Gil Ronen
The hareidi-religious Sephardic party Shas wants Tzipi Livni, who heads the ruling party Kadima, to make a commitment not to negotiate over Jerusalem in the talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Shas Chairman, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai, met with Livni Thursday in her office in Jerusalem, and negotiating teams from both parties met in the evening for an extended, four-hour-long session. The main sticking points, according to leaks from both sides, are Shas's demands for NIS 1.5 billion for stipends to aid families with numerous children and the demand regarding Jerusalem. We want it in writing
Shas demands that Livni provide either a written commitment regarding non-negotiation over Jerusalem, or a publicly-stated commitment to that effect. Otherwise it will not join the coalition, Yishai said. "Jerusalem shall not be part of the negotiations," he told the daily paper Ma'ariv. "We want to get a clear commitment from Livni that she does not intend to raise the subject at all during the negotiations with the PA."
MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) said, however, on Friday that the disagreement on the subject o
"We want to get a clear commitment from Livni that she does not intend to raise the subject at all during the negotiations with the PA."
f Jerusalem is not difficult to solve and that a mutually acceptable formula will be reached soon.
Kadima's starting offer to Shas was NIS 400 million for the child stipends. This was later amended to NIS 700 million, according to one leak, or 500 million, according to another.
Bar-On says no
Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On reportedly refuses to approve the transfer of funds, however. He claims the Finance Ministry lacks the necessary funds for such a move, and cites the forecasted loss of an NIS 5 billion in tax collection following the losses incurred by private investors in the current global finance crisis.
Yishai is making tougher demands of Livni than he did when he joined the government of Ehud Olmert in 2006. With Olmert, he only wanted a commitment to release Shas of coalitional discipline if and when votes are held regarding the negotiations with the Arabs who claim the Land of Israel.
Yishai has said that the PA leadership under Mahmoud Abbas is not a partner for peace, and he also disapproves of the idea of signing a "shelf agreement" to be implemented at a later date.
1 comment:
I felt that Shas were just playing with Livni until a decision was made about Aryeh Deri.
Now the decision has been made they will either refuse to enter the coalition or string her along for another 14 days.
Like them or not, Shas is made up of consummate politicians that dance rings around the other parties.
Shas works for its constituents unlike any of the other parties, with very small exceptions.
At least Israel Beitenu quit the coalition.
Shas is politically in disagreement with Livni on just about everything and I imagine they are against a female PM regardless of what they say.
How can Livni write or publicly say that she will not talk about Jerusalem in the so called peace talks? Although there are no real peace talks taking place anyway, removing Jerusalem from the table would make it 'official'.
Livni said that if she couldn't form a coalition quickly that she would call for elections and said or hinted at before Rosh HaShanna.
She is now asking for another 14 days proving that her word is worthless.
Mike
P.S. I am not a Shas supporter :-)
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