Extreme right-wing Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi boycotted a Monday cabinet meeting to protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's refusal to abandon the so-called policy of “relative restraint toward the Palestinians,” Israel Radio reported, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
Zeevi said last week that he and Infrastructure Minister Avigdor Lieberman "intend to protest against the absence of proper measures to suppress terrorism."
Lieberman is currently on a visit to Uzbekistan, said the paper.
"Sharon promised security and is not keeping his word, because he is a prisoner of the Oslo (peace) process and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres," a dove in Sharon's cross-party government," he said at the time.
Lieberman and Zeevi are respectively leaders of the National Union party and the Russian-speaking Israel Beiteinu, which each have four deputies in the Knesset.
They advocate all-out military action against the Palestinians to quell the nine-month uprising, and no political concessions.
Their departure would not pose much of a threat to the government, and could even lead to it becoming more moderate, as centrists would reportedly be willing to take their places, said Haaretz – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
