The Knesset is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the appointments of MKs Roni Bar-On and Ze’ev Boim (Likud) to cabinet posts, and officially designate Ehud Olmert as the country’s Finance Minister. Olmert has held this post in a temporary capacity since Binyamin Netanyahu resigned in August in protest of the disengagement plan.
Sharon's aides have threatened in the past that he might call new elections if his appointments do not win Knesset approval.
Winning such approval, however, is far from guaranteed, so long as a number of Likud MKs who have established their own party faction in opposition to the Sharon’s disengagement policy do not vote in favor of the appointments.
The compromise proposal, drafted by Likud MKs Michael Eitan and Gidon Sa'ar, is designed to let the faction keep the governing coalition alive by voting in favor of the appointments, and at the same time, leave room for disputes over more substantive issues, such as government policy regarding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The compromise would establish a forum for resolving policy disputes that arise among the Likud’s Knesset facton.
MK Uzi Landau, who heads the group of MKs (known by sympathizers as the “Likud faithful” and by opponents as the “rebels”) said the document was positive, but insufficient to forestall a nay vote in tomorrow’s Knesset ballot.
But according to commentators, two of Landau’s party associates, MKs Ehud Yatom and Gilad Erdan, may split with the faction on the appointments issue. Although Yatom has denied such reports, he said earlier that the compromise was “acceptable,” calling it a “basis for allowing the coalition to continue to function, unifying the Likud, and keeping the government in power until the end of its term.” The Likud-led government’s term ends in November 2006.
The defection of as few as two MKs from Landau’s faction could tip the scales in favor of Sharon in Monday’s vote.
Another MK in Landau’s group, Yuli Edelstein, also expressed support for the compromise proposal in principle. However, he suggested amending it with a statement declaring the party’s support for “preserving and strengthening settlement blocs” in Judea and Samaria.
Edelstein said, referring to the government’s disengagement plan which saw the destruction of 25 Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents last August, that “those faithful to the land of Israel in the Likud have paid a heavy price. In order to support the compromise, there has to be more discussion of the ideological issues that are important to us.”
In another effort to keep the government afloat over the appointments quandary, some of Sharon’s advisors have suggested holding separate ballots for the finance minister appointment and the appointments of Boim and Bar-On. A number of MKs in Landau’s bloc said they would not stand in the way of making Olmert finance minister.
If Olmert’s appointment wins Knesset approval, it appears less likely that Sharon would bring down his own government over the issue of two relatively minor cabinet appointments.
Sharon has nominated Boim to be Minister of Immigration Absorption and Bar-On to be Minister of Industry and Trade.
Sharon's aides have threatened in the past that he might call new elections if his appointments do not win Knesset approval.
Winning such approval, however, is far from guaranteed, so long as a number of Likud MKs who have established their own party faction in opposition to the Sharon’s disengagement policy do not vote in favor of the appointments.
The compromise proposal, drafted by Likud MKs Michael Eitan and Gidon Sa'ar, is designed to let the faction keep the governing coalition alive by voting in favor of the appointments, and at the same time, leave room for disputes over more substantive issues, such as government policy regarding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The compromise would establish a forum for resolving policy disputes that arise among the Likud’s Knesset facton.
MK Uzi Landau, who heads the group of MKs (known by sympathizers as the “Likud faithful” and by opponents as the “rebels”) said the document was positive, but insufficient to forestall a nay vote in tomorrow’s Knesset ballot.
But according to commentators, two of Landau’s party associates, MKs Ehud Yatom and Gilad Erdan, may split with the faction on the appointments issue. Although Yatom has denied such reports, he said earlier that the compromise was “acceptable,” calling it a “basis for allowing the coalition to continue to function, unifying the Likud, and keeping the government in power until the end of its term.” The Likud-led government’s term ends in November 2006.
The defection of as few as two MKs from Landau’s faction could tip the scales in favor of Sharon in Monday’s vote.
Another MK in Landau’s group, Yuli Edelstein, also expressed support for the compromise proposal in principle. However, he suggested amending it with a statement declaring the party’s support for “preserving and strengthening settlement blocs” in Judea and Samaria.
Edelstein said, referring to the government’s disengagement plan which saw the destruction of 25 Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents last August, that “those faithful to the land of Israel in the Likud have paid a heavy price. In order to support the compromise, there has to be more discussion of the ideological issues that are important to us.”
In another effort to keep the government afloat over the appointments quandary, some of Sharon’s advisors have suggested holding separate ballots for the finance minister appointment and the appointments of Boim and Bar-On. A number of MKs in Landau’s bloc said they would not stand in the way of making Olmert finance minister.
If Olmert’s appointment wins Knesset approval, it appears less likely that Sharon would bring down his own government over the issue of two relatively minor cabinet appointments.
Sharon has nominated Boim to be Minister of Immigration Absorption and Bar-On to be Minister of Industry and Trade.