The split within Likud’s Liberal Party wing widened today when Leon Dulzin, a veteran party leader, demanded that Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai abandon his plans to establish an independent faction within Liberal ranks.
Modai announced his intentions last week, with the support of four other Liberal MKs. He said the new faction would insist on being consulted separately on all coalition decisions. Dulzin, who is chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, confronted Modai at a meeting of the Liberal Party Presidium. He said he was trying to avert a looming crisis in the party.
Modai replied that he would postpone further action if certain demands are met. These include the immediate establishment of a new television channel in addition to the existing State television and educational channel; the immediate introduction of a State health insurance bill; and the appointment of several members of his group to senior positions in the party’s Knesset faction.
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