By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Oct 13, 2004
Shortly after he praised it as the nation’s preeminent democratic institution Monday, Israel’s Knesset left Prime Minister Ariel Sharon red-faced when it voted down his speech opening its winter session.
Sharon’s “state of the nation” address focused primarily on his plan to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria of Jews.
Having openly rejected the idea of a national referendum, Sharon was looking to bolster the idea that expected Knesset approval of his “disengagement” plan represented the will of the people.
A day after the embarrassing setback, the prime minister was seen busily courting potential coalition allies in order to offset the fact that many members of his own Likud Party had joined the opposition to his speech.
While Monday’s poll was purely symbolic, an official Knesset vote on Sharon’s retreat plan is scheduled for October 25.
Sharon vowed to deal harshly with those Likud members who opposed him prior to the upcoming vote.
Policy speech
The Knesset’s winter session was kicked off Monday with the traditional policy speech by the current prime minister.
The speech serves as an indicator both for the Knesset and the general public on the current state of affairs, as well as the direction the government plans to take the nation in during the upcoming year.
It is the equivalent of a State of the Union address by an American president.
Unsurprisingly, during this year’s speech, Sharon focused primarily on his plan to unilaterally transfer all Jews out of the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, and also touched on his government’s capitalist economic reforms.
Sharon said that what he claims is an unprecedented level of cooperation with Washington over the past year had only been made possible by his intent to withdraw from Gaza.
Voted down
Sharon decided to have the gathered Knesset members participate in a symbolic vote on the policies he had outlined. While such votes are not an automatic occurrence, they are not uncommon.
Sharon had in recent months heavily promoted the idea that Knesset approval for his “disengagement” plan would be more than adequate, and that putting the issue to a national referendum was out of the question.
He hammered home that position during the opening lines of his speech Monday.
But the evening did not play out as the prime minister would have hoped.
Following a glitch in the Knesset’s electronic voting system, the MKs cast their ballots by raising their hands either in favor of or opposed to the contents of Sharon’s speech.
The final tally was 53-44 against his policies.
Upcoming test
The Gaza retreat plan will be put to an official Knesset vote on October 25, which, unlike Monday’s symbolic vote, will have serious consequences for the future of the policy.
Fishing for allies
Following Monday’s embarrassment, and in the lead up to the October 25 Knesset vote, Sharon was seen busily courting potential political allies.
While his first choice for coalition partner remains the leftist Labor Party, Sharon also met with representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties Tuesday.
Both Shas and the UTJ did not close the door on joining Sharon’s government, but indicated they could not be bribed into accepting a wholesale ethnic cleansing of Gaza in return for budget concessions.
Labor, meanwhile, remained divided over whether toppling the Likud-led government or supporting Sharon in his bid to uproot Jewish Gaza was more important.
Even within his own party, Sharon found himself needing to woo support for his policies.
Those Likud MKs who had voted in favor of his speech were invited for a late night meeting with the prime minister Tuesday to discuss his plans to punish those who had chosen to oppose him.
Sharon threatens party ‘rebels’
Sharon vowed to deal harshly with the Likud MKs who had either voted against or abstained in Monday’s Knesset vote.
He said it was intolerable that members of his own party were openly opposing his policies.
[ Ed. Note – Ironically, it was the policy of transferring Jews that Sharon now champions that was overwhelmingly rejected by the general public when it voted him into office in February 2003 over Labor chief Amram Mitzna. ]
Sources close to Sharon said he would take measures to ensure the “rebels” were not reelected to the Knesset in the future.
Public wants early elections
Meanwhile, an opinion poll conducted by Israel’s leading daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot , revealed that a majority of the public would rather go to early elections than have Sharon again reshuffle the ruling coalition.
Yesha continues to grow
Amidst the ongoing political wrangling, Israelis continue to move to and strengthen the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (Yesha).
According to figures published this week, the first seven months of 2004 saw a 20.5 percent increase in the sale of homes to Jews in Yesha.