Herut and the Liberal Party appeared to be on the verge of ending their 20 year-old alliance today over Herut claims that the Liberals are over-represented on the Likud election list.
The Herut Secretariat gave the Liberal Party until tomorrow to accept fewer slots among the top 40 candidates Likud will present to the voters on July 23. Herut has proposed that the Liberal representation be reduced from 15 to 12 “safe” seats with another four candidates between the 40th and 50th spots where election to the Knesset is less likely barring a Likud landslide.
The Herut formula would reduce Liberal representation from 19 to 16 potential MKs. According to Herut activists, secret polls have shown that if the Liberal Party stood for election on its own it would win no more than two Knesset seats. Neither party has been tested independently at the polls since they entered into partnership in 1965, first as Gahal and later Likud. But each claims it can do well alone.
SHAMIR REPORTEDLY OBJECTS TO ULTIMATUM
Premier Yitzhak Shamir reportedly objected to the Herut ultimatum. He met today with Liberal ministers Moshe Nissim and Gideon Patt in an effort to resolve the crisis. Shamir was said to have told them he did not want to see Likud split. The Liberal Party Executive was expected to convene late today to discuss the issue.
Deputy Premier David Levy said on a television interview yesterday that there was strong sentiment within Herut to announce immediately that the party would stand alone in the upcoming elections. But the Herut leadership decided to give the Liberals another chance, he said.
The Liberals for their part, flatly rejected a Herut offer of a total merger. Liberal spokesmen said this was a Herut ploy to take over Liberal Party assets and declared there was “no way that the Liberal Party would cover the debts of Herut.”
The Liberals also let it be known today that they are negotiating with former Defense Minister Ezer Weizman for the creation of a large centrist party with the potential for at least 10 Knesset mandates. Such a party could hold the balance of power in a future coalition government.
Weizman, who quit Herut some years ago over policy differences with then Premier Menachem Begin, resumed political activity recently when he announced that he would stand for election in July at the head of a new party, Yahad (Together). (See separate story.)
He declined to comment today on the possibility of an alliance with the Liberal Party. He said he would welcome in principle a strong centrist liberal bloc. “This is what I expected Likud to be but since it did not fulfill the expectations, we formed Yahad, “Weizman said. He said he would wait until the last minute before publishing Yahad’s election list, a hint that a deal with the Liberals may be in the making.
CONSEQUENCES OF A SPLIT
Some Liberals are upset over a split with Herut. David Admon, chairman of the party’s Tel Aviv branch, said today, “I am not concerned over the agreement with Herut but I am concerned that if Likud does not continue, we shall lose the government.”
The Herut Central Committee has scheduled a meeting next week to decide whether or not to go to the polls in July without the Liberals. Begin, who has been in virtual seclusion since his resignation last August, has taken no position on Likud’s internal crisis. In one of his rare interviews, he told a Voice of Israel Radio reporter that it was up to the party’s institutions to decide the issue.
Some observers believe a split in Likud may well spell defeat for the government party in July. But the opposition Labor Alignment has troubles of its own, not much different in nature from those of Likud.
PROBLEMS IN THE LABOR ALIGNMENT
The Labor Party is interested in making room for newcomers to the Alignment such as the Independent Liberal Party, the Black Panthers and a few MKs who have defected from the National Religious Party.
In order to secure safe seats for them, it is asking its long-time Alignment partner, Mapam, to sacrifice some of its own spots. According to the Laborites, the burden should not rest solely on them. But the Mapam Central Committee decided yesterday that it would oppose any changes in the election line-up.
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.
