Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Saturday received the support he needed to pass the 2005 budget before the statutory deadline.
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With the capitulation by the secular Shinui party which had been holding out, the specter of early elections dissipates and along with it the final legislative obstacle to the planned unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
It was the latter which Shinui leader Tommy Lapid said finally convinced him to commit his party’s eleven votes in the Knesset (parliament) – that along with $160.5 million promised to him by Sharon for Lapid’s pet programs.