Vote on bill to dissolve government postponed to Monday

By Gideon Alon and Mazal Mualem , Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service

11/15/2005

Newly-elected Labor Chairman Amir Peretz on Tuesday reached an agreement with Right-wing MKs under which two planned Wednesday votes on bills calling for the dissolution of the government will be postponed to next Monday.

The deal was struck between Peretz, Chairman of the National Religious Party Zevulun Orlev and National Union MK Yitzhak Levy, and in coordination with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

Peretz sought the delay in order to allow Labor?s central committee to meet and decide on how the party will vote on the bills.

In exchange for the delay, MK Levy said that the Labor party promised to support the bill and not to table any no-confidence votes. Furthermore, the two sides agreed to coordinate a date for the general elections.

Shinui won't join gov't
On Tuesday, Pertez won a pledge from Shinui Chairman Yosef Lapid that his party will not join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's floundering coalition when Labor quits, Israel Radio reported

On Wednesday, the Knesset will vote on four bills calling for the dissolution of the parliament.

A senior Labor party official close to Peretz had voiced the concern overnight that if the Labor ministers quit the government, Shinui might step in to help Sharon maintain a ruling coalition.

The Labor cabinet ministers had announced Monday night that they had signed letters of resignation, which Peretz would deliver to Sharon if the two fail to set a date for new elections at their meeting Thursday.

Earlier Monday, the ministers had promised Peretz in writing that they would quit the government. In the meantime, the Labor Central Committee will convene to decide on the issue of staying in the coalition.

Peretz secured the signatures Monday following a round of telephone calls he made to Labor ministers provide him with political backing.

Peretz met Monday evening with Shas Chairman Eli Yishai in order to coordinate early elections. Following the meeting, Yishai said Shas would support the dispersal of the Knesset.

Peretz had declared that Labor will support the dissolution bills if Sharon has not met with him by Wednesday to discuss an agreed date for early elections. Thus far, however, Sharon has refused to meet with him before Thursday.

But several MKs said Sunday that they did not think Labor should hasten to support the dissolution motions; rather, they said, the party should wait for Thursday's meeting between Peretz and Sharon.

Peretz's demand that Sharon meet with him prior to Wednesday's vote also sparked criticism from several Labor ministers. As a result, Tuesday's faction meeting on whether to support the dissolution bills is likely to be tense.

Meanwhile, tension is also mounting in the Likud, since the certainty of early elections means that the date of Sharon's decision on whether or not to quit the party is also drawing near. Peretz's election as head of Labor has strengthened the feeling within the Likud that Sharon will opt to remain with the party, and this assessment is shared by the prime minister's closest associates. Nevertheless, the option of quitting and forming his own party remains open.

Peretz: Compensate settlers who chose to leave
Peretz on Monday submitted a Knesset bill which would offer to grant compensation to any West Bank settlement if 60 percent of its residents agreed to leave voluntarily.

According to Peretz, the bill is aimed at preserving the momentum of the unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.

In a statement accompanying the bill, co-sponsored by lawmakers Yuli Tamir and Ilana Cohen, Peretz wrote that the "disengagement plan carried out in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank was a concrete example of the nation's ability to establish a compensation framework appropriate to those residents who were evacuated from their homes."

The proposal could add additional fuel to Israel's domestic political fires, as Peretz has incurred criticism from both the Likud and his own Labor over dovish policy positions.

The statement said that the successful implementation of the disengagement should be leveraged fir the sake of progress toward a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians.

Among the means of accomplishing this, the statement said, "is creation of incentives for the continuation of voluntary evacuation of the Israeli citizens located in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]."

The bill proposes adopting the criteria specified in the Evacuation Compensation Law enacted for the disengagement, and to have them apply to all settlements whose residents agree to leave voluntarily.