Refusing to sanction spending for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, Israel’s Labor Party has withdrawn from Sharon’s government. New elections are expected.
It appears that the hard-handed tactics Sharon is famous for have brought his government to collapse. Sharon rules over a multi-party cabinet in which the Israeli Labor Party is a key element. In the past weeks, the Labor Party has expressed dissatisfaction with the state budget proposed by Sharon, but Sharon ignored these concerns and simply ordered Labor Party ministers to vote in favor of the government’s budget or loose their cabinet seats. The Labor Party ministers choose to do so, and Defense Minster Ben Eliezer, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and their colleagues submitted their resignations to Sharon on Wednesday evening. Labor Party leader Ben-Eliezer has publicly called upon the Prime Minister to set a date for this in the coming months.
Israeli settlements the key issue
The issue at contention was the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. Labor Party members demanded that an allocation of $147 million intended for the expansion of these controversial settlements be dropped from the budget. Sharon, a long time supporter of Jewish settlement in the Palestinian areas, refused to do so and issued his ultimatum. Saying that a pro-budget vote was critical for the economy of Israel, he announced that he would not tolerate party politics and that anyone who voted against the budget would be dismissed from the government.
Israeli Government may become more radical
The turmoil in Israeli politics is not expected to produce much tangible change in the long run. Ben Eliezer is currently the top contender to Sharon. Ben Eliezer's policies, as evidenced in his past two years as Minister of Defense, are not very different from Sharon’s. Moreover, observers note that the surprising move by Labor Party head Ben Eliezer was intended to head off potential challengers to his position in the party. By calling for elections now, he assures himself that he will be the Labor candidate, whereas if he waits for much longer then new challengers who have arisen inside his party will displace him. It therefore seems that in an election the only two contenders will be Sharon and Ben Eliezer, neither of which brings any new approaches to the Israeli position on the Palestinians.
In the short term, however, the Israeli government could become much more radical then it has been to date. Commentators warn that in the estimated half year before a new election will take place, the Sharon government will be free of any curbs placed on it by the Labor Party. Now composed entirely of hawkish, right wing Israeli parties, it is possible that this interim government will embark on yet more aggressive policies then before against the Palestinians. (www.albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
