The Democratic Movement for Change (DMC) notified Likud tonight that it was prepared to resume coalition talks that were suspended last week. The DMC’s condition that all subjects and issues, including the appointments to the next Cabinet, remain open for discussion, was met by Likud.
The DMC called off negotiations after Likud leader Menachem Begin nominated former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to be Foreign Minister in the new government. That act seemed to foreclose any meaningful bargaining over part-folios. In a letter to Begin yesterday, DMC leader Yigal Yadin stressed that the appropriate allocation of Cabinet posts was a major condition for the entry of the DMC into a Likud-led coalition.
Yadin’s letter to Begin was approved by the DMC’s Secretariat last night. The Likud Executive met this morning and drafted a reply indicating that, in principle, all matters are negotiable. Negotiations are expected to resume shortly since Likud is anxious to form as broadly based a government as possible by the time the new Knesset convenes next month. Political observers said it seemed likely now that a coalition will be formed between Likud, the DMC, the National Religious Party (NRP) and the ultra-Orthodox Aguda bloc.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
