Deputy Foreign Minister Resigns

Premier Yitzhak Shamir is expected to come under strong pressure to hand over the foreign affairs portfolio to one of his Cabinet colleagues following the surprise resignation over the weekend of Deputy Foreign Minister Yehuda Ben-Meir.

Shamir retained the office of Foreign Minister after he succeeded former Premier Menachem Begin as head of government. He indicated at the time that this would be temporary. But he is known to be reluctant to appoint Deputy Premier David Levy to the post. Levy, like Shamir, belongs to Likud’s Herut wing. He has made no secret that he would like to head the Foreign Ministry, but his relations with Shamir have been strained of late.

Shamir is said to be equally reluctant to appoint Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai of Likud’s Liberal Party to the senior Cabinet post. He could argue up to now that any change in the status quo would shake the delicately balanced coalition cabinet. But with Ben-Meir’s departure from his sub-cabinet office, Levy’s supporters are certain to press their demands and similar pressure for Modai may come from the Liberal Party wing.

LETTER OF RESIGNATION

Ben-Meir announced his resignation Thursday night a few hours after conferring with Shamir. He had been Deputy Foreign Minister for two years and, in his letter of resignation, said he felt he had "exhausted his capacity to contribute" to the Foreign Ministry. He reportedly told Shamir that it was urgent that he devote more time to the needs of his party, the National Religious Party, which is in "very bad" condition.

He implied, without saying so, that with his long-time political comrade, Education Minister Zevulun Hammer, convalescing from a recent heart attack, it fell on him to take charge of the affairs of the NRP’s "young guard" faction of which he and Hammer are the leaders.

POLICY-MAKING INPUT DIMINISHED

But sources close to Ben-Meir hinted that his resignation was due in part to dissatisfaction over the limited role and responsibilities he had in the area of policy-making. When Shamir became Prime Minister, Ben-Meir expected his powers and the ambit of his authority to grow, these sources said. In practice, however, his policy-making input shrank.

The sources implied that the influence of the Foreign Ministry as a whole diminished with Shamir now operating out of the Prime Minister’s Office. But senior sources at the Ministry hotly denied this. They contend that, on the contrary, the top echelon of the Foreign Ministry now has more direct and regular access to the top of government.

The Ministry sources conceded that Ben-Meir’s position may have weakened after Shamir became Prime Minister. But the position of the Foreign Ministry itself has been strengthened, they say. They noted, as an example, that the Ministry’s daily intelligence assessments are read each day by the Prime Minister and other senior Cabinet members.

Both David Kimche, Director General of the Foreign Ministry, and Yitzhak Oron, head of its research division, are in direct and frequent contact with Shamir who continues to exercise direct control of foreign affairs and makes all major policy decisions the sources said.