Shimon Peres, said on Friday that his party is ready to remain in Sharon’s coalition until the elections in 2006, if Sharon accepts four conditions; solve the issue of borders, negotiate with Abbas on the basis of the Road Map, devote funds to counter poverty and continued development of the Negev and Galilee.
Labor party head also said that he intends to demand Sharon to evacuate and dismantle illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
“If we leave the government next month, everything will stopâ€Â, Peres said, “We will need two to three months to form a new government, during this time poverty will thrive and Hamas will be activeâ€Â.
Peres added he intends to demand Sharon dismantle illegal outposts, but would not issue an ultimatum.
Several senior Labor party members said that Peres will not quit the government, and added that he “will turn the labor party into a Likud division as long as he remains a ministerâ€Â.
The Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that most Labor party minister would like to remain in power until the elections.
Yet, Sharon is currently holding talks with different ministers and parties in Israel in order to ensure that his government survives even if the Labor party quits.
He met with Yosef Lapid, Shinui Party Chairman, and suggested that Shinui should rejoin the government, but he did not give Lapid any specific proposal.ÂÂ
Senior advisors of Sharon said that he is meeting with all leaders in an attempt to gain the majority he needs to pass the budget vote and the appointment of new cabinet ministers which will take place later on October.
Sharon still needs to secure the support of his own party to his budget since several Likud ministers who apposed the pullout plan said that they do not intend to support him in the budget vote.
Thursday, Sharon met with Shas Chairman Eli Yishai and told him that he wants to increase the welfare spending as the movement demanded; Yishai told Sharon that if the welfare payments were increased, Shas would consider supporting Sharon.
