Rebecca Anna Stoil and Gil Hoffman
Shas chairman Eli Yishai announced on Wednesday that he would keep his party in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition despite the revelation from the Prime Minister's Office that the government had been carrying out secret talks with Syria.
Olmert called Yishai moments before a message was sent to reporters to inform him about the talks. Yishai's associates said the news caught him by surprise and that he would have preferred not to hear such news at all.
"It is forbidden to negotiate with the axis of evil and certainly to abandon the Golan to the axis of evil," Yishai told reporters. "At the moment when we see that there is real danger of giving the Golan to the axis of evil, Shas, of course, won't be in the government. We are constantly evaluating whether we should remain in the government."
Within minutes of Olmert's announcement, opposition MKs sprang into action, trying to find a blocking action that would prevent negotiators from committing to any return of the Golan Heights. The Likud called upon Shas to leave the coalition immediately and bring down Olmert's government.
Likud faction Chairman MK Gideon Sa'ar warned that Olmert "doesn't have a majority for making concessions on the Golan - not in the Knesset and not among the public."
Sa'ar and Israel Beiteinu submitted no-confidence motions
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