Tear-Gas Canister Ends Key Israeli Party Meeting
A meeting of members of a religious party that backs Labor Party leader Shimon Peres’ bid to form a government broke up in panic when a tear-gas canister was thrown at it from a nearby building, Israel Radio and television reported.
The meeting was largely attended by members of the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Israel party, reports said. Agudat holds five seats in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, and is under orders from its leading rabbis to support Peres.
When Peres tried to put together a Knesset majority last week, two Agudat members disobeyed their leaders, leaving Peres two short of a 61-vote majority.
On Thursday, however, one of the holdouts, Rabbi Avraham Verdiger, gave in to pressure from the council and reversed himself. He said he will support Peres, bringing the dovish Labor leader tantalizingly close to power. A vote on Peres’ bid to become prime minister is scheduled for next week.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
