Disengagement is Over, Government Can Fall

That is the headline from today's Arutz7:

With Sharon having completed the ousting of Jews from Gaza, MKs across the political spectrum are aligning to topple the government. The next scheduled no-confidence motion is September 1.

Knesset members from the opposition Meretz and Arab parties are now being joined by government coalition members in Labor, and even the Likud, in calls to bring the current government to an end.

Ariel Sharon is now targeted from every angle. His enemies within the Likud vow to topple him, and some voices in Labor as well are saying that the end of the disengagement means the end of the alliance with Sharon.

Of course, it may have been much preferable if those now piling on Sharon had chosen to do this before the Disengagement took effect (Possible Headline: "Government Falls, Disengagement is Over"). Perhaps then Meretz and Labor would not seem like such opportunists.

Labor MK Eitan Cabel says that the time has come to quit the government. The only MK in the party who did not vie for a Cabinet position when Labor joined the government several months ago, Cabel now serves as the party's secretary-general. He says that since the purpose of joining the government was to pave the way for the abandonment of Gaza, there is no further need to prop up Sharon. "The Labor ministers must quit the Cabinet," he feels, "such that Labor can present an alternative to Sharon and work to advance the elections."

Now that Labor has stuck with Sharon with the expressed purpose of facilitating the Disengagement, just what kind of alternative can they present? Are they now going to out-Disengage Sharon and pull out of the West Bank in accordance with Rice's recent statements?

Extreme left-wing Meretz party chairman Yossi Beilin told a television audience last night that Meretz is now abandoning its policy of supporting Sharon, now that the disengagement is completed.

Beilin at least did express reservations. Back in June he was quoted as saying:

If the disengagement does not lead to an immediate permanent status arrangement, it will bring a catastrophe upon both Israelis and Palestinians... It is liable to bring a renewal of violence [that] is liable to bring down the moderate Palestinian leadership...

There is a concrete danger that following the disengagement, the violence will greatly increase in [Judea and Samaria] in order to achieve the same thing [i.e., withdrawal - ed.] as was achieved in Gaza... A retreat from Gaza with nothing in return and with no agreement will strengthen Hamas.

But he will still come across as an opportunist.

What will happen to Likud?

Among the Likud loyalists - those who objected to the expulsion plan - sentiment against Sharon is very strong. MK Ayoub Kara said today, "I will support every move that will lead to the topping of this dictator and his royal family from further abusing the people of Israel."

Kara told Arutz-7 that he does not fear a split in the party. "The fate of the nation is now hanging in the balance," he said, "and this dictatorship is endangering the country. Even if the Likud blows up, what's important now is to save the country."

Fearing that the electorate will punish the Likud, Kara called upon the public to vote for the Likud and thus save it from being taken over by the left. He said that within the Likud, those Knesset Members who supported Sharon's policies will certainly be punished by the Likud membership in the upcoming primaries.

For all their bluster, there does not seem to be anyone who actually comes out of this smelling like a rose.

How ironic if the toppling of the government is successful and the person who benefits most from this is Netanyahu.