Friday, 10:48 IL: In what appears to be a ritual, the Shas Party holds the key to making and breaking governments. After talks which were held between Kadima and Shas on Thursday, Premier-designate Tzipi Livni announced the deal offered is the last, and if Shas does not agree to join the coalition and she is left with a minority government, she will go to the president and request elections.
Shas leader Eli Yishai will be meeting on erev Shabbos with Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita to discuss the offer on the table. Yishai has signaled that the offer is a significant one and he is not releasing statements of rejection as has has done following previous negotiating sessions with Kadima representatives.
In the meantime, the Pensioners Party has rejected offers as has United Torah Judaism. Meretz appears on its way to the coalition, and the nation waits to hear from Shas to determine if Tzipi Livni will be the next prime minister or if Ehud Olmert will remain in office until national elections are held within 90 days.
MK (Kadima) Marina Solodkin is calling on Livni to establish any government, even a narrow one, to oust Ehud Olmert from office as quickly as possible.
AS WE GO TO PRINT: In a telephone survey of the Shas Council of Torah Sages, the decision has been made not to join the Livni coalition. While it is uncertain if this decision is final, this is the message released to the media on Friday morning. This would seem to indicate that Premier-designate Tzipi Livni on Sunday will inform the president she cannot form a coalition and national elections will take place.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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7 Responses
If Livni goes through with her threat of a new election, she is much to be respected for it. Few politicians carry through on a threat to fall on their sword over a matter of principles (even if over her misguided principles).
…like the “doctor” who refused to save a life on “principle.”
to #4 …like a politican who turns down a bribe, or refuses to offer one based on principles.
Dog bites man – not news
Man bites dog – NEWS
politician acts on principle – BIG NEWS
(even if it is a misguided principle)
#4, It may indeed be “news” or even “big news”, but it certainly is NOT praiseworthy to stand on a misguided principle.
good. now likud not kadima will have the power, and i think likud is currently the lesser of the 2 evils
what is/was the updated proposal?
how much $$$ that go only to certain yeshivot (and certain people in certain yeshivot)!
akuperma
You give credit where it’s not due. For how many months did Livni stay in the government under Olmert? (backstabbing him the entire time). That was definitely not acting on principle. I’ll give you a free tip for the future: when dealing with a zionist (lowercase) assume the worst.