Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin held meetings with party leaders Sunday in an attempt to ensure his Labor-led coalition government survives a no-confidence vote Monday over controversial remarks on religion by his education minister, Shulamit Aloni.
A combination of political horse-trading and face-saving statements appeared set to preserve coalition membership of the haredi (fervently Orthodox) Shas party in the face of pressure to resign over statements made by Aloni.
The crisis erupted some weeks ago after Aloni, who heads the left-wing Meretz bloc, made statements disparaging a literal reading of the biblical account of creation and proposing that the name of God be omitted from a prayer for the dead.
The statements offended Orthodox circles and were criticized in Labor Party circles, too, as needlessly offensive.
Shas originally demanded Aloni’s removal from the sensitive Education Ministry. But the Sephardic haredi party subsequently softened its stance. Eleventh-hour negotiations centered on the scope of authority to be vested in the Shas deputy minister of education, Rabbi Moshe Maiya.
The Shas Council of Torah Sages convened Sunday evening to consider a proposal by Meretz under which Maiya would be involved in formulating the Jewish heritage curricula in non-Orthodox state schools but would not be in sole charge of this sensitive area.
It also was agreed that a special Cabinet meeting will be convened Monday at which Rabin and Aloni will make statements. Without directly upbraiding Aloni, the prime minister will call for greater sensitivity between coalition partners and pledge to use his “constitutional powers” in the event of any future upsets of this kind. The language is seen as a vague reference to the premier’s power to fire a minister.
For her part, Aloni will follow up by reiterating regret if statements she made offended religious sensibilities.
Rabin met Sunday with Interior Minister Arye Deri, who heads Shas, in an attempt to resolve the crisis. Health Minister Haim Ramon of Labor served as intermediary.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
