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Israel Coalition Gov't Falls Apart

Israel Coalition Gov't Falls Apart
2 hours, 49 minutes ago
By DAN PERRY, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s broad-based coalition collapsed Wednesday when Cabinet ministers from the moderate Labor Party resigned in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements, threatening to push Israel into a bitter election.


The crisis ended an uneasy 20-month "unity government" formed as a common front against the Palestinian uprising, and could sabotage U.S. efforts to win support for a peace plan.


Sharon told parliament he would continue to lead the country, suggesting he would try to govern with a narrow coalition of far-right and religious parties rather than call early elections.


The crisis was precipitated by Sharon's rejection of Labor Party leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer's demands to cut $145 million in funds for Jewish settlements in the $57 billion 2003 state budget. Compromise proposals failed and Ben-Eliezer resigned from his post as defense minister, followed by the rest of Labor's Cabinet ministers.


Under Israeli law, the six resignations only take effect within 48 hours, leaving room for last-ditch maneuvers � but politicians from both sides predicted Sharon's broad-based coalition was at an end.


"We must fight terror, but this is the day when we have to present a diplomatic horizon," Ben-Eliezer said, referring to peace talks with the Palestinians. "The prime minister is unable to present a diplomatic horizon."


Critics accused Ben-Eliezer of partisan politics, noting that in polls ahead of Labor's Nov. 19 leadership primary he trails two more dovish challengers, and leaving the government over a settlement dispute could boost his standing.


"It's the height of irresponsibility," said Education Minister Limor Livnat of Sharon's Likud Party.


Writing in Thursday's Haaretz daily, columnist Yoel Marcus said the sudden end of the uneasy partnership "was a matter of party politics. Ego versus ego." Marcus wrote that Sharon would pay the biggest price for the exit of the moderate Labor Party, because "Labor's presence in the government inspired confidence in Sharon's promise of being ready for painful concessions."


The budget was put to parliament after the Labor ministers resigned, and it passed with the support of parties outside the coalition � as expected � by a 67-45 vote; it must pass two more readings in coming weeks before it is final.


Several officials involved in the last-minute talks said Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who led Labor for much of the past two decades and has been a key supporter of the unity government, tried to persuade Ben-Eliezer to back down. Peres then resigned along with Ben-Eliezer and four other Labor Party ministers.

If the resignations go through, Sharon would face the difficult choice of trying to stay afloat with the support of an array of extreme-right and religious parties � meaning political instability and constant pressures for even tougher, internationally unpopular policies concerning the Palestinians.

Sharon aides have said he is more likely to call elections within 90 days, but the prime minister suggested otherwise in his speech to parliament. "We will continue to lead the country in a responsible and clear-headed way," he said.

Although polls show the bloc of parties led by Sharon's Likud would probably win a majority of the 120 seats, there is no guarantee and Sharon himself would probably first have to beat back a challenge for the Likud leadership by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (news - web sites).

Either way, the developments bode ill for U.S. efforts to win support for a three-phase peace plan envisioning a provisional Palestinian state by 2003. Elections would mean a delay of many months, and Sharon's far-right partners in a narrow coalition would likely object to many of the provisions, such as a settlement freeze and a significant Israeli troop pullback.

Palestinian reaction was mixed, with Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat calling the crisis "an internal Israeli matter." But Erekat also warned that "if there is a new coalition between the Likud and the right wing in Israel, it will also be at the expense of the Palestinian people and against the peace process."

Recent developments on the Palestinian side also suggested the peace plan would run into problems. The proposal calls for sweeping reforms of the Palestinian government and the security services. However, the Palestinians signaled Tuesday they would settle for more modest changes when parliament approved a new Cabinet that was largely unchanged, with only three new ministers.

Labor joined forces with the hard-line Sharon after he routed their candidate in prime ministerial elections in February 2001, several months after peace talks failed and fighting with the Palestinians erupted.

But from the beginning, the party was widely expected to bolt the coalition before the next election � which by law must be held by November 2003 � to try to position itself as a moderate alternative to Sharon.

Sharon and Ben-Eliezer have worked closely in leading the struggle against Palestinian militant groups waging a campaign of terrorism in Israel � a campaign which escalated to the point that Israeli troops reoccupied most of the Palestinian cities previous governments handed over to Palestinian self-rule.

But Labor's constituency has grown increasingly unhappy with Sharon's repeated rejection of international efforts to find a way out of the fighting and his determination to crush the Palestinian uprising before any peace talks resume.

Tensions flared in recent weeks over Ben-Eliezer's decision to dismantle dozens of Jewish settlement outposts established throughout the West Bank in recent years � in some cases, housing settlers outnumbered by the soldiers required to protect them.

During a three-hour session Wednesday to try to settle the funding issue, shouts were heard and at one point Ben-Eliezer stormed out, only to return later, aides said. By evening, negotiators announced the talks had collapsed.

Israel's coalition governments are chronically unstable and plagued by internal fighting. No government has completed its full term since the 1980s, and the country has had five prime ministers in the past seven years.

yikes. not too good of news.....where's the peace if government cant stay alive

>JM<

i think it's good news , it means there are going to be elections before time and i doubt the likoud will win this time

the only thing that is troublesome is that israel at this dire time needs to be united and stay strong. but on the other hand this is a very healthy thing for a democracy. i completely applaud and agree with the labour party for standing up to what they belive (regarding the allocation of money in the budget plan). the worst case outcome of this fallout may be another general election, which will just keep/stay/remove from power the people/parties that the citizens decide to vote on. in other words it just goes to prove that israel's government (and the IDF under it) is subservient to the will of the people, thus a represetative democracy.
fastmp3, i disagree i still think that likud stands a great chance of winning a re-election.

