(Israel) Coalition partners threaten to bolt government

[IndianaGreen]

Exit Labour and the Pensioners, enter Bibi and Likud.

If this were to happen, it would put Bibi's upcoming visit to Dick Cheney "to discuss war with Iran" in a totally new light.

Last update - 06:05 05/09/2006

Coalition partners threaten to bolt government

By Mazal Mualem

The Labor Party, Shas and the Pensioners are threatening to vote in the cabinet against the budget if it turns out that the social welfare cutbacks are included in the budget book.

Despite the agreement reached on Monday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson to rescind plans to raise university tuition, Kadima's coalition partners are threatening a crisis unless the treasury also retracts planned welfare cuts.

Labor Party leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, told confidants on Monday that "if they don't revoke the intention to freeze the minimum wage, it will lead Labor to quit the government. That is a red line as far as I'm concerned. It is the central achievement of the coalition agreement."

Labor's ministers are set to convene by week's end to formulate a stand on the budget. "If Olmert wants to preserve the coalition, he will have to back down," Peretz associates said.

Senior Laborites said it looked like Olmert had "put on a show" with the issue of tuition, and that it seemed as though the PM had coordinated with Hirchson, "to make it look like he cares about social welfare."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/758699.html