President signs elections decree
Elections date officially set: Following meetings with several officials, President Moshe Katsav rules elections to be held on March 28, the date requested by Knesset
Meanwhile, members of the Knesset Constitution Committee decided, by a 7-2 majority, to end talks on legislation that would dissolve the Knesset early. The decision was taken following letters sent by PM Sharon and President Katsav.
President Katsav (left,) Knesset Speaker Rivlin (center,) Constitution Committee Chairman Eitan (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Meanwhile, intensive political contacts are taking place ahead of what promises to be an impassioned elections campaign. Vice Premier Shimon Peres met for a private meeting with Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz, and pledged to remain in the Labor party, dashing speculations that he would join Sharon’s new party.
A senior source from Peres’ office said the vice premier is weighing up the options through which he can best contribute to the party. Howeveri It still remains unclear whether he will continue to be politically active in the Labor party.
Knesset Member Haim Ramon announced his resignation from the Labor party earlier Wednesday and has joined Sharon’s new party. At a press conference in the Knesset, Ramon said: “This a moment of truth in Israeli politics in which everyone must find their place, not based on their past and friends, but based on their believes. The party headed by Sharon can bring security, co-existence, and social justice. A person must take up the position based on what he believes in.”
In Likud, tensions among the top brass - Benjamin Netanyahu and the other two primaries hopefuls, Silvan Shalom and Shaul Mofaz - are rising, with Mofaz disparaging the former finance minister in comments to Army Radio, calling him am “upper class kid from Rehavia (a wealthy Jerusalem neighborhood) who hurt the poor,” referring to Netanyahu’s spending cuts.
“There are leaders who grew with a silver spoon in the mouth, and Bibi is one of them. I do not think that he felt distress in his days (as finance minister), and therefore pity and distress are far from his heart and his policy,” Mofaz said.
Netanyahu meanwhile has launched a self-praising campaign, missing no opportunity to evoke his success in turning the economy around as finance minister. “I received an economy nearing collapse, and my policies brought about a situation where the granaries are filled with grains, something that will allow us to help those in real need of help - elderly, children, and mothers who work,” Netanyahu said.
“We took courageous steps, despite that my popularity decreased. I don’t care to go down two, three, or four percent in popularity,” he added
