JERUSALEM/ISRAEL: LEADER OF ISRAEL'S LABOUR PARTY , BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER TALKS ABOUT WITHDRAWAL FROM COALITION GOVERNMENT AND CALLS FOR ELECTION

Record ID: 640637

  • Title: JERUSALEM/ISRAEL: LEADER OF ISRAEL'S LABOUR PARTY , BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER TALKS ABOUT WITHDRAWAL FROM COALITION GOVERNMENT AND CALLS FOR ELECTION
  • Date: 29th October 2002
  • Summary: (U6) JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 29, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV/SMV ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON WALKING TO PODIUM AT TOURISM CONFERENCE SMV CAMERAMAN FILMING SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYING: "The government that I am head of, that I still hope will continue to be a national unity government -- in my opinion that is a most important thing -- but in any makeup of the government I will continue to make all effort possible in order to bring security and to march in a path of peace in the knowledge that that is what will make the biggest contribution to the future of Israel's economy." SMV CONFERENCE DELEGATES SLV SHARON LEAVING PODIUM AND DELEGATES RISING TO APPLAUD
  • Embargoed: 13th November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM; RISHON LETZION, ISRAEL
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB1PF7XBMWCP6MX15BP3UESCVC
  • Story Text: The leader of Israel's Labour Party, restive main partner in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition, has hinted that a walkout was inevitable and called for early general elections.
    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's broad coalition faced possible collapse on Tuesday (October 29) in a dispute with his main partner in the government, the centre-left Labour Party.
    Sharon is riding high in opinion polls and has vowed to eject Labour from his coalition if it voted against the budget as it threatened to do.
    Sharon told a tourism conference on Tuesday (October 29) that he hoped his government would continue to be one of national unity.
    "The government that I am head of, that I still hope will continue to be a national unity government -- in my opinion that is a most important thing -- but in any makeup of the government I will continue to make all effort possible in order to bring security and to march in a path of peace in the knowledge that that is what will make the biggest contribution to the future of Israel's economy."
    But Labour leader and Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer hinted that a walkout was inevitable and called for early general elections.
    "I intend to take this fight to the end," Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, told supporters in reference to a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements expected to come to a head in a budget vote on Wednesday (October 30).
    "I call on the prime minister to sit with me, and we will begin work on an agreed-upon process leading up to elections,"
    said Ben-Eliezer.
    "We can talk about March, April -- whatever he wants. Then we.
    The loss of centre-left Labour's 25 seats in the 120-member parliament would leave Sharon in control of only 55 votes.
    Labour ministers object to its allocation of 700 million shekels (147 million U.S. dollars) to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The settlements are part of the right-wing Likud's platform. Labour wants the money diverted to welfare programmes.
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