Most Likud ministers support construction freeze, but Netanyahu may yet face mutiny

Most Likud ministers backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan for a partial freeze of settlement construction at yesterday's cabinet meeting.

But Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, one of Netanyahu's main rivals in the party, convened a meeting of Likud activists last night at which he lambasted the freeze, while MK Danny Danon, who represents the party's right wing, began gathering signatures needed to force a meeting of the Likud Central Committee to condemn the plan before Netanyahu leaves for the United States later this month.

"This reminds me of the days when Netanyahu himself signed up Likud Central Committee members [to convene a meeting] against Ariel Sharon's disengagement," Danon told Haaretz, referring to the 2005 pullout from Gaza.

Danon's effort is being supported by some ministers, such as Benny Begin and Moshe Ya'alon, who declined to criticize the freeze at yesterday's cabinet meeting. Danon said he was disappointed that they refused to come out against the premier publicly.

The only minister who did criticize Netanyahu at the cabinet session was National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau of Yisrael Beiteinu. Earlier, Netanyahu had met with all the Likud ministers and key Likud MKs in an effort to ensure their support.

Shalom, at the rally he convened in Tel Aviv, urged Netanyahu not to give in to American pressure.

"What did we return to power for?" he demanded. "To implement the policies of others? They can do that better than we can. If we are talking about a Palestinian state and are willing to freeze the settlement enterprise even before negotiations begin, what will we talk about during the negotiations themselves?"

"We were elected seven months ago to implement our policies, and one of them is holding aloft the banner of the settlement enterprise, which Likud established, developed and consolidated," he continued. "We must not fold up this banner or lower it to half-mast."

While the presence of several of the Likud's more hard-line MKs at the rally was no surprise, Likud observers were surprised by two of the guests: Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who usually tries to avoid taking sides in internal party disputes, and Michael Eitan, one of the party's most moderate MKs.

Nevertheless, all the speakers were careful to avoid criticizing Netanyahu personally and stressed the importance of maintaining party unity.

"During Netanyahu's first term [as premier], we toppled ourselves, and we won't do that again," Eitan vowed.