Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., May 02, 2008 Nisan 27, 5768 | | Israel Time: 09:33 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 01:02 02/05/2008 Eitan's wheeling and dealing keeps Pensioners Party intact By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Pensioners, Arcadi Gaydamak The chairman of the Pensioners Party, Rafi Eitan, kept his party intact this week, getting MK Elhanan Glazer to serve under him in the Pensioner Affairs Ministry in return for staying in the party. Glazer will serve as deputy minister to Minister Eitan. Pensioners MK Moshe Sharoni had boasted in recent weeks that he had at least three party MKs in his pocket to form the "Justice for Pensioners" party under Soviet-born billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak. But on Wednesday, MK Sarah Marom-Shalev, a Sharoni ally, showed up for a m Advertisement eeting of Pensioner MKs at party headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss the crisis. Although Marom-Shalev did not deny she would team up with Sharoni, she said she was part of the Pensioners Party and had never left it. Nevertheless, Sharoni and his advisers insisted that Marom-Shalev would sign on to Sharoni's request to the Knesset's House Committee to break away from the mother faction. Marom-Shalev herself disappeared after the faction meeting and did not respond to calls to her mobile phone. The third supposedly breakaway MK, Glazer, had signed a draft agreement this week to split the Pensioners Party, before changing tack Wednesday. He said he had signed under pressure from Sharoni and knew the move was nonbinding. Expectations of revenge Despite Eitan's victory, it is far from certain that the Pensioners Party will survive the next elections. What is clear is that Sharoni now seeks to get revenge on the party and Eitan, who had removed him as faction chairman. The members of the faction tried to present a united front on Wednesday, but their remarks created a picture of confused MKs susceptible to manipulation by Gaydamak's representatives and various advisers. The faction chairman, MK Yitzhak Galanti, discussed the talks he had with Sharoni over the past few days. He said he had never seriously intended to join with Gaydamak and break away. But according to Sharoni's media adviser, Yossi Leibovich, "he intended to, and how." (Leibovich, incidentally, was the Pensioners' media adviser until his contract was canceled a few months ago, and now works for Sharoni.) Galanti said that a few days ago he received a phone call from Leibovich, who wanted to speak to him privately. "He asked me to meet with Sharoni without any commitment. I met with him and he tells me that he is leaving the party and has two more slots and is offering me a place. He showed me a draft of the agreement with Gaydamak. I said, 'I understand that Gaydamak is responsible for the move, so I want to meet with him.'" Afterward, Galanti says, he broke off the contacts. Glazer, who got wind of the feelers put out to Galanti and was afraid he would be left behind, moved quickly and signed the draft agreement. On Wednesday he said that for weeks "Sharoni had been sitting on my neck and not relenting. They brought me a draft full of erasures with lines and dots. I signed in order to shake off Sharoni, and knew it was not binding. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hamas on the Holocaust Al-Aqsa TV claims Jews concocted the Holocaust. Grasping genocide How a non-Jew in Israel came to understand the Holocaust.   1.   Constituency Elections Desperately Needed 02:26  |  Davis Dork 02/05/08   2.   to #1 the Israeli system is far more democratic than the US 09:17  |  David G 02/05/08

Read & React Police summon Olmert for questioning under caution Responses: 14 Rice: Israel, PA must agree on final borders 'once and for all' Responses: 19 Akiva Eldar: Using the Syria channel to camouflage for crisis in Israel-PA talks Send response Palestinians: IDF kills 62-year-old Gazan; 9 Qassams hit Negev Responses: 80 Mofaz, at Yale: Iran could have nuke bomb technology this year Responses: 52 Rosner's Domain Talking about war with Iran is not necessarily bad Ziad Asali: The urgency of settlement freeze Harry Potter, nice Jewish boy (WTR) Poll: truce with Hamas, good or bad? Is Israel finished? five questions More Headlines 09:10 Police summon Olmert for questioning under caution 08:50 Rice: Israel, PA must agree on final borders 'once and for all' 08:32 U.S. urges Arab donors to pay pledges to Palestinian Authority 07:44 A veteran of the partisans, but he could not free Mt. Scopus 05:53 Gaza sewage pumped into the sea over past three months 22:56 Yellow patch, Blue victory: U.K. media praise Grant after Chelsea win 05:29 Report shows workers lost NIS 8,000 each to employers' benefit 02:53 Between Qassams and poverty, especially tough times in Sderot 04:57 Insulted ex-mayor demands revision of school booklet 01:02 Eitan's wheeling and dealing keeps Pensioners Party intact Previous Editions Select Day 01 may 30 apr 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr 25 apr 24 apr 23 apr 22 apr 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr

Special Offers Advertisement Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ FAREWELL ISRAEL New Film The Coming War for Islamic Revival - View Movie Trailer The interest rates haven't changed But your profits will! Learn Hebrew online with Israel's best teachers Sign up for a trial lesson today Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved