OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, July 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli
minister without portfolio David Levy of the Gesher party resigned
Sunday, July 28, from the coalition government of Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon, Israeli public television said.
Levy,
a former foreign minister, said he had quit because of drastic budget
cuts planned by the government which he said would reduce the lower
strata of Israeli society to "abject poverty," the
television said.
The
television said it had a copy of the letter of resignation, which it
said Levy had handed to Sharon late Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
said.
The
government is planning drastic budget cuts to try to tackle the severe
damage wrought by the global downturn in key Israeli industries, such
as the high-tech sector, and a lack of investment or tourism induced
by the 22 months Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.
Israel's
once lucrative tourism industry, sent reeling by almost two years of
Palestinian resistance of Israeli occupation, has earlier pinned its
hopes on a rescue by the Jewish state's diehard supporters coming to
tour the country.
Describing
the tourism crisis as “the longest crisis ever,” Ari Sommer, the
tourism ministry's pointman, lured visitors in an “emotional”
message to “support” Israel.
About
50,000 people have lost their jobs in the tourism industry since
September 2000 when the Palestinian Intifada broke out, AFP reported.
After
22 months of Intifada against Israeli occupation and daily attacks,
Israel has low expectations for the industry, once considered the
third major source of the state's revenue.
And
Israel's military actions are threatening that potential source of
revenue, as the Israeli cabinet has approved on April 29, an austerity
plan to help finance the military campaign against the Palestinians.
Since
March 2002, Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Palestinian
Territories, reoccupying the entire West Bank, thus blocking visits to
a main draw for Christians, the holy city of Bethlehem, which is
revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
Israel’s
atrocities and war crimes in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, and
recently in Gaza have further drawn worldwide condemnation and several
calls for boycotting Israel as a terror state.
In
a move blasted by the international community, including the United
States, Israel used a U.S.-built F-16 warplane to drop a one-ton bomb
on a building in densely-populated Gaza City late Monday, July 22,
killing 18 civilians, eleven of them children, including a
two-month-old infant.
Levy
served most recently as foreign minister under former Labor Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and resigned from the post in part to protest at
Barak's proposals for limited autonomy over Jerusalem.
He
was brought into Sharon's broad-based but right-leaning government in
April as Sharon sought to shore up ministerial backing for his
increasingly tough policies against the Palestinian uprising, AFP
said.
Gesher,
which Levy founded in 1995, has three deputies.
The
Labor party ministers will meet Sunday to discuss this move and the
party’s position, in preparation to the Israeli cabinet meeting
which will be held Tuesday, July 30
