Negotiations between the Prime Minister's Bureau and the Ministry of Finance with opposition parties to pass the 2005 budget bill in its first Knesset reading deadlocked last night. Talks with United Torah Judaism (UTJ) failed to make progress, belying the impression created earlier this week. On the other hand, talks with the National Religious Party (NRP) are over, and the party is waiting for the final word from the Ministry of Finance.
The cost of the NRP's support is NIS 150 million at the most, mostly for settlements, yeshivot hesder (IDF units that combine Jewish learning), and religious-Zionist education and cultural institutions. UTJ's asking price is less than the NIS 450 million UTJ sources told the media, although the haredi (ultra-orthodox) weekly "Bamishpaha" said the price tag was NIS 100 million.
The bargaining with the haredi parties is mostly over price, which will somewhere between the budget outlays and the asking price for joining the coalition, and appears to be the stumbling block to concluding the negotiations.
Background noises disturbing a settlement come from Shinui chairman Minister of Justice Joseph (Tomy) Lapid, who this morning reiterated his threat to quit the coalition if it capitulates to the haredi demands in the amounts reported in the media. The Prime Minister's Bureau minimizes the threat, claiming that if Shinui bolts the coalition, that will make it easier to bring Labor and the haredi parties into the government, on the terms of the Likud central committee. However, Lapid claims that he has coordinated his position with Labor, which will not exploit the crisis to move against Shinui.
The government is anxious to conclude the negotiations by the beginning of next week, in order to pass the budget by the end of the week, before Netanyahu leaves for India. The government wants to submit the agreements to the Knesset by Sunday, giving it 24 hours to discuss them and vote on the budget bills no later than next Wednesday.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 25, 2004