Shas must have breathed a huge sigh of relief. They don't really want elections and now they can continue to extort money from Olmert in return for staying in the coalition. I guarantee you that at least once a week we will hear Shas threatening to leave the coalition over some issue. It is patently clear that Olmert will find a way to give Shas money and keep them in the coalition.
It is unclear how this will work out for Shas in the long run. If Olmert actually makes a deal with either the Palestinians (dividing Jerusalem) or Syria (gving back the Golan) it will be a disaster for Shas because their voters will not forgive them for allowing that to happen. On the other hand, if there is no real progress and Shas continues to extort money they will be in an excellent position for the next election.
1 comment:
In the mid 80's Israel had the "rotatzia" - Shimon Peres got to be PM for 2 years followed by Yitzchak Shamir. And for the entire 4 years, the guy whose turn it wasn't spent all his time trying to bring down the government.
In the end, elections were held on time because the government never fell.
Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. Neither do Israeli governments like this.
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