JERUSALEM, 2 December 2004 — The Israeli government was plunged into turmoil yesterday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reacted to a crushing defeat of his budget in Parliament by sacking the junior partner of his ruling coalition.
Sharon carried out his threat to dismiss the five ministers from the secular Shinui party less than an hour after they voted against the government in a first reading debate on the budget, personally handing over dismissal letters.
A total of 69 MPs in the 120-seat Knesset rejected the bill while just 43 supported the government.
“We had a very amicable discussion with Sharon who expressed his regrets about our departure from the government and we expressed our regrets about how we had to leave the government,” said Shinui leader and outgoing Justice Minister Tommy Lapid after meeting Sharon.
A source in the prime minister’s office said Shinui had left Sharon with no other choice. “He said that he would sack any member of his Cabinet who voted against the budget bill,” the official said. “The prime minister is a man who always sticks to his word.”
The dismissals will take effect 48 hours after they were handed over.
Shinui had been furious at Sharon’s efforts to win the vote by channeling funds toward religious parties’ pet projects.
“We will not give a hand to sell the state to the ultra-Orthodox but ... we will be back,” Lapid told MPs at the start of the debate.
The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism faction voted with the government although its larger rival, Shas, voted against the bill.
Sharon’s most likely option is to now try and form a new coalition with the main opposition Labour party and the UTJ.
The premier has been without a majority for nearly six months after traditional right-wing allies were either sacked or quit the coalition in protest against his plans to pull troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip.
He has since tried in vain to bring Labour into government but Likud’s central committee has voted against such a move.
Many commentators believed Sharon was willing to lose the first reading on the budget to demonstrate to his Likud opponents that the formation of a national unity government, including Labour, is the only way to stay in power.
Sharon has said he is prepared to call fresh elections in order to end the impasse but neither he nor his opponents have much appetite for an early vote, which would not normally take place before November 2006.
An opinion poll published in yesterday’s top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily showed that 65 percent want Sharon to form a new government and only 27 percent would like to see new elections.
If such a poll were to take place, Likud would likely increase its share of seats in the 120-member Knesset from 40 to 42, while the Labour party would see its representation rise from 22 to 23, the poll found.
Shinui would be the big loser in a fresh election with its representation likely to drop from 15 to 10.
If Sharon can stitch together a coalition with Labour it should help silence the arguments within government over the Gaza withdrawal plan. Fresh elections, however, could throw the whole project back into doubt and derail the timetable that should see the pullout completed by September 2005.