Yeasterday I was talking to my uncles in Israel about this very thing. The way there parlament works, just confuses me. Hopefully they can use this, as a stepping stone to create a more simplistic and efficient parlament and party system.

quote:

Originally posted by Nadi Hopefully they can use this, as a stepping stone to create a more simplistic and efficient parlament and party system.

no such luck. this will not deal with any manner in which the parlment system works
the reason its so instable is that in israel unlike the US you dont have 2 parties to vote for (dem/rep) you have a plethora (sp?) of parties, each with its own goals and objectives. thus giving the populace a great choice in what party to vote for that would suit there specific needs best. the party that wins the most votes gets to put its head of party as the prime minister (the head is known before the election takes place). the prime minister and his party then need to then seek a coalition of parties to for a majority in the palimant to be able to pass resolutions and laws and so forth. the reason this is so unstable is it is very hard to keep a unified majority on all issues. but that is the risk you take for having a very diversed government.

Yea, however its more complicated than that. Like the prime minsiter is just the leader of whichever party gets the biggest share of the seats, and partys can ally with eachother to control officies. My family's always telling me about how incredibly complex it is, and how they wish it would be simplifyed. And theyve been using it for 20+ years too.

whats the good thing here taha, that the israeli goverment is falling apart?, im sure ur really glad aint u

quote:

Originally posted by YuVaL whats the good thing here taha, that the israeli goverment is falling apart?, im sure ur really glad aint u

Prolly because he expects moderated people to win the elections, you know? It'll be easier to have peace this way

i'm not gonna start into another argument here , i just hope that Peres presents himself to the elections and win so that he can be the prime minister , finally someone moderated i really owe him a lot of respect

quote:

Originally posted by Nadi Yea, however its more complicated than that. Like the prime minsiter is just the leader of whichever party gets the biggest share of the seats, and partys can ally with eachother to control officies. My family's always telling me about how incredibly complex it is, and how they wish it would be simplifyed.

ya in order to gain coalitions a prime-minster can use various tricks (agreements) such as promising one party a specific cabinet postion if his party joins the coalitions and votes the same way. that is how labour initially joined the coalition. they had recived the very important postions of foriegn minister and defense minister in return for them joining the coalition.

quote:

And theyve been using it for 20+ years too.

well yes and no... it has been such since almost the creation of the state however there was a stint in 1993 to 2000 where it was a bit different. in the period of time you could vote for a party and prime minister seperately. that cause it to be even more stable cause you could have ended up having a prime-minster from a party which was represnted very heavily, also there was an even wider array of parties in becuase one could vote for a prime-minster but then pick a party even more specific to his needs... it made it that much harder to for coalitions. it was a good thing they dropped that system and sharon got elected based on the old ways of part lines, as will be done so in the future.

here in Israel, polotics is crap!!!!!!
whoever in in polotics in here, is in it for the money and his own interests!!!!!

and whoever wants to actually do something good for the country (like Ehud Barak wanted) - fails, and gets kicked out!!!!!!!!!

let's face it! we have a stupid goverment that doesn't know how to run a country!

Well, Hyper's kinda right... I believe Barak was kicked out simply because most people here, as whown, just want to kick Arab ass... Which is a wrong attitude which used massive brainwash to spread in this country, its' undoable though... Right now I belieev there will be a hard time in our country because of the extremist government that's gonna be formed, which will be followed by forced re-elections ending up either in a left-wing (I thing that's how U say it English) government or a more balanced one...

Sharon is still heavily supported by most people in this country ecause for some reason people still believe he came to kick Arab ass... IMHO...

well some news, Sharon has elected to stay as minority government (55 seats outta 120) and rule as one for the 90 days allowable to him by law. the elections in israel are set for January 28.
the suspense builds...

ok seeing as it is likely the winning party will either be Likud or Labour who are your favorites to lead each one?

Labour: Ben Eliezer or Avraham Mitzna or Haim Ramon?
Likud: Ariel Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu?
which party will win?

btw i also heard that the PLO will be having elections in jaunuary as well, do you guys know of anyone on the ballot other then arafat?

arafat , arafat , and arafat as long as the guy is alive i don't think someone will replace him

too bad i don't know the 3 persons u presented from the labour party

quote:

Originally posted by HyPeRSoNiC here in Israel, polotics is crap!!!!!! whoever in in polotics in here, is in it for the money and his own interests!!!!! and whoever wants to actually do something good for the country (like Ehud Barak wanted) - fails, and gets kicked out!!!!!!!!! let's face it! we have a stupid goverment that doesn't know how to run a country!

you shouldnt talk about my country like that! please!

quote:

Originally posted by Izzy well some news, Sharon has elected to stay as minority government (55 seats outta 120) and rule as one for the 90 days allowable to him by law. the elections in israel are set for January 28. the suspense builds... ok seeing as it is likely the winning party will either be Likud or Labour who are your favorites to lead each one? Labour: Ben Eliezer or Avraham Mitzna or Haim Ramon? Likud: Ariel Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu? which party will win? btw i also heard that the PLO will be having elections in jaunuary as well, do you guys know of anyone on the ballot other then arafat?

Labour: I'm up for these guys... It's a hard call cause I'm not that fond of any of them, I would say Ramon is our best cadidtate but Ben- Elierzer will probably win it.
Likud: Sharon wins, Netanyahu used to be the Likud's mythological hero that was surely gonna take control once back, but Sharon has based himself enough in the eyees of the right wing to beat him IMO, polls show it as well.

Overall I would of course go for Labour but Sharon wins it I assume... And we lose another 50 mil Shequels off state budgeet.

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