Sharon Changes Course
Ariel Sharon is laying the groundwork to bringing the Labor
Party into the coalition. Despite the relative stability his
minority coalition has been showing, Sharon understands that
in the long run it will not work and he has no choice other
than to bring in the Labor Party.
At last week's cabinet meeting the Prime Minister surprised
his ministers by announcing he would not allow the 2005
budget to pass if the plight of the weak and needy was not
addressed. "The helpless cannot be neglected," he said. "The
2005 budget that was just constructed must provide a solution
for social crises. We are taking the Israeli economy along a
new path but confronting social problems starting now is a
condition for passing the budget."
Sharon is also demanding a revision on the issue of Child
Allowances. He has realized the cut was too drastic and
causes families to collapse. Not that he plans to restore all
that was cut but he definitely does intend for low-income
families to receive more than they have until now, even if it
means a confrontation with Shinui.
The Prime Minister's recent meeting with Shimon Peres was
clearly more than a routine update for the opposition
chairman. After a few moments of polite conversation about
coalition affairs the two got down to business: what are the
Labor Party's demands in exchange for joining the
coalition.
Two main points were made clear to Sharon. First, that Labor
would not join the government as long as the NRP is a part of
it and second, if he genuinely wants the Labor Party to join
he must change the course of his economic and social
policy.
At the cabinet meeting three days later Sharon sent out
signals he expects the Finance Ministry to toe the line based
on coalition needs. From now on not Shinui or Lapid, not even
Netanyahu, would direct economic policy along capitalist
lines. Instead Sharon wants to head back toward a more
solicitous social policy in order to curry favor with the
Labor Party.
The Second Change in Course
Sharon also seems to have shifted course in his attitude
toward the chareidim. In cabinet meetings, the Knesset and
various other forums he has not missed a single opportunity
to speak with great enthusiasm about the need for Judaism in
the State and the need to infuse youth with a Jewish
identity. He has also been making every effort to convey the
impression he is very eager to solve the problem of religious
services and the religious councils.
He even took the highly unusually step of participating in a
meeting of the State Control Committee. The day before the
meeting the Finance Committee approved a transfer of NIS 26
million ($5.8 million) for the religious councils recovery
program. The Prime Minister's Office saw to it that the money
was transferred that day so that Sharon would arrive at the
committee meeting the next day with something to show for
himself. At the meeting once again Sharon issued grand
declarations on the importance of providing religious
services and pledged to put an end to all of the problems in
this area soon. Of course he also boasted about the NIS 26
million though he knows this is just a drop in the bucket
since the religious councils' debt comes to 10 times that
amount. Further evidence of Sharon's apparent shift in
attitude could be seen at a recent plenum during Rabbi
Yisroel Eichler's speech during a meeting on a no-confidence
motion. When Rabbi Eichler called on Sharon to dismiss Tommy
Lapid for his remarks about the chareidim, the Prime Minister
called out from his seat asking whether the chareidi MKs
would join the government if Shinui left it. To see a Prime
Minister calling out in the middle of a speech is extremely
rare, and even more to see him direct a question toward the
speaker.
In addition the Prime Minister, Likud ministers and MKs and
the director of the Prime Minister's Office have been holding
numerous meetings with MKs from the chareidi parties while
the Prime Minister has been turning a cold shoulder toward
Shinui of late -- all of which indicates Sharon would like to
improve relations with the chareidi public and its
representatives. Sharon knows he may need them in the
coalition in the near future or their support from outside
the coalition in one way or another.
All the talk about the possibility of bringing chareidi MKs
into the coalition is unrealistic at this point but in the
future in the political game of course anything can happen.
In the meantime give-and-take deals are certainly welcome and
desirable because the ability to exert influence while in the
opposition is very limited. The opposition politician has his
day when he is needed, i.e. his vote is needed. If he knows
how to drive a hard bargain he has the ability to make gains
for the sector he represents.
