget are still up in the air, but most observers assume that Sharon and Shinui will ultimately find a way to compromise and guarantee the continued existence of the disengagement government. Shinui leader Tommy Lapid had criticism last week of those in his party who said that in the end, Shinui will certainly support the budget: "They are harming our efforts to obtain the maximum for our voters," he said. Today, however, he continued to insist that the party will vote against the budget unless Sharon withdraws the 290 million shekels he promised to the United Torah Judaism.
Shinui MK Ilan Shalgi affirmed today that Sharon staffers had promised them 600 million shekels for their own needs if they would support the budget - but Shinui turned them down: "We ran on a platform of stopping allocations to the hareidim, and we will not renege on our demand that the 290 million be revoked. Sharon can have our 14 votes, instead of UTJ's 5, if he does this."
Shas MK Shlomo Benizri angrily said that Shalgi and his party represented the epitome of anti-Semitism: "They are willing to give up on 600 million that they could use however they wish, as long as the hareidim don't receive 290 million shekels. This is straight out Jew-hatred."
Shalgi retorted that he wants to solve the country's problems in a fundamental manner, and therefore the 290 million must be returned, and the problems of the university students, health crisis and the like should be solved independently.
The disengagement referendum issue is another matter threatening the stability of the Sharon government. The Law Committee is likely to pass the proposed referendum legislation tomorrow, with the support of Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev and United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz. This will bring the matter to the full Knesset plenum next week, where as of now, the proposal to hold a plebiscite on the disengagement does not have a majority. Shas, however, which objects to the referendum as well as to the expulsion, still has not said its last word.