JERUSALEM, 31 October 2005 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was yesterday facing a fresh political crisis that could force early general elections unless he wins last-minute support for three ministerial appointments.
The crisis erupted late Saturday after rebels within his right-wing Likud party promised to thwart his proposed appointment of the new ministers.
Should the Israeli leader fail to garner the necessary support for the appointments when Parliament opens for the winter session today, it could see the country being dragged to early elections.
At today’s session, Sharon is expected to seek MPs’ approval for three new Cabinet positions, one of which makes permanent the interim appointment of his key ally, Ehud Olmert, as finance minister.
He will also ask MPs to approve the appointments of Zeev Boim as immigration minister and Roni Bar-On to the industry and trade portfolio. MPs will hold one vote on all three appointments.
But Likud rebels, who fought their party leader tooth and nail over Israel’s controversial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, have vowed to hijack the appointments of three Likud deputies who are considered Sharon loyalists.
The issue was thrown into sharp relief when former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon’s bitter rival for the Likud leadership, said he would vote against the proposal with seven other party rebels.
Netanyahu resigned as finance minister in August over the Gaza pullout.
With only 24 hours to go before the crunch vote, Sharon allies were hard at work to stitch together the necessary support for the appointments. Figures collated by Israel Army radio showed only 55 MPs were in favor, while 62 were against the proposal.
Should Sharon fail to push through the appointments, Likud officials and sources close to the Israeli leader said he would call early general elections, which are currently due to take place in November 2006.
