Shinui head Yosef Lapid reported midday Thursday that now that the pullout from Gaza was executed, Shinui would return to being an opposition party in all respects, including voting against the budget proposal, Israel Radio reported.

Lapid said, "We were in the government because of our values, and now we are in the opposition because of our values."

The opposition chairman further stated that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had invited Shinui to join his coalition, suggesting that they make the issue of civil marriage a priority. The civil marriage issue has never been approved by any Israeli government, although it constitutes a central element of the Shinui platform.

Lapid claimed that his secular party also demanded that the current Tal Law, which exempts the ultra-orthodox youth from serving in the IDF, be changed. According to Lapid, Sharon told him that the issue is being addressed.

Lapid said that currently, Sharon's most serious trouble comes from within his own party. He asserted, though, that the prime minister intended to end the party rebellion against him at any price.

Former justice minister Yosef Lapid also expressed his support of the High Court of Justice's ruling Thursday regarding the illegality of the IDF's "neighbor policy" of using local Palestinians in approaching the homes of wanted terrorists. He said the HCJ usually releases fair judgments.

Shas leader Eli Yishai expressed his confidence that Shinui would not join Sharon's government. Regarding his arch-rival Lapid, Yishai said, "may the old year and its plagues end [and a new year and its blessings begin]."

Israel Radio also interviewed Labor's Ophir Paz-Pines regarding his party's future plans with respect to remaining in the government. The interior minister responded that they had not yet decided whether or not they would stay. According to Paz-Pines, Labor Party's involvement in the government depends on several issues, including progress in negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, and social issues.

Paz-Pines noted that both the prime minister and Finance Minister-Elect Ehud Olmert understand that his party cannot support former finance minister's Netanyahu's "Thatcherist budget". Labor Party insists on greater allocation of funds towards social reform. Though he declined to name the price his party demands for this purpose, he claimed that the new budget contains NIS 10 billion more than was originally expected.

Ophir Paz-Pines expressed his confidence that the Labor Party can advance its platform both from within the government or from the opposition.